In the initial phase of the program, SoCal Edison will lease 607,000 square feet of roof space at ProLogis’ Kaiser Distribution Park in Fontana, California. The area will be used to install and maintain solar panels with the potential to generate enough electricity to power 1,426 households for one year.

At the conclusion of the start-up phase, which will include five to 10 additional installations and is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, the utility will launch its full renewable energy project, aiming to complete 50 megawatts of solar panel installations each year for a total of 250 MW. Each individual installation is expected to comprise one to two megawatts.

“I urge others to follow in their footsteps,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “If commercial buildings statewide partnered with utilities to put this solar technology on their rooftops, it would set off a huge wave of renewable energy growth.”

SCE hopes to have the first solar rooftops in service by August. The company says it will install at the rate of one megawatt a week.

The program would give a big boost to California’s Million Solar Roofs program and help SCE meet a state requirement to get 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2010.

Financing Solar Installations

Yesterday, Environmental Leader reported that solar companies are becoming financial intermediaries, leading companies to install solar power that wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.

Using a “power-purchase agreement” model, many solar power companies take on the cost of installing solar panels on customers’ roofs. In return, customers pay the solar power company for the panels’ output, generally at a lower rate than they would otherwise pay.

The power purchase model is also attracting bankers - Morgan Stanley, G.E. Energy Financial Services, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and MMA Renewable Ventures have all arranged financing for recent solar energy projects.

Besides the financing, state incentives and a federal investment tax credit (worth up to 30 cents on the dollar) are also driving adoption.

Scientists are monitoring gas emissions and seismic activity at Kilauea, which on March 19, 2008 experienced its first explosive eruption since 1924. The volcano is also emitting sulfur dioxide at toxic levels.

Farmer/Geologist John Koman of White Dove Passion Fruit Farm talks about permaculture and how he works with nature. 5 mins.

March 9-15, 2008

"Time to schedule your annual water well checkup!"

Just as periodic checks of furnaces and smoke detectors are recommended, so is an annual water well checkup. Spring is a good time to have this done before the peak water-use season begins. As part of its annual Ground Water Awareness Week promotion, NGWA stresses the importance of yearly water testing and well maintenance.

About half the U.S. population receives its drinking water from wells! And more than 90 percent of the fresh water in the United States and around the world is ground water. Ground Water Awareness Week spotlights ground water as a valuable and renewable resource.

Why is it a good idea to have my water well checked annually?

• An annual checkup by a licensed or certified water well contractor is the best way to ensure problem-free service and quality water.
• Preventative maintenance usually is less costly than emergency maintenance.
• Good well maintenance, like good car maintenance, can prolong the life of your well and related equipment.

In 2008, Ground Water Awareness Week will be celebrating the International Year of Planet Earth.

Ground Water Awareness Week is sponsored by the National Ground Water Association—the nation's leading authority on the use and protection of ground water.

You can obtain more well and consumer information by going to NGWA's Web site for well owners, www.wellowner.org.

• Coastal Bluffs -- where the mountains meet the coast
• South Coastal Scrub and Chapparal -- inland, drier and inland mountains
• Valley Floors -- Oak woodlands and grassland
• Rivers -- Riparian corridors along streams, creeks and rivers
• Desert -- inland, dry and high temperature swings

The Oak Woodland landscape in the Old Town of Los Gatos incorporates a natural oak woodland garden. Planting beds between the sidewalk and parking lot requires zero summer water. These easy-care natives provide habitat for local bird species and replicate the natural community of the area. The understory planting complements the existing heritage oaks.

These urban California microhabitats provide regional landscape designers with a rich palette of color, texture and ecologically sound plants and techniques. "Between 1500 and 2000 California natives are suitable for landscaping. We currently have about 250 available in nurseries. We have an amazing palette of creative, ecologically-sound landscaping awaiting us!"

The California Native Gardening Foundation is one of Alrie's passions. "This foundation is charged with bringing those 1500-2000 native plants into the landscape market. As more variety becomes available, more native landscaping will flourish...and we'll be able to match plants to their local habitats more easily." It takes an "artistic mentality" to accept change readily. Having an expansive palette of color and texture and beauty is very motivational!

Ecological Gardening Precepts

"Living lightly on the earth" is the heart of ecological gardening and landscaping. By working within the natural resources system, the balance of plants, soil, local weather, and wildlife is preserved in choices of plants and structure of the landscaping.

There are real benefits to ecological landscaping.

• ECOLOGICAL: lawn is a monoculture and is useless to nature. Nature wants diversity -- that's why weeds swoosh in! Nature wants a community of plants. Birds think of lawn like concrete -- there's no food there.
• AESTHETICS: Nature as we know it is beautiful. Nature unaltered by human beings is what we long for. Nature reduces stress and provides rejuvenation.
• ECONOMICS: Once you plant it, you have a two-year establishment period, then you shut your water off completely in most of California. If your landscape is not a natural habitat you continually slake its thirst!
• ETHICS: If we're going to take what Al Gore says seriously, we need to look at our behaviors and choices seriously. We need to change how we make our choices. Ethics is about making choices with enlightened self interest.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) GreenScapes program provides cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for landscaping. Designed to help preserve natural resources and prevent waste and pollution, GreenScapes encourages companies and homeowners to make more holistic decisions regarding waste generation and disposal. This reduces impacts on land, water, air, and energy use.

The GreenScapes Alliance is a voluntary partnership program that aims to combine government and industry into a powerful, unified influence over the reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste materials in large land use applications.

Read related information about greenscaping at my website: CaliforniaGreenSolutions.com

Solutions Executive Summary

• Plants are often over-watered, causing wasted water as well as diseased or sickly plants
• One of the largest conservation opportunities is reducing turf grass – replace with woody plants
• Optimizing your irrigation system can save 20-40% of your water use...
• Changing turf species can save another 20%.
• Reclaimed water is the current strategy for large conservation impact.
• Water management strategy maintains quality and reduces water consumption

Doug Tallamy cites the work of Michael Rosenzweig, an evolutionary biologist based at the University of Arizona, who has analyzed data from all over the world and found a one-to-one correspondence between habitat destruction and species loss.

Wildlife is very locally specific. Locally native plants support local native insects and animals. Yes, every plant is native somewhere -- but it is the localized matchmaking of plants and animals that weave a sustainable habitat that supports biodiversity.

Although gardeners might believe that when they plant a butterfly bush native to China, they are helping butterflies. They are merely attracting the adults who sip the nectar. The plant cannot be eaten by the butterfly larvae and without food for all stages of an insect's life -- the species flounders.

Gardeners and landscapers can slow the rate of extinction by planting natives in their yards and campuses. California has different plants and insects than the following examples -- but this shows you the incredible diversity attracted by locally native plants:

Kudzu forms ground level ozone, or smog

Restaurants and institutional food providers can often find nooks in which to convert landscaping into herb gardens, etc. to provide at least a little productivity in their locality. And today's solution makes landscaping both beautiful and productive -- violets!

Sweet violet flowers are as beautiful as they are edible.

In our times of shrinking habitat, you can wildscape your balcony, your yard, your campus with native habitat (plants, water, and places for wildlife productivity -- nesting and community time) to be a good host to your natural, native allies.

And it's so much fun!

Carolyn,

Editor of BackyardNature.com and CaliforniaGreenSolutions.com

Worm casts can be applied around a plant's drip line; mixed directly into the plant's roots, or applied as a mulch, adding valuable nutrients to strenthen the root system, thus making plants grow unbelievably well.

Jerry Gach, Managing Partner of Blue Ridge Vermiculture (WWW.BlueRidgeVermiculture.Com) raises a variety of earthworms for use in turning waste into soil amendments.

Irrigation Smart Controller Features

Ecological Impact of Human Cities

Swales Are Just One of the Solutions!

Grass swales typically cost less to construct than curbs, gutter or storm sewer systems.

Green Building Landscape Info Sheets

Swales Reduce Runoff

Alternative Driveway Design

Porous Pavement Reduces Surface Runoff

Natural Landscaping Reduces Runoff

Saving and Amending Topsoil

Tree Cover Provides Multiple Benefits

Some of the benefits of low impact development include:

• Groundwater recharge through infiltration of surface water
• Filtration of surface water with natural soils
• Protection of lakes, streams and the ocean from urban and agri runoff
• Meet Clean Water Act requirements for reduced pollutant levels and volume of runoff
• Reduce frequency and severity of floods
• Preserve stream and upland habitats

Retrofit a Parking Lot to increase permeability.

Some edible landscaping plants include:

• Kale: this old fashioned vegetable is enjoying a revival because it is loaded with nutrients, is easy to grow, and provides a beautiful fountain of gray green foliage. Kale is loaded with calcium, iron and vitamins.
• American cranberry bush features bright red berries in later summer, which people and birds love to eat.
• Rose hips are produced in abundance on rosa rugosa plants. This shrub makes a great barrier plant and can tolerate growing near salt water.

Master Composters receive:

1. Extensive training and background material in composting and other alternatives to organics disposal which they can use in their own residence;

2. Additional "continuing education" through semi-regular meetings, field trips, and interaction with others who have different expertise;

3. Experience in speaking to and interacting with groups and individuals with whom they have common interests;

4. Satisfaction in knowing that they are doing their part to alleviate part of the ever-increasing landfill problem

... Resources for Composting listed here:

Use IPM tools to help make decisions

• Weather data and products
• Degree-days
• Interactive tools and models

California Pesticide Use Summaries

UC Davis Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program

Tree Banking Inc.

Waterscaping to Expand and Improve Habitat Quality

"Many bodies of water carry an unnaturally high nutrient load, due to runoff containing lawn and garden fertilizers etc.," explains Deb Kitszke of Freedom Ponds. "This can result in a wide range of serious water quality problems. Islandscapes represent a holistic way to mine these nutrients out of the waterway and convert them into a beautiful and wildlife enhancing floating garden habitat."

Biofiltration to Improve Water Quality

Some small facilities' voluntary green and sustainable projects are quite significant. And when they are compounded by an industry-wide strategy to make their shared industry more sustainable -- Katie bar the door!

Golf course greening opportunities include restoring natural habitat acreage for native populations of plants and wildlife that can also contribute to the conservation of water -- which can be a substantial green contribution!

Saving energy on lighting and clubhouse mounts up, too, and waste reduced through greenwaste composting and kitchen procedures can be accomplished on a scale proportionately greater than most multinationals who undertake green operational strategies.

Sustainable landscapes reflect a high level of self-sufficiency that once established, mature and flourish virtually on their own as part of their natural ecosystem. The resulting benefits can include added aesthetics, lower maintenance costs, more effective use of water and chemicals, enhanced open space and more effective wildlife habitat value.

Site inventory is a critical step in designing any landscape, including a golf course. By minimizing earthmoving, the natural ecosystem is preserved, along with water flow through the watershed -- which extends far beyond the golf course's boundaries.

By growing drought-resistant plants in the right places, Shin say you can cut up to 80% of your water use.

Another tip: use worms instead of your garbage disposal to get rid of food scraps.

On sunny days, urban areas such as downtown sections of American cities can be up to 22 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than more rural areas.

An additional 10 percent more green space could reduce surface temperatures by 7 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a team of British scientists. Extra parks and green roofs could counteract the predicted rise in temperature until 2080 when summers are expected to be hotter and drier and winters wetter.

In cities around the world, planting more grass and trees could keep people more comfortable and reduce air conditioning costs and energy expenditures.

Read more about urban landscaping for cooler cities.

Irrigation Best Practices

1. Assure Overall Quality of the Irrigation System;
2. Distribution of Water;
3. Install the Irrigation System to Meet the Design Criteria;
4. Maintain the Irrigation System for Optimum Performance; and\
5. Manage the Irrigation System to Respond to the Changing

Heavy pesticide use against key pests in the greenhouse has resulted in the widespread development of pesticide resistance in western flower thrips.

SOURCE OF THE FULL REPORT: californiaagriculture.ucop.edu

The horticultural community can address the serious and expensive problem of invasive plants. Landscapers, grounds and maintenance staff, and even gardeners have a real opportunity to protect California's natural resources, since more than half of invasive plants got their start in gardens and landscaping.

A plant's invasiveness is largely a matter of location and climate, so what is invasive in San Diego, might not be invasive in San Luis Obispo.

Most states are diverse, but California is probably one of the most diverse because of its massive length and diverse ecosystems from coastal to dessert to mountains.

We have everything from vast mountain ranges to rich agricultural valleys to our beautiful coastline. Learn about invasive species in your region of California

Urban green spaces become more critical than ever -- both for quality of human life and for the wildlife and habitat that are part of the rich tapestry of nature's support system.

Urban Sprawl

High Density City Planning

Benefits of Urban Open Spaces

Carbon Balance in Urban Landscapes

Population Control's Role in Urban Planning

A few simple steps can prevent invasions before they start. We can be an environmentally responsible community - one that supports horticultural businesses and beautiful gardens!

1. Phase out invasive plant species in your business
2. Plant and promote beautiful non-invasive alternatives
3. Share your success stories
4. Follow the national voluntary codes of conduct to prevent horticultural invasion

"...the local native planting method replants the slopes with seeds and soil collected by hand from the site seven years ago, before grading began. The hand selection also allowed landscapers to eliminate any nonnative plant species that had invaded the site," says Rick Leach, director of facilities management and planning for Pepperdine

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

SOURCE:

Now there's an answer! "Indoor Gardening the Organic Way", a pragmatic book by California author Julie Bawden-Davis.

California fights noxious weeds

California's "Encycloweedia"

Many invasive plants are or have been sold in consumer nurseries -- and it is important that you plan your landscape and gardens carefully to avoid inadvertent contamination of your local ecosystem with noxious weeds.

Urban landscapes are as important as rural areas when it comes to reducing our invasive weed problem. Weeds anywhere create seeds that are distributed by the wind, water, birds and even our own boots and car tires.

When natural pest controls are used in place of pesticides and herbicides, it reduces the amount of pollution that enters our air and water, as well as soil. This improves the environment as well as the health of people and wildlife. Beneficial organisms are an important part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices.

More states are enacting pest control regulations because of the spread of invasive species...not only of insects, but plants, and water-based animals such as mollusks.

California Beneficial Organism Regulations

Check with the California Fish and Game Commission for current regulations. The importation and transportation of live crustaceans, molluscs, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals may require a permit.

Beneficial Organism Suppliers in Southern California 

Lotusland

Lotusland's successful sustainable gardening program is built by incorporating various practices and ideas relevant to the specific site that encourage as much compatibility among diverse organisms as possible.

"There in a beautiful forest was a solid, high rock ledge rising beside a waterfall, and the natural thing seemed to be to cantilever the house from that rock bank over the falling water....Then came (of course) Mr. Kaufmann's love for the beautiful site. He loved the site where the house was built and liked to listen to the waterfall. So that was a prime motive in the design. I think that you can hear the waterfall when you look at the design. At least it is there, and he lives intimately with the thing he loves." -- Frank Lloyd Wright in an interview with Hugh Downs, 1954

Landscaping is based on a traditional ideal -- that people can live in harmony with nature. As our modern world focuses more on manmade materials and uses more natural resources up, harmony with nature is more necessary than ever.

Wright showed that it is possible -- it is beautiful -- and it is efficient to nestle a home into nature's landscaping.  Orientation of the house, cantilevered floors, glass, and anchoring in natural rock outcroppings were used to create uncommon living space in the ultimate of the familiar -- nature.

Very inspiring!

Southern California Wildflower Hotline

This is the 26th year they've offered this service, reporting on the best wild flower displays across Southern California.

If you happen to see anything worth reporting, please let us know at info@theodorepayne.org.

The hotline number is (818) 768-3533.

They expect to run the hotline through May.

Theodore Payne Foundation
California native plants & seeds at Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, Inc. a nonprofit retail nursery.

www.theodorepayne.org