Dreem Warriors? Allies made to change the world!

This past weekend hosted a slew of amazing connections as our friends and fellow activators of the Urban Conservation Warriors visited for adventure and collaboration. With a mission to employ students (at beautiful wages) to install 100% sustainable and native landscaping, these warriors are really making an impact in Oakland. Inspiring!! Bravo to you Warriors and a special thanks to Rain Dove and Ford for sharing their time with us - what a wonderful weekend. With our parallel Dreems of changing and educating the world - we have decided to join forces. To launch this, we will be having a Dreem Warriors Retreat in the proposed location of Holy City, CA - in the presence of a ring of Redwoods to council and inspire us. This event will be held from Friday, Oct 26th - Saturday, Oct 27th. We will do lots of enthusiatic team building, activations, discussion, etc. In fact, here are the notes from our brainstorm about the event:

Join the facebook event for the Retreat, here!

*We ask that everyone contribute $15 to food sharing! Please hand it over to your respective "leaders by Wed, Oct 24"*

Proposed Schedule of Events Fri, Oct 26th 10am - 12pm: Arrival & Set Up 12 - 1pm: Lunch (shared potluck style meal) 1 - 2pm: Team building and Activation! 2 - 5pm: Discussion Time One 5 - 6pm: Fun Activation and Team Building...more of it! 6 - 7pm: Dinner prep and misc duties for the evening 7 - 10pm: Eat and Celebrate (bonfire, music, storytelling, etc) Sat, Oct 27th 6 - 7am: Breakfast making and waking 7 - 8am: Morning circle and breakfast 8 - 9am: Morning Activation and Team Building...can't get enough! 9 - 11am: Discussion Time Two 11am - 12pm: Lunch Prep and Fun time...face painting? 12 - 1pm: Lunch time 1 - 2pm: Interactive thought on current spicy topics in the world 2 - 4pm: Collaborative Final Discussion Three 4 - Infinity: Go home and create amazing things in this world Proposed Topics of Discussion:

• Mission statements of Dreem and Warriors
• Overview of accomplishments and goals - past, current, and prospective
• Projects in action
• Techniques of operations
• What are our differences as entities and why? What can we learn from each other?
• Potential collaborations
• What we have to offer as individuals

Activity and Team Building Ideas:

• Collaborative Creation (drawing, painting, theater, mandala)
• Take home product/project (DreemCatchers? Pinecone peanut butter squirrel feeder?)
• Workshops and mini-classes (Survival, shelter building, water filtering, yoga, soil evaluation, cob creation, composting, etc)

  Hope to see many there! ~Dani

Art of Community - Dani's experience

I truly had an amazing time at the Art of Community gathering a couple of weekends ago (Sept 21-23) in Occidental, CA. Even though the draw was originally the classes that we could all learn from, I found so much of the experience to be about the amazing people I met there. What a powerful thing to be surrounded by people who had collected in a space together for a similar purpose.

The adventure wound’t have had nearly as much of an impact, if it weren’t for the amazing DreemTeam that made the treck. We were Seven Dreemers deep - enthusiastic, dedicated, and eager to take in this experience fully. I have to give so many thanks to these Dreemers - I love you all. Kavih, Giovanna, Theresa, Shiree, Jonathan, and Melinda - wow, thank you so very much with all my heart. Well done lovelies! [caption id="attachment_2877" align="alignleft" width="300"] On the way to the Art of Community event![/caption] So, we left Santa Cruz on Thursday night, with the intention to make it to Jenner, CA and stay on Dharma Creek - a magical piece of land owned by our inspirational friend Jill. We arrived in our two vehicles at midnight and quickly decided that the newly erected green house was the perfect place to camp for the night! Slumber-party style we all threw down our sleeping bags in a line and slept for a few hours before our big day on Friday. No tents needed that chilly night! Friday We had plans to get an early start on Friday morning. After lots of pre-communication with Susan Frank, the event coordinator, we happily took on the role of setting up the Community Casbah to encourage specific discussions on the topic. We brought a pop-up canopy, some rugs, chairs, tapestries...to make the space more comfortable for discussion. Arriving at 8am, we had plenty of time to meet Susan and set up shop at Westminster Woods, before our two Community Tours started. And of course connect with Janet and Gary - our riders and new wonderful Dreemer Friends. (I can’t emphasize enough the beauty of the people attending this event! All so inspiring in their own way) The first community we visited was Green Valley, just down the road. They were a cute 6 year running community with 400+ acres and a growing garden and membership. With quite the variety of housing options for their 50ish members, they ranged from old victorian homes, to restored timber yard barns, and hand crafted homes from reclaimed materials. Their growing CSA provides boxes for around 23 clients each month. Impressive! All the residents were super friendly, with big smiles and a sense of peace from their enriching lifestyle. Secondly we visited Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, only another 15 minutes drive away. With about 40 years of history, this EcoVillage was highly developed and proficient. They sport an incredible garden that feeds their 13-25 members (including orginal owners, woofers, employees, and interns). OAEC offers a long list of educational programs and classes to take advantage of. With the creation of a stage, they have not only a place for theater and artistic expression, but an outdoor lecture hall nestled into their overwhelmingly bountiful garden. A truly inspiring community to shoot model after! The rest of Friday held registration, meet-n-greets, dinner, and a mind-blowing opening gathering. We got to hear from Richard Flyer with Connecting The Good about his efforts in Reno, NV to grow community, the local food system, and create a replicable infrastructure to implement the program within your own community. Following him was Mark Lakeman’s incredible presentation of his work, City Repair, throughout Portland - transforming the streets into public meeting places, and individual homes into ecologically friendly communities. Wow! Top it all off with songs around a bon fire lead byCopperwoman...and you have yourself a brilliant start to such an event! Saturday Following a warming 7am Mandala Yoga session led by Debra Dove, Saturday started our official classes. Each of the three time slots had around 7-10 class options for us to attend. Our DreemTeam sat down and attempted to spread out according to interests and to make sure we covered a lot of topics to later share. Our intention to take notes and share them with everyone, on our EcoVillage Research Project info site! The classes that I took that day were (Click on the link to see my notes, some may still be in progress of transcription and scanning!):

• Overview of Intentional Communities (Led by Mandy Creighton, adventure of “Within Reach” a 2 year bike adventure across the US to explore 100 different communities!).
• Connecting the Good (Led by Richard Flyer)
• What's Rank and Privilege Got to Do with it? (Led by Carol Swan and India Harville)

In between classes was filled with yummy food and endless opportunities to make connections with so many people. Some attendees have been active and living in communities for 40 years, others have only just heard of the idea of an intentional community. But for sure, we all had a common interest that allowed for a fertile space to learn and network. Meals, yoga, and even bathroom breaks provided enriching discussions of relevant topics - everyone there was an enthusiast! Susan and the organizers of the event did an incredible job of keeping us entertained, in touch with our spirits and mission, and of course with each other. This evening held a Mystic Dance Party in the woods with some electronic as well as live music. I never caught the name of those live performers, but they were moving (thank you!). Sunday I missed the Yoga class this morning...maybe because of the previous night's Dance party! But there’s always an opportunity to fill a time slot with discussions - both spontaneous and pre-coordinated. Classes for me today were:

• The Essence of Dynamic Facilitation (Led by Laird Shwab, facilitator extraodinaire from Sandhill Farm)
• The Nuts & Bolts of Community: Committees as WD40 (Led by Linda Sartor, Joan Linney, Ken Staltzberg more of the Monan's Rill Community)
• Developing Green Teams within your Community (Led by David Ferrara)

Classes took us right up to the closing circle, making an official end to our 3 day adventure. All the attendees gathered in the field to hold hands, laugh, sing, and express one last time. Around 200 strangers had come together and two days later had formed a truly loving community with each other. Overall, this was an absolutely incredible experience. I feel as though my self and the DreemTeam learned more than they ever thought they would at this event. We definitely intend to return next year...and how couldn’t we with all the amazing feedback and encouragement we got back! (Video coming soon!) Oh, and check back for other Dreemer's experiences and notes! ~Dani

*Many photos compliments of Copperwoman!*

Art of Community Event - We're Back!

We have returned! This past weekend, Friday Sept 21 - Sun the 23rd our DreemTeam set out on an amazing journey to Occidental California to attend the FIC’s Art of Community Event. Referred to us by our director Chris Kindig, this event’s purpose was to not only educate attendees about various topics surrounding cooperative culture and community, but to provide an opportunity for us to experience it (see video below for more info).

With the constant support of Susan Frank, the event coordinator, we Dreemers were able to coordinate a group discount, contribute to the Community Casbah, and become an official sponsor for the event! So many thanks to Susan for her incredibly hard work and consistently friendly and precise communication. Each one of our Dreemers were such a crucial element to the “success” of our mission there. I want to thank them infinitely! Theresa, Shiree, Giovanna, Kivah, Jonathan, Melinda, and Dani (myself) - our energy together was powerful, our dedication as individuals and a team was (r)evolutionary, I am so proud and honored to have been on your team. I hope that they will all share their experience in writing, in addition to the notes they took in their classes. Please check back to read them! Also coming up will be a fun video that includes the Dreemers experiences as well some words from others that experienced the DreemTeam. Check our YouTube Channel: DreemTV for that soon. For now - we’d like to say hello to the many new Dreemers we connected with (yes you!) and thank them for reaching out to us then and now. More details about our experience at the event coming soon!

Kirby High School Community Service Project

This past Thursday, Sept 20th we met with students at Georgiana Bruce Kirby High School in Santa Cruz, CA. In an effort to transform the school she works for, DreemGarden leader Theresa has instigated Dreem Reality's involvement in creatinggardens on site. Two gardens are proposed for this community service project available to students:

• An organic herb garden to supply the kitchen with fresh seasoning for their creations
• A roof-top container garden for students to learn about various elements of vegetable gardening

As we wait to hear the outcome of interested students as well as possible funding for the project, we are eager for the opportunity to make our first leap into the School Garden arena! An extremely powerful goal of DreemGardens as it continues to evolve and blossom. It was quite impressive to see how driven and independent the students were that are taking the lead on the project. They had their own table, a poster board displaying their objectives, and space for interested students to sign up.   We'll make sure to check back with the progress on this exciting potential!

DreemGardens Evolution & Big Earth House

On Saturday, Sept 15 we met up with one of our first potential DreemGardens of the new phase of the program. In the past, we rapid-fire assisted in Gardens - setting up a date with home owners and encouraging as many Dreemers to attend as could. We then provided many hands to make light work of whatever the host wanted done to their garden. This was fantastic, and we were able to have a hand in the creation or evolution of 6 different gardens within 2 months! (Check out our YouTube Channel: DreemTV , to see our work together) Each weekend brought new Dreemers to connect, work together, and create with one another. We provided a great service and built our family stronger. From these events, new leaders emerged with a passion to further the effectiveness of these work parties. Giovanna, Theresa, and Shiree have now spearheaded the DreemGarden project, and to learn more about them please see their bios! We sat together to explore how DreemGardens could really evolve, and what was missing. Deciding that we should be taking more adventage of educational opportunities for both volunteers and hosts they came up with the new 4 step approach. 1) Potential hosts complete an information form to share their goals and other specifics. 2) A team of specialized Dreemers visits the location to do an evaluation of the property, the hosts needs and desires, the soil/sun/water situation, and the possible workshop opportunities for volunteers 3) The team constructs a proposal to the hosts that includes an evaluation of their goals, what our specialists believe is advantageous, and some concrete plans for their space 4) A work party is organized based on all this, including volunteers, hands-on experience, and free workshops for those that attend! Thismost certainly involves more of an investment of time and energy by the leaders, but we feel it is worth it! Hopefully the hosts do as well and will feel confident in making a contribution to help further the program! So! The Big Earth House urban EcoVillage, located in down town Santa Cruz, one of our first preconsulations of this evolved approach. We thought this would be a great opportunity to get involved with a local intentional community, expand our educational opportunities, and expose Dreemers to the potentials of cooperative culture and livin g situations. On Sept 15 we met with the residents of Big Earth House to discuss and explore their garden. They have a lovely victorian home with several different gardenspaces - all of which are presently planted wit It was an excellent opportunity for us all to learn about this process, and we thank the residents of Big Earth House for their p atience as we assemble our first proposal. In the mean time, I'd like to share the notes taken from the meeting that we intend to construct our proposal from. (A special thanks to Shiree for scribing and Giovanna for transcribing to the digital realm)h a variety of fruits and vegetables! As we toured the property together, they pointed out where they would like to see more production and how they may need guidance with different elements.  

Big Earth House ~ Garden Consultation Notes (9/15/12)

Present: Dani, Shiree, Theresa, Giovanna

Gardeners: Caro and Randall

Front Yard: ~ Cob benches in front yard, possibility for neighborhood cob workshop ~ Move “butterfly plant” to full sun ~ Existing ivy groundcover under olive tree, perhaps another useful groundcover instead? ~ Olive tree removal or pruning? ~ Apricot tree fungus – a natural control? ~ 2 Apple’s, Asian pear, Olive: create a shady understory ~ Lemon with a black fuzzy disease? ~ Consider companion plants for fruit trees! ~ Clay soil in front West bed lacks drainage ~ Front beds in East corner need better utilization ~ What veggies and smaller plants were present here?   East Side-yard: ~ Rocky, maybe raised beds/straw bale? ~ Jupiter's beard is prevalent - research nutrients it gives to soil/what it likes (will tell us a lot      about the current soil conditions) ~ Many plants in pots, and those in ground need more frequent watering ~ Caro was not sure if those living on this side wanted our help?   Backyard: ~ History – rototilled concrete, deep soil or perhaps not? ~ Compost – maybe could use some straw, two bales positive for shifting out good stuff! ~ Raised bed with squash and carrots, amendment for soil needed? ~ Salvia, Tomatoes, and what other plants were in this space?? (Bring camera, and permission for pictures next time I think…)   West side-yard: ~ Tomato plant, what does it need? Yellowing, wilting, not nearly as happy as backyard tomato ~ Raspberry needs also not being met? Yellowing, browning, wilting… Perhaps a soil test is in order? ~ Pete Moss to assist the blueberry? ~ Tall person to trim tall tree up against house ~ Build or move soil around lemon so that it retains more water   Overall: ~ Possible workshops are cob building benches and assessing ecosystems for companion planting ~ BEH wants – low maintenance, everything more utilized, more food, flowers and veggies, and moving toward nurturing the existing ecosystem!  

Master Gardeners Boot Camp!

Master Gardeners Boot Camp, 2012

On June 30^th Dreemers got a chance to take part in the Master Gardener’s Boot Camp, held at Cabrillo College. After communication with Denise, the President of the Board for Master Gardeners, we were able to get a DreemScholarship discount from $40 to $25!

The Boot Camp was an all day educational event that allowed students to choose their desired classes to attend. Each student sat in on 4 classes, with topics ranging from Irrigation, Worm Composting, Integrated Pest Management, Greywater use, Permaculture practices, Plant growth, and many others.

In total we had six DreemScholars join in – Dani, Shiree, Melissa, Thereasa, Kama, Giovanna, and made a new connection with Harry who’s visiting from the East Coast for the Summer. It was wonderful to connect and learn with these great people!

We want to offer our true gratitude to Denise, the Master Gardeners, and the Cabrillo professors that made the day possible!

Now to continue using that knowledge! Onward!

Ideas about Pests in your garden!

Recently, I have taken a real interest in bugs in the garden. Not just the bugs, but what they do. 

We just finished out our Spring Semester Edible Landscaping class, which had a large focus on pollination, pests, weeds, and all that good stuff. I'd like to share some of the notes I have on the topic and perhaps give an update on the status of the Phoenix Garden very soon!

I have also scanned the notes from this particular lecture we received on "Biological Balance with Insects" to share with you all if you're interested. I'd like to thank our professor Lisa McAndrews for her excellent and inspiring teaching this semester!

Some words of wisdom:

• No garden, not even a well-tended one, is immune to pests & disease
• Diversity is the key to a healthy landscape (if same plants together, easy for pests that like it to spread to neighbor plant)
• Without "pests", the predatory and parasitic insects would not be able to reproduce (and thus eat your "pests"
• The primary way to deter garden pests is by keeping healthy plants in a thriving, diverse garden environment. (healthy soil, choosing the right varieties for your local climate, rotating vegetables & keeping plants evenly watered & fed)
• Healthy plant attract fewer pests

Some info on pesticide use:

• Synthetic chemicals to control pests have been routing in the last 40-50 years. 
• Despite the use of pesticides, no pests have been "eradicated"
• Pesticides cause the death of valuable beneficial bugs (more sensitive and breed less) that will in turn keep other insect populations in check
• Forced to adapt to chemical attacks, insects mutate and survive - developing resistance to pesticides and needing more intense dosage
• Particularly harmful to bees that are unable to breakdown pesticides - they are extremely sensitive since they are intended to pick up small particles

Alternative to Pesticides: Integrated Pest Management

• Based on management of pests rather than eradication - choosing appropriate plants and giving them good growing conditions
• Physical controls such as traps and barriers
• Pheromone traps - to track population patterns
• Biological controls - releasing natural enemies & disease-causing micros that attack pests (the predator & prey approach)
• Diversity of plants - so pests can't find favorite plants so easy
• Few insects and mites, sow bugs, earwigs, snails & slugs are "pests"
• Most insects are either neutral or beneficial to your purposes 

Notes on the "Good Guy Bugs" (or Beneficials)

• Beneficials will do most pest control for you (Lacewings, Hoverfly larva, and Ladybugs eat aphids) - problem is recognizing them and their larval stages
• 2 Main groups of good bugs: predators eat "bad bugs" - ladybugs, lacewing
• Parasitoids lay eggs in the bodies of bad bugs who eat their way out - wasps, syrphid (hover) fly
• Patience is the key to pest control 
• The population of "bad bugs" has to build up to a significant level before the predators will come to handle the problem
• Won't kill all the pests because need to leave food for next generation
• Some pests don't have natural predators here - brown snail and japanese beetle. If use pesticides make sure are natural and only effect them or upset balance of other insects in the garden

Attracting Beneficials

• Most beneficials need high-proten, high sugar foods and have short mouthparts that can't reach into a flower for nectar & pollen.
• Two major plant families that fit their needs: Sunflower (Asteraceae) and Parsley (Apiaceae) families
• Sunflower family examples: yarrows, artemisias, feverfew, marigolds, zinnias, aster calendulas,gazanias, artichokes & lettuce
• Parsley family examples: carrots, celery, celeriac, dill, coriander, parsley, & fennel

For more details on these notes, please see our DreemGarden informational page for resources!

Giovanna, our wonderful DreemScholar!

We are honored to highlight our first ever DreemScholar Giovanna Piumarta as she commences her 5 week adventure at Lost Valley Education Center in Dexter, Oregon from May 21 until June 22, 2012!

Several months ago, we met Giovanna at the Cabrillo College Permaculture Club - who is a dedicated member of this club even though she is not even a student there! We presented a recently established opportunity with Lost Valley to provide Dreemers with a discount for their 5 week, immersive Permaculture Design Certification class. She was immediately perked and interested in the collaboration, being that her mission in life is to promote environmental education to children focusing on "Greening" schools and getting kids in the garden. 

Our next meeting with her was to discuss and reconfirm interest in such a large time and financial commitment as this 5 week course would be. That was to be the first time of many Giovanna would impress us with her diligence, commitment, and enthusiastic involvement. Since then, she has proven to be one of the amazing Lead Volunteers for Dreem Reality and it's many blossoming projects, and we are truly blessed to have her on our DreemTeam!

Giovanna's presence can be seen (on DreemTV) through the entire history ofDreemGardens, not only as an avid hands-on volunteer but as a teacher - sharing her extensive knowledge in plants, gardening techniques, and uplifting spirit with her fellowDreemers. She has been an essential part of DreemGardens' growth, and such a perfect representative at Lost Valley! 

She has taken on the great role of scientist, student, and educator as she reports back to us about her experiences and lessons at Lost Valley. Additionally, she has eagerly taken on the EcoVillage Research Project to help us understand the effective techniques of operating and maintaining a community and education center. Furthermore, she has promised to come back to Santa Cruz and teach us what she has learned, as we transform herDreemGarden into a permaculture masterpiece!

Please follow along with Giovanna's adventure on our blog, here!

Ultimately, we could not have manifested a better DreemScholar to be our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts. 

Thank you so very much Giovanna for everything you have done, are doing, and will continue to create with us! 

We miss you!

Much love from your DreemFamily