Sparrows and Circuit Boards

On Monday, August 30th, Local Dirt features two guests. First, we discuss sparrows and migratory behavior. Second is electronics 101: the simplicity and complexity of the technology in our lives.

The first half of the show features a conversation with Zoltan Nemeth, a Post-Doc at UC Davis working with migratory birds, investigating the role of hormones and the endocrine system in the white-crowned sparrow. Nemeth's work tracks the inter-continental flight path of the birds, as well as the stresses that the birds encounter, as their habitat is destroyed, their food supply is restricted by urbanization, and chemicals in the form of pesticides accumulate in the species' bodies, reducing their population.

The second half of the show features Steve, a Davis community member who is an electronics whiz, to say the least. He is an electrical engineer who, in this half hour, discusses he role of electronics in our lives, the value of the basic knowledge of how to build electronics, as well as using available knowledge and imagination to design and build, well, anything you might imagine.

To listen to the show about sparrows and circuit boards, listen here!

Forage Davis

Village Harvest gleans thousands of pounds of fruit each year!

Village Harvest Davis. Village Harvest's Greg Gibbs joined us to talk about the community-run Village Harvest Davis program, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that harvests residential fruit trees in the City of Davis and re-distributes would-be wasted fruit to family services and emergency food aid agencies in Yolo County. Year to date, Village Harvest has gleaned over 38 thousand pounds of unwanted fruit from community members trees. Greg talks about the logistics of managing the harvesting and redistribution of all that fruit, including details about their 300+ fruit tree database and team of volunteers ranging from the ages of four to 91 years old! (begins at 03:00min)

Camilla with a Turkey Tail mushroom in Kauai. 

Wild Food Foraging in Northern California. Camilla Hinshaw Barry, owner of Cache Creek Inn, a boutique Bed and Breakfast in Rumsey, CA, joins Local Dirt to talk about wild food and foraging in Northern California. Camilla started her foraging adventures in the bay area when she first moved to California nearly 30 years ago. She looks for wild food and other things to forage wherever she travels across the world. Camilla shares foraging adventures from as far away as Kabul to as close as the Davis Amtrak Station. Now residing in the beautiful Capay Valley, Camilla keeps up two blogs about her foraging adventures and other things at Cache Creek Inn blog and Rumsey Ramblings. (begins at 23:00min)

Nick with his mobile fruit harvester in Kauai.

Davis Fruit Trees Map. Nick Barry, founder of Davis Dollars Community Currency and resident of Davis, CA, joined his mom, Camilla, on air to talk about his many foraging adventures, including the time he built a mobile fruit harvester that he used when traveling to Kauai during family trips to harvest coconuts, mangoes and jackfruit. Nick started the Davis Fruit Trees Map, a pubic and collaborative map which has turned into a popular community resource for wild food loving Davis-ites! Check out the fruit tree map online and the Davi wiki site dedicated to fruit trees in Davis. (begins at 43:25min)

Please note: be sure to only forage food in public places. If the food is on private property. 

Music.
Tonight's show featured music from Putamayo's Music from the Coffee Lands.

Listen Up!
To listen to this week's show, you can visit this show link. Save this file to your hard drive and listen on your personal digital music device! Right-click on this link and choose 'Save as..."

Hummingbirds and their Behavior; Paulina Gonzalez

Today's show features Paulina Gonzalez, a PHD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. We speak with her about her work with hummingbird behavior. On the second half of the show, we will bring you past coverage of an interview with Temple Grandin, who spoke at Eco Fair Marin. 

Listen to the show from 8-6-12 here!

Mushrooms with Back to the Roots, Dining Out Parody, Self Help Enterprises and The Busy Trap

Alejandro Zelez and Nikhil Arora

Mushrooms with Back to the Roots
Nikhil Arora from Bach to the Roots, makers of the home-mushroom growing kit, joins Local Dirt to discuss the business he and college friend, Alejandro Velez, founded after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2009.

Inspired by a class lecture, Nikhil and Alejandro began growing mushrooms in Alejandro's fraternity house off of used coffee grounds from Peet's Coffee during their final semester at UC Berkeley. Since then, Nikhil and Alejandro have grown a successful, innovative business that encourages people across the nation to become more connected to their food by growing it themselves with the Back to the Roots home mushroom growing kits.

Learn more about Back to the Roots - check out their website http://www.backtotheroots.com/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/backtotheroots!

"I will be your server"

Bob Marshall and wife

By Joel Stein
Jeremy and Dani act out the recent New Yorker piece by Bill Stein parodying the latests and greatest in the trendy restaurant world. Enjoy! Check out the written piece at the New Yorker online!

Self Help Enterprises with Jeremy Raff and Bob Marshall
Former Local Dirt Radio co-host, Jeremy Raff, introduces his recent audio piece from RCAC's Origins series featuring Bob Marshall. Marshall talks about World War II, Quakers, working through the turmoil of a sudden death and self-help housing today.

Check out the photo slide show that accompanies the audio here: http://vimeo.com/45276746


Bob Marshall: Self-Help Enterprises from Jeremy Raff on Vimeo.


The Busy Trap
By Tim Kreider
Dani reads an excerpt of 'The Busy Trap' a recent opinion piece int he New York Times by Tim Kreider and chats with Jeremy and Becky about what being 'busy' means for the average college student.

Music!
This show features music from Patrick Watson and Iron &Wine.

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Missed the show? Check it out here!
To download this link to your hard drive, right click on the link and hit 'save-as'. 

Occupy the Farm: The Gill Tract in Albany, CA

Today's show covers the Gill Tract in Albany, where the Occupy movement took a new step: toward farmland. The occupation of the farmland is described as a reclaiming of the land for the betterment of the community. however, the occupation quickly came under police pressure, until a raid finally occurred, and many of the plants were destroyed.
http://www.takebackthetract.com/images/stories/occupy-the-farm.jpgWe speak with activists from the tract to discuss its significance.

For more information, visit http://www.takebackthetract.com/

Compassion in Davis, Farm Bill, and Cache Creek Casino Farmland

Today's show features in-studio guest David Breaux, aka the Compassion Man, who has been on local dirt. Tune in for a conversation about compassion, what is means, and 'seeing essence' in others.

After, hear a video from Live Real Now about the importance of the Farm Bill : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mui3_dEHHEY

Last, we discuss new farmland developments in the Cache Creek area and its impact on local residents. Check out more at: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Yolo-tribe-adds-farms-to-casino-neighbors-unhappy-3654203.php

Garth Lenz: The True Cost of Oil

Alberta Tar Sands and the True Cost of Oil
The Education for Sustainable Living Program, a student-organized seminar at UC Davis, invited TEDx speaker and conservation photographer Garth Lenz to campus to talk about his work photographing the Alberta Tar Sands mining for oil in Canada. Garth has used his photography to capture the destruction of Canada's Boreal wetlands by industry seeking the wetlands rich source of oil.

To see a video of Garth Lenz' TEDx talk, visit this link.

Photos Courtesy APhotoEditor.org

LISTEN UP!
To listen to Garth Lenz present at the Education for Sustainable Living Program presentation at UC Davis on Wednesday, May 15th 2012, visit this link.