In partnership with Friends of Trees, the Sabin neighborhood is planning a tree planting project for February 28, 2015! Trees for your planting strip will cost $25. Yard trees will cost $75. This price includes a site inspection by the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services to ensure you choose the right tree for the location, hole digging, help with planting your tree, stakes, ties, labels, follow-up monitoring, and information on proper tree care techniques!

For more information or to order your trees, contact Malka Youngstein at sabin@plantitportland.org or go to the Friends of Trees website.

It's great to hear about other communities that are promoting bee-friendly gardening. North-central Colorado, which includes Denver and Boulder, have started a project very similar to the Sabin Bee-Friendly Garden Project. The folks in Colorado are working on a project to "create living spaces where honey bees and other pollinators can propagate without the effects of toxic chemicals."  The Bee-Safe Neighborhoods project aims to "increase safe habitats for honey bees by landscaping with safe plants (uncontaminated by neonicotinoids or systemics) that can provide pollen and nectar to pollinators through spring, summer and fall."

To participate in Sabin's bee-friendly garden project, contact Diane Benson at dcb1810@yahoo.com. Learn more about the project here.

Whole Foods on Fremont will donate 5% of its earnings on April 3 to the Portland Fruit Tree Project, which is a co-sponsor for the Sabin Community Orchard. Shoppers can also contribute produce purchased at the store, which will be donated to the SUN program at Sabin School. So, prepare your shopping list and head to the store on April 3.

Read all about it here!

The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District is offering free classes on naturescaping, rain gardens and native plants. Come and learn gardening practices that reduce pollution and conserve water while saving you time, money and energy. Perfect for all levels of do-it-yourselfers, these workshops offer simple gardening tips & resources that will help you bring your vision to life. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. For more information, call 503-222-7645.

View the full schedule here.

Come be a part of the great things happening at the Sabin Community Orchard!  It’s not orchard weather right now, but we’re already gathering our team of Orchard Stewards for the coming season.  Orchard
Stewards are volunteers who help maintain the orchard, learn about basic fruit tree care and build community with their neighbors.  No experience is necessary to become an Orchard Steward, though gardening or orchard experience is a plus!

Orchard Stewards commit to:

• Attend an Orientation/Team meeting on Monday, Feb. 3
• Participate in monthly work & learn parties  (2 - 4pm, third Sundays, Feb through Nov)
• One mid-summer watering shift to keep the orchard’s young trees and plants healthy
• Take on an additional responsibility suited to their interests and capacities

Call 503-284-6106 or email michael@portlandfruit.org with ‘Sabin Orchard Steward Interest’ in the subject line to get your application. Completed applications are due by January 20.

from the Oregonian

"The Oregon Department of Agriculture has placed restrictions on two types of pesticides implicated in mass bee die-offs in Wilsonville and Hillsboro this summer. Pesticides containing dinotefuran and imidacloprid can no longer be applied to linden trees, basswood and other trees of the Tilia genus."

Not everyone is happy about the new restrictions. Scott Dahlman, a lobbyist for the pesticide industry, said that pesticides "pose no harm to the environment" as long as they are properly applied.

What can you do to help save bees? Plant bee-friendly flowers and avoid using pesticides. Also, buy organic food. Read more here.

From Marla Spivak's TED talk about why bees are disappearing:

"When bees have access to good nutrition... they are better able to engage their own natural defenses. Each of our individual actions can contribute to a grand solution... so let the small act of planting flowers and keeping them free of pesticides be the driver of large-scale change."

To participate in the Sabin Bee Friendly Garden Project, contact Diane Benson at dcb1810@yahoo.com.