Everything Glendale

Filed Under: Cool Websites

Some of you have no doubt visited the "Free Stuff" section of Craigslist either to get rid of something someone else might want or to find something you need at no cost. But item-swapping seems to be rare in Glendale itself, with few posts targeting this area. And I think I know why.

There's a cool, highly targeted Yahoo! Group called "Burbank/Glendale Freecycle," where members put up three kinds of notices: "Wanted" for requests; "Offer" for things to be given away; and "Taken" for offers that are now closed. They have a strict set of guidelines, which makes the group pretty focused on what it does best: keeping things in rotation in the Glendale area. Some of the rules include:

**Keep it FREE, Keep it LEGAL, Keep it APPROPRIATE for All Ages!!!

**No SPAM, POLITICS, OFF-TOPIC, TRADES, BARTERS, SELLING, ETC.

**Please limit what you post to TANGIBLE ITEMS that would otherwise be thrown out and end up in the landfill. If it is trash, then trash it! If it is still useable, then offer it on Freecycle™.

**NO Coupons or Tickets. These do not fit our purpose.

**No sob stories or explanations why you want something, just ask.

**Once a month limit to repeating same item in a WANTED message.

**No "curbside" pickups offering an item to first-one-here-gets-it, listing a specific address. Items must belong to you or you must have permission to post for someone else. No "Come and Get It".

**Honor your agreement with the other person in the exchange. Recipients, show up on time with the proper equipment for transporting the item. Givers, meet your recipient on time and have the item ready for pickup.

**PETS -- yes, you can offer pets for adoption here, but you can't try to find a potential mate for breeding purposes. Please don't offer or request farm animals or animals intended as food for
humans or other animals. No requests for pets.

**New Member's messages are MODERATED to keep spam off list.

Pretty cool, huh? You can receive new posts by e-mail (each and every post or a daily digest format), or you can choose to only view posts online.

Click here to join Burbank/Glendale Freecycle. It's currently 4,000+ members strong.


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Filed Under: Cool Websites, Farmers' Market, Food, Green Living, Montrose, News

A few years ago, my best friend moved into a swanky apartment in West Hollywood, right across the street from the Wattles community garden. On the way up to our hike at Runyon Canyon, we snuck a tour of the garden's periphery and saw, beyond the wire fence, an abundant beauty that reminded me of one of my favorite childhood novels, The Secret Garden. There seemed to be a hundred or more small vegetable and herb gardens, separated by a simple mulched pathway. Bordering each farmed plot were creeping vines and blooming flowers. We spotted busy gardeners, working the weeds, schmoozing under lemon trees.

I was insanely jealous. Here was a communal sanctuary, right along Hollywood Boulevard and yet too far from home. When I got back to this side of town, I rushed online and Googled "COMMUNITY GARDEN GLENDALE CALIFORNIA." Sadly, the search proved unfruitful (pardon the pun), as such a garden did not exist.

About a month ago, I became aware of the new Coalition for a Green Glendale, an organization working with the Los Angeles Community Garden Council in building a new community garden at 870 Monterey Road. The Coalition was founded by recent college graduates who have joined with landscape designer Guillame Lemoine (and who I recently had the pleasure of meeting) to "protect, preserve, restore, and enhance the ecological environment of the City of Glendale through conservation, research, education, and activism." Their website also shows that they've been working to make Glendale a more environmentally respectful city by taking even simple steps like handing out reusable bags at the Montrose Harvest Market.

Those who are interested in participating in the new Monterey Eco-Community Garden can go to the Coalition's website for the interest form. According to the Glendale News-Press,
the proposed plan includes communal fruit trees along the edge of the garden (which means anyone could pick 'em!), the possibility of 45 plots of land, and it would serve as a model for future community gardens. Under the current plan, "gardeners would put down a $20 deposit and pay $80 annually for a full plot, $45 for a half plot." Not bad for a year's worth of food and a small slice of Eden.

Visit the Coalition for a Green Glendale website.


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