The Good Girls celebrated the start of our fourth year of volunteering last month. For the last three years, we've done at least one volunteer project every single month. As the group founder, I am very proud of the Good Girls' record. We've helped quite a few people and organizations, and it's also been a great way to develop and maintain some amazing friendships.

For our first project of 2009, we went out to Animal Acres to help with farm chores. We'd done this project once before, in 2006, and it was just as fun the second time. Animal Acres houses all kinds of abandoned, abused and neglected farm animals, most of whom come from factory farms.

When we arrived at the farm, we were greeted by some huge, and very friendly, pigs. The pigs at the sanctuary split their time between sleeping their stalls and roaming around the brush on one side of the farm. Yes, these are free range pigs. Here's Meredith giving one a tummy rub, which, apparently, pigs love.



After we finished saying hello to the pigs, we were shown to a group of goat stalls where we set to work clearing out the soiled hay. It seemed to me that Animal Acres had even more animals than they did back in 2006, and they certainly had a lot of work that needed to get done. This was a project where we definitely felt like we were needed. I don't think Animal Acres could operate without volunteers.



Happily, the stalls where we worked were inhabited by a mother goat and her two cute kids. So, we got to pet and play with some adorable baby animals in addition to raking poop-covered hay. Here's one of the little guys, relaxing in the sun.



The Good Girls spent about 3 1/2 hours at Animal Acres and managed to clean out a large group of stalls and refill them with clean hay. We felt it was a good morning's work, and the baby goats seemed happy. Hopefully, we'll be back to the farm again soon.

Coming up in 2009, the Good Girls have plans to continue to help out at Los Angeles-area food banks, attend beach and river clean-ups, do some arts & crafts for charity and work with Tree People planting trees. In addition, we may organize some fund-raising events for charitable groups. It should be a productive year, full of service and fun.

Last weekend I spent a lot of time digging around it the dirt. It was great.

My gardening adventures started out bright and early on Saturday morning when the Good Girls went down to EarthWorks Farm for a little volunteering. Merete, Meredith, Jen and I spent a few fun hours spreading manure on farmland that would later be tilled and planted. Maybe manure spreading doesn't sound so great to you, but I had a lovely time. The weather was sunny but cool, and EarthWorks was looking great with fresh, green crops growing everywhere. The farm has really come a long way since the first time we went there. It's very impressive. Plus, manure-spreading is an excellent workout. Meredith and I think it might become the next exercise trend, once pole dancing fades out.

Then, on Sunday, Dakota and I had a gardening windfall on our morning walk with Nigel. A very nice neighbor who is moving to Idaho with his partner offered us all the free plants we could carry. Thinking quickly, we went home, grabbed Dakota's car and started loading up the back.

Since I am an admitted cactus addict, I was happy to score several nice cacti and succulents. In addition, we got two free fruit trees! Our neighbor happily gave us a baby papaya tree that he'd grown with seeds from his own impressive tree, which is fruiting like crazy, and a very cute kumquat in a pot. Since I'm currently in the process of killing/attempting not to kill a second kumquat in the back yard, this healthy tree was much appreciated. Dakota also scored what I think is a staghorn fern. Here it is poking out of the back of his car.



After the big free plant score, I was inspired to do some backyard gardening. So, I planted some more seeds in my winter garden plots. This year I am attempting to grow:

Chard
Beets
Turnips
Spinach
Cabbage
Kale
Arugula
Peas
Carrots

I know that sounds like a lot of vegetables, but I like to try a lot of different types of seeds since my soil is not the greatest. That means I don't get to plant many rows of each vegetable, but that's okay. Luckily, arugula, chard and spinach can all grow in pots. This year's heirloom seeds are from both Seed Savers and Seeds of Change. I am hoping that things go as well as they did last year, or perhaps even better. I sure do love braised turnips straight from the garden. So far, I have only sprouts.



To cap off my gardening weekend, Dakota took a break from ripping out kitchen cabinets to help me dig a hole for the lovely apple tree he gave me for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. It's a semi-dwarf Pink Lady. Pink Lady apple trees were originally developed in Australia, and are supposed to do well in Southern California. Dakota terraced off a little section for it, and we dug the hole very deep and wide to give the roots a good start. I'm hopeful it will survive despite the curse of our backyard and make tasty, pretty apples next Fall.



If I can do a good job with the new apple, papaya and kumquat trees, and keep the older orange, fig and lemon trees alive, we will have quite a nice little orchard. I'm not sure why I've had such a hard time with fruit trees in the past. I guess they require a lot of water to get established, and the last few years have been extremely dry. I also suspect our hard, rocky soil is not helping matters. Here's hoping for a rainy winter.

Last Saturday, the Good Girls took a trip down to the EarthWorks Enterprises farm in the Whittier Narrows* for their Make a Difference Day. EarthWorks is an urban farm with a number of goals. Here's their mission statement from their website:

EarthWorks Enterprises is a nonprofit grassroots organization that strives to enhance the health and economic security of youth, low-income families and other residents of South El Monte and Whittier through organic sustainable agriculture.

We employ youth to help grow and sell organic produce to the community. In addition, youth develop communication, leadership and job skills, and learn about nutrition and the environmental benefits of sustainable agriculture. The community benefits from having a local source of affordable, nutritious organic produce.

The farm itself is large, especially for one worked by volunteers, and there were crops growing on about 3/4 of the land. Farmer Bob, who is the farm manager and a third-generation farmer, said he has big plans to improve the farm and grow more crops. He seemed to think the farm was unimpressive, but, having been to a number of nonprofit urban farms in the past, I thought this one looked pretty darn good.

Merete, Rachel and I were put to work transplanting leeks, kale, lettuce and onions into raised rows. It was fun and fairly simple, so we were able to chat while we worked. Of course, I was deeply jealous of all the happy, healthy plants growing all around me, considering my own pathetic home garden. But, Farmer Bob is a professional, after all. Perhaps someday I'll grow okra and eggplants as nice as the ones at EarthWorks.

When lunchtime arrived, a group of chefs provided all the volunteers with a cooking demonstration that was supposed to show us how easy it was to make a tasty, healthy meal using fresh veggies from the farm. Unfortunately, most of the people in the crowd of volunteers were not interested in the demo, and when lunch meat sandwiches and bags of chips appeared, they all flocked to eat those instead of the salad and stir-fry the chefs were cooking. It was a little depressing, and a good reminder that you can't change people's habits overnight. If these teenagers were unfamiliar with kale and okra and fresh ginger, they probably weren't going to try it without some persuading. It seemed like the kids who actually worked at the farm every week were more into the veggies, though, so EarthWorks does seem to be succeeding in helping those kids learn about healthy eating. Perhaps they'll persuade their friends.

On the bright side, EarthWorks also provides free boxes of produce to 30 local low-income families every week. So, the kids in those families will get used to eating fresh, healthy vegetables and hopefully develop a taste for them. And, the EarthWorks produce stand,open every Saturday from 10am-12pm, provides people in the area with inexpensive fresh produce that they probably can't find in stores. I bought some kale, okra and lettuce from the stand, and it was all very tasty.

To wrap up, the Good Girls had a good time helping out on the farm last weekend, and I think we'll go back. They welcome outside volunteers every Saturday morning, and there's no need to pre-register. So, if you live in LA and you're looking for a nice way to spend your morning helping a good cause, you should check it out.



* The farm is due South of Pasadena. It actually wasn't a very long drive from my house, especially on Saturday morning when the freeways were clear.

Last Saturday, the Good Girls participated in one of Heal the Bay's monthly "Nothin' But Sand" beach clean-ups. Four of us drove down to the beach for the morning: Merete, Mirabai, Natalie and me.

The clean-up was at a beach in Playa del Rey, an area just North of LAX. The area itself is lovely and the water was a gorgeous blue. If you looked at the beach from far away, you probably wouldn't have noticed much trash at all, but, up close, it was littered with tiny pieces of junk.

At Heal the Bay beach clean-ups, you're issued a rubber glove, a trash bag and a check list to keep track of what kind of trash you're picking up. The majority of the trash on this beach was made up of small pieces of styrofoam, tiny pieces of styrofoam and teeny tiny pieces of styrofoam.

Honestly, the amount of styrofoam bits on California beaches is shocking, and a little depressing. Despite our best efforts, the four of us barely made a dent in several heavily-littered areas. We did our best, though, and picked up us much styrofoam as possible, as well as around 80 cigarette butts and other small pieces of trash and plastic.

Speaking of cigarette butts, I am thinking there needs to be some kind of revolution or grass-roots movement against this particular form of litter. According to the Ocean Conservancy, cigarette butts account for 1 in every 5 pieces of litter picked up on California beaches during costal clean-ups. They get there both through people smoking on beaches and, mostly, through people dropping their cigarette butts in the street. Those butts are then washed down storm drains and sent out into the ocean.

I think that smokers need to start taking responsibility for the proper disposal of the cigarette butts, and non-smokers need to say something when they see people drop their butts on the ground. It seems absurd to me that people who would never drop an empty aluminum can or candy wrapper on the ground freely and unthinkingly toss their cigarette butts anywhere they happen to be standing. I plan to start my own little campaign against this behavior, and I hope you'll join me.

Here's a funny poster from Australia to get you inspired.


If you'd like to volunteer with Heal the Bay, you can learn more by clicking this link. They are having their annual state-wide Coastal Clean-Up Day on September 16, with clean-ups at over 55 different sites in LA County alone. Go to the website if you're interested in participating, or call 800-COAST-4U for sites in the rest of California.

For our most recent Good Girls activity, we took Merete's suggestion and went out to the farm. Specifically, we woke up early on a Saturday and drove to Animal Acres to help out with some chores. Animal Acres calls itself a "farmed animal sanctuary and compassionate living center." They take lost, abused or injured farm animals and either get them adopted or care for them for the rest of their natural lives. In addition, Animal Acres educates people about animal cruelty, specifically in terms of factory farming.

Jen, Merete and I made the 45 minute drive North to the farm on a scorching-hot July day. When we got there, we were met by a very nice farm intern who showed us what needed to be done and where to get our tools. Then, we got to work cleaning goat and cow stalls.

Most of the animals were very cute.

Here's a cow we met, and a super fat goat who made me laugh every time I saw her (in a compassionate way, of course).



After we finished picking the poop out of the stalls, we got to feed a super-cute lamb as a special treat. The lamb had actually been following us around a lot, like a curious pet. I found myself petting it just like I'd pet a dog, which was strange, but fun.

Here's Jen feeding the lamb (with milk in a beer bottle).



After our vegan picnic lunch, we moved on to the chicken area.

I must say, the chickens affected me most of all the farm animals. Most of them had pink, bald patches on their bodies, the result of being crammed into wire cages with other chickens. Despite the fact that the chickens had been at Animal Acres for about 6 months, their feathers still had not grown back, and probably never would. But that wasn't even the saddest part. Once we got close, we saw that the chickens' beaks were short and blunted. It turned out that the tips of their beaks had been cut off by their former owners at a factory farm. Apparently, this is a common practice used to prevent the chickens from pecking each other as they sit in their tiny cages. Their beaks looked awful, and the intern told us that sometimes the chickens starve to death after their beaks are clipped because it's too painful to eat. The turkeys in the chicken area also had clipped beaks, and clipped toes as well. It was very sad.

But, on the bright side, these chickens and turkeys seemed pretty happy at Animal Acres. Merete even petted one of the turkeys. Apparently, turkeys are very sweet-natured animals.





Once we finished scraping poop up in the chicken area--not the most fun job ever--and Jen finished cleaning out a crate used to house some adorable stray kittens, we were done with our chores and ready to head home.

On our way out, we said farewell to the biggest, fattest pig I have ever seen. Merete, who has been to Animal Acres before, had told me about this huge pig, but I don't really think I believed her until I witnessed it's enormousness myself. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but here it is anyway.



What I took away from this Good Girls adventure, beyond an appreciation for goat butts, is that free range chicken is the way to go. I know that phrase sounds kind of silly to some people, but I really think it's important to treat the animals we eat with some compassion. Cramming them in tiny cages and cutting off their beaks just doesn't seem like something that we should allow. Luckily, free range chicken and eggs are readily available in California grocery stores.

Is the same true in the rest of the country?

*Special thanks to Jen for taking these great pictures!

I just dropped off some fairly dorky signs that Natalie and I made for the hospice we work with from time to time. The volunteer coordinator said we should make some artistic representations of fireworks for people who would miss them due to illness this 4th of July. Making pictures of fireworks is actually kind of hard, but we did our best. I relied heavily on glitter. Unfortunately, Natalie and I were the only Good Girls who could find the time to do this project, so we only made about 25 signs. That's way down from our previous efforts for Valentine's and Mother's Days. But it's better than nothing.

Here's a pic of Nigel sitting among the gift bags Rachel, Jen, Mirabai and I made for Mother's Day last May. They turned out pretty well, and I think we each made at least 15 bags, so there were over 60 for that project.



For our June Good Girls project, Rachel and I went down to the LA Food Bank for some food-sorting fun. This time we had two different assignments.

First, we were sorting through dry food donations. It was kind of depressing and frustrating, actually, because we ended up putting most of the donations on the "trash" conveyor belt rather than the "good" conveyor. This was for several reasons: (1) much of the food had expired over a year ago (2) many of the packages were damaged or open (3) some of the stuff inside the donation boxes wasn't even food. It was actually kind of shocking that people/business would "donate" such garbagy stuff. I kind of felt like they thought poor people would just eat anything, no matter how old or disgusting.

Just as Rachel and I were getting especially indignant after finding a jar of mold-covered olives in one of the boxes, we were pulled away to another part of the Food Bank. There, we were assigned to sort large bins of fresh peaches. This made me feel a bit better. Peaches are delicious and healthy, and, while there were some bad ones in the bunch, for the most part the peaches looked tasty. So, while there were slim pickin's among the dry food donations, at least the Food Bank clients would be getting some fresh, pretty peaches that week.

On our way out, Rachel and I took a last look at the South Central Farm, which is next door to the Food Bank. It hadn't been bulldozed yet, but there was no one inside. Outside, there were a handful of hippy-looking types with signs, but I believe most of the protestors have given up. What a shame.

Next up: Animal Acres on July 8. Should be a fun one.

Last month, the Good Girls got together for a little knitting/chocheting night at my house to make lap blankets for a hospice. And we're meeting again this week to keep working on our blankets. Although they're just simple rectangles, they take a while to knit. Here are some images from our March knitting night. (For some reason we all decided to use green yarn.)

Here's Natalie knitting a green wool lap blanket.



And here's Jean, who is crocheting a blanket out of the same wool.



Hopefully we'll complete our blankets soon so I can drop them off at the hospice before summer gets here.

In other knitting and do-gooding news, I completed my fourth wool baby hat for afghans for Afghans last weekend and mailed all four off yesterday. Hopefully, they meet the relief group's needs. I think I'll continue making items for them. They have another larger goal coming up in the next few months. Maybe this time I'll try some mittens. I've never done mittens before, so it would be good practice.

For our most recent Good Girls project, we signed up to help out at the historic Lummis House off the 110 freeway in the Arroyo Seco neighborhood of Los Angeles. Once a month, volunteers come to help the house's official gardeners keep up the grounds (which feature drought-tolerant native plants). Here we are, leaving my house on a Saturday morning, our trowels poised to dig! (Clockwise from top left: Merete, Audrey, Rachel & Mirabai)


The Good Girls had a really great time on this project. When we arrived, we were given a tour of the house, which is really amazing. It was built by Charles Lummis, who was one of those fascinating characters from the early 1900s who made his way in the world using his own wits and ambition. The extremely nice tour guide/volunteer coordinator gave us a quick summary of his colorful life and showed us all the interesting and innovative details of the house. I would definitely recommend the Lummis House as a place to bring out of town guests. It's one of those great hidden gems of L.A.

After our tour, we were put to work weeding a large section of ground behind the guest houses on the property. There were a LOT of weeds, but we managed to pull them all--with the help of a professional gardener and a couple other volunteers. We were lucky that it had just rained, so the ground was soft and the weeds came out quite easily.

When we finished weeding, we were served homemade tamales donated by a neighbor of the Lummis House. They were delicious! Overall, I'd give this volunteer project a big thumbs up. We all had a great time and everyone who we met at the Lummis House was very nice and fun to talk to. I think we'll definitely do the project again.

Last month, I started this new club after reading an article in the New Yorker. The article was about this mega-church and the way the guy who created it keeps his members engaged is by assigning them to "small groups." These small groups meet, talk and pray weekly, and this creates a bond with the larger church that they're all affiliated with. What caught my attention was that the people in these small groups tend to be much more involved in the church and to do much more community service than those who are not in the groups. My immediate thought was: It sucks that this kind of thing only really exists in a religious setting.

Then, I decided to do something about that. So, I started a club called (somewhat jokingly) The Good Girls Club. I decided to keep it all women because I feel like it's easier for a single-sex group to bond, even when they are strangers. And I just like all-woman groups. I guess it's my personal bias. It's basically like a book club or a knitting club, but for community service. Right now, we meet twice a month: once to plan and once to do a community service activity. I have invited various female friends to join. There are about 6 people in The Good Girls right now, although the first two activities were only attended by two other members and me.

It's been really fun so far. Our first community service act was to go down to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and help sort and box up food on a Saturday morning. That was a very satisfying project, because it involved hard work and you could really see exactly how you were helping people. It also really brought home how serious the hunger problem is in Los Angeles.

Our second project was making Valentine's Day cards for a hospice care company. We ended up making 240 cards, mostly because my friend Natalie had this amazing assembly line that cranked out gorgeous handmade Valentines (which I foolishly forgot to photograph). But, all three of us worked hard, and it was fun to do some goofy arts and crafts for a good cause. The volunteer coordinator at the hospice was super-excited to get the cards, and she gave me a big hug when I dropped them off. Again, it was a very satisfying project.

So, in two months, we've done two good projects. I guess I'd like it if we could do more, but we're all very busy women who are very focused on our careers and friends and relationships, so I think one project a month may be all we can handle for a while.

I'm not sure what we'll do as our March project, but I am excited to figure it out. I'll post about it once we've decided.