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If you live in California, there is one unique restaurant chain doing good things and growing crazy fast that you probably already have high on your list of places to try or have completely fallen in love with. If you haven't heard of it – you are in for a treat called Tender Greens.
In 2012, the Tender Greens Sustainable Life Project was born out of a desire to do more for homeless youth and foster children. Founding chefs and owners of Tender Greens, Erik Oberholtzer, Matt Lyman and David Dressler developed their internship program, the Sustainable Life Project (SLP), to help teach foster youth about healthy eating, culinary skills, sustainable urban farming and culinary arts.
The project automatically differentiated them from other restaurants in the area. CEO/Founder Erik Oberholtzer was inspired by his work with the Los Angeles based non-profit StandUp for Kids. The Tender Greens program works with Inner City Arts and Covenant House to provide a 12 week culinary internship program with an opportunity to interview to work at a Tender Greens restaurant at the end of the internship. This opportunity provides insight into how food can bring healing and opportunity to many young lives. Because transitioning foster youth are too often overlooked, they are forced to navigate a broken system while fails to acknowledge and foster their potential. Tender Greens sought to change that.
Inspired by the countless opportunities available and working with Scarborough Farms, the owners of Tender Greens created an internship program to give transitioning foster youth access to a safe, consistent learning and nurturing living environment. It allows young adults to participate in an urban farming and culinary arts internship and provides select individuals with a strong "family" structure, career opportunities. It also helps to instill in them important values for creating relationships through land, food and community and prepares them to pursue their personal and professional goals with confidence.
Once the program is complete, graduates become ideal candidates for scholarships to attend culinary arts school, university and various internships across many different disciplines.
Tender Greens has also since developed a partnership with Inner-City Arts to further build the program.
The program for foster youth is now a 12-week internship that includes the following activities:
Tender Greens Internship
- Learn kitchen back of house
- Art of food shopping
- Food Handler's Certificate
- Basic knife skills
- Cold sauces and lettuce prep
- Soups and Salads
- Grilling: prepare the meats
- Ordering, inventory, menu planning, social media
Field Trips
- Farming & Food Production
- Silver Lake Farms: Tour an urban farm; Learn to compost and importance of organic soil biology
- Hollywood Farmer's Market: Tour, taste and smell one of LA's best' markets to discuss importance of local and organic farming; Interact with the farmers
- Scarborough Farms: Walk the fields, packaging facility, Q&A with the farmers
- International Marine in DTLA: Tour the tuna room; Interact with sushi chefs; Experience rare fish and seafood
- La Espanola and P. Balistreri Salumi production: Tour of a salumeria and learn about meat curing process
- ReRide Ranch: Tour a small homestead pig farm and learn about animal husbandry
- La Brea Bakery: See a full production bakery, from artisan breads to rustic sweets
Culinary Arts at Inner-City Arts Campus in DTLA
- Screening of "Vanishing Bees" documentary with Q&A
- Lesson on ancient grains and legumes
- Importance of texture, seasoning and balance
- Taste and smell different mustards, herbs and spices
- Basic cooking techniques: blanching, steaming, pickling, slow cooking, braising, etc. o Butchery: learn fish butchering – clean and prepare
- Pastry/Desserts – basic brownies, pies, cobbers, ice cream, cupcakes, cookies and icing
Professional Readiness
- Resume development
- Interviewing skills
- What employers are looking for in a team member
- Prepare 3 dishes using ingredients in a mystery basket
- Peer judging and critique
- Prepare a dish to be featured as the daily special at Tender Greens
Check out this example of one of their delicious recipes:
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
These spicy pumpkin cookies are perfect to make during the fall and winter months. The warm tones of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg pair nicely with a sweet vanilla glaze. Serve them at room temperature or heated for just a few seconds for a nice fall treat.
Yields about 1 ½ dozen cookies
Ingredients for the Pumpkin Cookie Dough:
1 stick of butter; softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; grated
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. For the cookie dough, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated.
3. Add the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree.
4. Add the spices, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
5. Scoop each cookie about 2 tablespoon each, onto a baking sheet, spacing them 3 inches apart.
6. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until puffed and slightly brown around the edges.
7. Cool.
Ingredients for the Glaze:
1 ½ cup powdered sugar; sifted
1 egg white
½ vanilla bean; scraped or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1. To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, egg whites and vanilla bean or vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
2. If the glaze is too loose, add a little more powdered sugar until it is the correct consistency.
3. Frost the cookies using the back of a spoon or small offset spatula.
4. Let set for 10 minutes before serving.
What do you think of Tender Greens' Sustainable Life Project? Share your thoughts and support for them below!


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Well, it's about time to take the girl back to the shop. I've put over 9,000 miles on the bike since July. With the exception of a couple of weeks here and there in January and February–including two straight weeks of rain in Febuary, I've ridden her to work every day. And everywhere I can ride, too.
Of course, having the dogs and the chick, my weekends are usually devoted to driving the truck around on errands. My truck now has just broken 10,000 miles, and I've had it since 3/17/07. So the majority of that mileage came in the four months I drove it before getting the motorcycle, and a road trip to Tucson and back last year.
Now that the bike is approaching 10,000 miles, it's time for a service, oil change, etc. And, unfortunately, a new back tire as well. So this will be an expensive trip to the dealer.
My local dealer, by the way, is still open. Apparently, according to a commenter here, Biggs is looking for a new owner. The Oceanside shop is essentially permanently closed, unless the new owner, whoever that might be, decides to re-open it.
It'd be cool if NY Mike decided to buy the dealership and incorporate it into San Diego Harley. There's a good chance that I'd get my old service writer and parts consultant back if they did, since they are now working at the SD Harley at Claremont Mesa.
But, that's for the future. For now, it's going to be an expensive 10k checkup for the Sporty.

subset: commoncrawl


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New Eagle Council asks residents to pay garbage collection fees, clear sidewalks
New Eagle officials had a warning Thursday for borough residents – clear your sidewalks of snow and ice and pay your current garbage collection fees or face citations.
Speaking at the regular monthly meeting of council, Mayor Glenn Petticord served notice that the borough has an ordinance requiring residents to clear sidewalks in front of their homes of snow and ice and plans to enforce it.
"If they don't clean up their sidewalks, we're probably going to have to cite them," Petticord said. "It's going to be 40-some degrees this next week. Now's the time to do something."
Petticord said local postal officials have complained that it is sometimes difficult to deliver mail to some residents who don't shovel paths to their homes.
Council President Jack Fine said the borough also will begin citing those who do not pay their garbage collection fees. Fine and Petticord agreed that at $99 annually, New Eagle has possibly the lowest rate in the area.
Still, Fine said roughly 20 percent of the residents are delinquent.
Borough Secretary Linda Hall said some residents who were cited last year have already paid the fee this year. Fine said that could be indicative that citing delinquent accounts is effective.
In other news, council terminated its contract with Code Enforcement Associates and voted to hire its engineering firm, HMT, to provide code enforcement services.
"I think we'll be a lot better off," Fine said.
Petticord said the decision to drop CEA was made because of "poor response time."
Council also approved a new, three-year contract covering the borough's two public works employees. They will receive 33-cents-an-hour raises in each year of the pact.
"I think it's a good contract for both sides," Fine said.
In other business, the board approved a $10,350 contract with Schaaf Excavating and Contracting of South Park to remove a vacant building that formerly housed The Hawk's Nest, located at 127 Union St.
Solicitor Tim Berggren said Schaaf submitted the lowest responsible bid, noting it contained no qualifications.
"It will be a blessing for us and the residents down there," Petticord said of the planned razing.
Washington County recently awarded a bid for the razing of a vacant structure at 335 Madison St. The structure should come down by spring.
Councilman Barry Williams was appointed to a vacancy on the municipal authority.
Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2642 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Camden Sierra at Otay Ranch is located in the exclusive suburban community of Otay Ranch in San Diego, California. We feature townhomes with attached garages, and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartment homes. Inside our pet-friendly community, you will discover a resort-style swimming pool and spa, fully equipped fitness center and billiards room. Surrounded by rolling hills, walking and biking trails, the views of South San Diego are incredible. Shopping, dining and entertainment is just a short walk away. We are close to the Otay Ranch Town Center Mall and boast easy access to I-805 and the 125 toll road. Please note that all floor plan availabilty is subject to change. Call for details.
Lease terms are variable. Please inquire with property staff.
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Subscribe to Filmibeat
Ganesh's wife and producer Shilpa is the latest member from the film fraternity to join politics. After Tara, Shruti, Umashri, Ramya, Rakshita Prem, Malavika, Pooja Gandhi, now Shilpa has taken a plunge into politics. She has joined ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Shilpa Ganesh said that women should take active interest in politics to fight against raising atrocities against them. The violence has become rampant in the nation. She believes in the BJP ideology, which could bring a change in the society.
"The Nirbhaya incident which shook the entire country made me to take the plunge into politics. Since I am yet to learn nuances of politics, I won't seek any immediate position in the party," The Times of India quoted Shilpa as saying. However, she said that her husband Ganesh would not enter politics and he belongs to every party.
Shilpa Ganesh turned producer with Malleyalli Jotheyalli and has also produced Kool Sakkath Hot Maga. Both the movies starred Golden Star Ganesh.
Read more about: ganesh, shilpa ganesh


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DFN: The Federal Government just gave the 'green light' for a 1,000MW solar thermal plant to be constructed near Blythe California. This is the latest in the government's short list of projects which have been approved.
Huge Solar-Plant Project Approved
By CASSANDRA SWEET And SIOBHAN HUGHES
A proposal to build the world's biggest solar-thermal power plant in the Southern California desert got the go-ahead Monday from the Obama administration, which used the announcement to bolster its message that renewable energy creates jobs.
The $6 billion project is being developed by Solar Trust of America, a joint venture between Germany's Solar Millennium AG and privately held Ferrostaal AG on 7,025 acres of federally owned land near Blythe, Calif. The approval clears the way for the developers to seek federal grants and loan guarantees.
The Obama administration has been criticized over the past year for hurting job creation by holding up coal-mining permits and suspending deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The Obama administration said the Blythe solar-power project will create 1,066 jobs at the peak of construction and almost 300 permanent jobs to operate the facility.
The project is the sixth solar-energy installation approved for public lands. The Interior Department said in total the projects could generate as much as 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power two million homes. California regulators have approved or plan to approve a total of nine solar-thermal power plants for the state.
Siobhan Hughes discusses plans to build the world's largest solar plant, approved by the U.S. on Monday. Alternative energy companies are racing to start solar projects before federal incentives expire at year's end.
.State and federal regulators pledged last year to work together to fast-track approval for a raft of large solar-power projects to enable developers to meet a Dec. 31 deadline required to take advantage of federal financial incentives.
The Interior Department's action on the Blythe project coincides with the final days of a hard-fought battle in California over a ballot proposal that would suspend a 2006 state law that required action to cut the state's greenhouse-gas emissions.
The federal approval allows Solar Trust to start construction on the plant this year and take advantage of government incentives that would reduce the cost of the project. In order to receive cash grants in exchange for unused tax credits, a popular but expiring program, companies must break ground on projects or spend 5% of construction costs by year end.
The estimated cost of the first two units of the Blythe plant is $3 billion.
The company could be eligible for a $900 million cash grant for the first two units from the U.S. Energy Department and the U.S. Treasury Department in lieu of a tax credit.
Unlike familiar photovoltaic solar panels, solar-thermal plants utilize curved mirrors that direct the sun's heat to a central tube in which steam is generated to drive turbines.
Driving demand for solar energy is a California state mandate that requires utilities to get one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The mandate is part of the state's climate law. Advocates of solar power say the planned projects could create thousands of jobs in the economically hard-hit state.
Solar Trust is awaiting approval from the Energy Department for a federal loan guarantee for the first two of four total units. Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc. are working with Solar Trust to obtain project-equity and tax-equity investment, said Bill Keegan, a spokesman for Solar Trust of America.
Filed under: Unassigned |


text: Hi all, This may not be the exact forum for this question, as I was a little fuzzy on which one to put it in, but here goes... I'm soon going to be moving back to a very rural area, and will be using Exede satellite internet for my connectivity. While they have fairly strict bandwidth limits each month, they offer a free "no limit" zone in the wee hours of the morning. My question is this: Does anyone know of a program, or a method, for scheduling batch photo uploads to Google's Picasa Web? That's currently where we back up all of our photos. The Picasa app on the Mac doesn't seem to offer any scheduling functionality. I'm hoping to find a way so that I can utilize the "free zone" for all of my photo uploads, without having to stay up late each night and manually kick off the job. Thanks for any assistance! -Ryan Satterfield


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the Revival of the Ceremony at
Seoul's Imperial Temple of Heaven
in June 2002 (page 2)
In early June of 2002 the Organizing Committee for Visit Korea Year (for which I worked), Mr. Jo Hong-gyu
(President of KNTO) and Mr. Jang Gyeon-jak (President of Westin Chosun Hotel) arranged a re-creation of the
Go-cheon-je, the profound ceremony praying to Heaven, with a formal garden-dinner for ambassadors and other
VIPs. This was done in the hope that Korea's co-hosting of the 2002 World Cup Finals would be a great success
(as it in fact was), and that this traditional ceremony will be revived and developed into one of Korea's living
Cultural Heritage performances. It was agreed that the Go-cheon-je should be revived in regular Spring and
Autumn performances, "to let foreign visitors and even our own citizens know and see more
of Korea's unique and excellent traditional culture."
The role of "Jeju" or leading official of this ceremony, which would have been the Emperor of Korea, was
performed by Mr. Yi Seok (b.1941), who happens to be the actual oldest surviving claimant to the Joseon
Dynasty throne (which is unlikely to ever be revived, however). Twenty men made the offerings, and
they were supported by the traditional teams of 22 musicians & 36 youthful dancers.
So, this ceremony employed a total of 80 participants. It proceeded in several stages according to ancient
Neo-Confucian traditions -- really the same kind of ritual that Koreans perform for their own ancestors on
Lunar New Year's Day and the Chuseok Holiday, just much more elaborate.
burning the invocation-papers at the end
San-shin Site Contents Page
the Won-gu-dan in 1920, the new City Hall building in left background


text:
sms-queue handles an SMS queue for small networks or single user machines. It is designed for areas where many SMS messages are sent. It does not actually send the SMS itself, but instead calls an external application (depending on the SMS gateway you want to use) via a simple standard interface. The communication between client and server is based on a simple ASCII protocol over TCP/IP which should make it easy to develop your own frontend.
K-3D is a 3D modeling, animation, and rendering system for GNU/Linux & Win32. Features include creation and editing of geometry in multiple realtime OpenGL solid, shaded, and texture-mapped views; unlimited undos and redos; complete extensibility at runtime through third-party plugins; animated procedural geometric effects; all parameters animatable through a consistent control-spline based interface; rendering pipeline to Renderman Interface compliant rendering engines; optimization for use with the Aqsis rendering engine, which features solid modelling, true displacement, and user programmable shaders; and support for background and batch rendering.


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Jonah Hill Is A Serious Actor Now And You Will Address Him As Such
Last week Will and Jaden Smith gave what had to be the most pretentious, high-on-their-own-farts interview of the year while promoting After Earth. Except here's Jonah Hill who falls just a tad short of snatching the title, yet gives an impressive douchebag performance in Rolling Stone while promoting This Is The End. Keep in mind, the rest of the cast was asked the same questions to determine what it'd like to be holed up with them during the apocalypse, and all of them played along including James Franco who even showed up with a goddamn art book from Yale, yet still managed to come off as less self-important than Jonah Hill:
Things start out well:
Just to break the ice, we ask about his day, what he did this morning, what a typical Jonah Hill morning would be. He says one thing he does is ride the elliptical. We wonder how long he rides it for. He says he doesn't know, maybe about 30 minutes. We ask if he does pushups and stuff like that or what?
He stiffens and says, "My workout routine is of little relevance."
Alright, then…
This is not going to be easy. But, OK. Has he ever been in a fistfight?
"I fought a lot when I was younger. Some were good, some were bad. I don't fight anymore, though. I'm an adult man," he says, kind of laughing and sneering at the same time. "I use my words."
Okay, that's kind of a fair statement. Adults use adult words. Poop-face.
We press on. Rogen had told us about a line Hill didn't want to say during the filming of This Is the End: "What we were saying to him was, 'Tell God you'll suck his dick if he kicks Jay out of the house.' And I think he said it once, like, 'God, I will suck your dick if you kill Jay.' And we were like, 'Say it again!' And he was like, 'I don't want to do it again.'" We bring this up.
Hill looks off and very slowly says, "Seth and Evan are the most talented comedy writers at work today, and I have ultimate faith in them. But I'm a religious guy, I do believe in God and I'm Jewish, and I just couldn't imagine being happy with that later in life. I just didn't want to say it."
So Jonah Hill is apparently religious now. And here's where you feel the entire interview dive into a pissy bowl of piss. (See? Using my grown-up words.)
The waiter comes back, asks if we want a menu. Hill shakes his head. He evidently has no plans to eat here or even drink more than a glass of water. He's slouching in his chair, stretching out his already stretched-out shirt. We can see the way this is heading and remind him that this is for our magazine's weed issue and so – Well, he cuts us off right there. "I don't even smoke weed," he says, in such a pre-emptive, aggressive way that we figure he has heard about our little e-joint, so we decide to keep it hidden.
So maybe a nice fart question will break the question. Do you fart, now-an-adult Jonah Hill?
His eyes nearly jump out of their sockets. "I'm not answering that dumb question! I'm not that kind of person! Being in a funny movie doesn't make me have to answer dumb questions. It has nothing to do with who I am."
And here we go:
"I've done one of the biggest challenges you can do in Hollywood, which is transition from being a comedic actor to being a serious actor, and I'm really prideful of that," he says. "I could have made a billion dollars doing every big comedy of the last 10 years and didn't, in order to form a whole other life for myself. Now I have fulfillment doing both."
But don't call Jonah Hill angry. You won't like him when he's angry. Also, has he mentioned he's an adult yet?
And then, if you remind him that Apatow once called him "angry, nerdy," he'll again make with the better-left-unexamined subtext and say, "Yeah, there was probably an angry time for me. But I couldn't be a less angry person. Judd maybe thinks of himself that way. But I haven't worked for him in five years. I adore him. But I'm fucking 29 years old and not some angry kid."
"I'm not angry, okay? I'm fucking 29-years-old and am a serious fucking actor who's just trying to get taken serious by not answering your dumb fucking questions. I'm completely fucking happy, alright? See? Look at me smile. That fucking smile worked with Tarantino, bitch." – Jonah Hill, not angry
Photos: Getty


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Started Aug 19, 2010 0 Replies 0 Likes
This may be interesting to anyone starting a business and a good time to hook up with a coach to make the most of it. But hurry, submission deadline 8/26. …Continue
Hi Sibyl,
It is nice to meet you, and Marianne Clements emailed me that you are looking for someone
to build your website. Please let me know if you want to discuss my experience and skills.
Thank you,
Cynthia Hare
I picked up your E-book today at the SFB in Nashville. Looks to be a good read. Thank you!
Welcome to the "Find Your Life's Work" group! From your profile, I think we share a few characteristics. I too like to write, am unemployed and working on starting a business, and am organized but prefer the creative side of things. Let me know if I can be of any help.
Sibyl: The name of the magazine is The Lighnting Ridge Outdoor Journal. It is a regional magazine out of Bolivar MO. To take a look at the front cover do a serch for Larry Dablemonet Outdoors ( I think that is a blog). As far as the story goes, I would be happy to post you a copy of the story as soon as I make myself a copy. The best way I can describe the magazine is like a hunting, fishings, outdoors, Reader's Digest. I will get my article posted to you some time next week.
Stuart Phelps
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Rhapsody of the Pacific!: Rhapsody of the Seas Cruise Review by survey54
Overall Member Rating
Rhapsody of the Pacific!
Destination: South Pacific
Embarkation: Other
The boarding process in Sydney was extremely quick and the staff were most helpful. We had a well-designed stateroom on Level 3 in the middle of the ship - perfect location to avoid motion sickness. Very adequate drawer and hanging space meant that we unpacked very quickly and were at the Windjammer Cafe in time for lunch! The bathroom was understandably small but very well designed. My only problems with the Stateroom were the small circular table (could have done without it) and the extent of the mini-bar with no fridge - one of the cupboards was entirely taken up storing the mini-bar we didn't use! The big picture window was great.
In spite of the myriad of nationalities in the staff on board, everyone appeared to get on extremely well together. Our Stateroom attendant Dewar was very good at his job and More extremely friendly. At the Edelweiss Restaurant for dinner, head waiter Romeo, waiter Bons and assistant waiter Olena were very attentive and professional. Our company at dinner were couples from Melbourne, New Zealand and the USA - a well-selected variety. One of the couples booked a Mediterranean cruise for next year with RCI whilst on board, so they must have had a good time.
We ordered the pre-cruise discount international wine selection (25% off) only to find when we got on board that there was another selection of Australian/New Zealand wines we could have chosen that wasn't advertised - it was a bit disappointing that we weren't informed of this option when we booked.
The ports we visited (Noumea, Lifou, Luganville, Champagne Bay, Vila, Mystery Island and Isle of Pines) accepted Australian currency in preference to US dollars - in Lifou, they didn't accept US currency at all! We were told by some passengers that the Luganville taxi drivers negotiated a fare and then renegotiated for the return journey when they got you to your destination! The Vila taxi drivers were like a swarm of bees but no deviation from the $3 fare each into the main town. In Noumea, it is better to convert your money to Pacific Francs prior to booking on a tour, as we found that the prices quoted in local currency and foreign currency are significantly different.
We enjoyed the evening entertainment on board. Most acts were Australian and if there is one criticism it is that they should take more into account that there are passengers of other nationalities on board: "Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi" can get a bit repetitive. Each night was a different show and the big surprise on the last night was the singing by the Cruise Director Sol - she could really belt out a tune (what a curse - tall, blonde and talented!). The costumes were professional and the dancing, singing, juggling and jokes were all very entertaining.
For this cruise, you need to make sure you take your goggles & snorkels and preferably a rash shirt and reef shoes. Hiring goggles from the inhabitants at Lifou was up to $15 for the day. The coral at most locations was suffering from the volume of tourists but there was still some colour and the fish were plentiful. "Choose your own lobster or crab" was available for fresh cooking at Champagne Bay and Mystery Island (our 2 favourite destinations).
Ages on the cruise ranged from babies and school-age children right up to retirees and the elderly. I think the age group of 50plus would have been the most represented of the 2000 passengers. There were a couple of passengers confined to wheelchairs, but they didn't seem to have any noticeable problem getting off at the ports, even those which required a tender. Smoking was confined to certain areas of the ship, which was good. Cocktails were averaging a reasonable $7 to $9 each and we didn't notice any happy hours. We recommend the Windjammer Cafe for breakfast: we found the Edelweiss restaurant at breakfast time was intimidating and the omelettes are much better and fresher in the Windjammer.
The gratuities (tips) situation was interesting. The pre-cruise wine package included a 15% gratuity on top. When we booked, because we were Australian we were charged an additional gratuity amount in the booking fee. For other passengers, there was a guide ($ per day per staff member) provided on the second last night of the cruise, with envelopes to be handed directly to the head waiter, waiter, assistant waiter and cabin attendant. Working it out, my wife and I both appeared to pay an extra $50 each in gratuities above the recommended amount. I hope at least some of this goes to the "behind the scenes" ship's crew, but I don't understand why other nationalities didn't have to pay up front like we did.
We would recommend the Rhapsody of the Seas to our friends and we would look forward to traveling with RCI in the future. Less
Published 12/01/10
Cabin review: I3626 Large Ocean View Stateroom
Our room 3626 was an outside Stateroom, on the starboard side about mid-rear of the ship. Friends near the front of the ship on Level 2 were disturbed by the anchor when we arrived at some ports of call, but we could hardly hear it.Read All Large Ocean View Stateroom (I) Reviews >>
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Western Pennsylvania gardeners get their grow on at annual symposium
The Garden & Landscape Symposium of Western Pennsylvania is an annual rite of spring for many plant enthusiasts — even before they slip their green thumbs into their garden gloves for the first time after a long winter.
The event features a day filled with presentations by horticultural experts and a garden marketplace for stocking up on new plant varieties, garden accessories and botanical artwork. A new addition this year is the annual daffodil show hosted by the Daffodil & Hosta Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Keynote speaker Michael Dirr, a retired professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, is well known for his numerous plant introductions and has written more than 300 articles and scientific papers and several books, including an encyclopedia of hardy trees and shrubs. He says the reference book took nearly two years to complete and was a labor of love.
One of the plants that Dirr popularized is the' Endless Summer' hydrangea, a hardy plant that can bloom on the current and previous seasons' growth, providing colorful flowers all summer. He came across the plant in a test field in a nursery in Minnesota.
" 'Endless Summer' was a serendipitous happening," he says. "I was proud of the excitement it generated among gardeners. It also stimulated a breeding frenzy with companies trying to produce reblooming Hydrangea macrophylla. The garden world is better because of the introduction of 'Endless Summer.' "
Dirr is a partner in a plant-breeding business and says he is constantly traveling and reading to research where the ornamental-plant market is heading. He also is committed to spreading the word about the importance of planting "noble trees," which he defines as deciduous broadleaf trees that change color with the seasons and stand more than 50 feet tall.
In one of his two talks at the symposium, "In Praise of Noble Trees," he will elaborate on the rationale for planting noble trees and the best of new tree introductions according to function, ornamental traits and pest-resistance.
"I hope to inspire and educate the attendees to plant noble trees. The payoff for such activity is multigenerational," Dirr says.
Also speaking will be Sinclair Adam, Penn State Extension floriculture educator in Lebanon County, who will discuss new perennials for 2014 and the importance of incorporating native plants in gardens.
"Native plants are the fundamental building block in Pennsylvania plant communities," he says. "It is environmentally sound thinking to incorporate those species and their selections — sometimes called nativars — in Pennsylvania gardens and landscapes. These plants will support many species of insects, including our very important pollinator insects."
Adam says new plant selections and hybrids are an exciting aspect of horticulture. Some of them turn out to be assets to gardens; others don't stand the test of time. Some of the new plants that will be presented at the symposium include Tiarella 'Sherry Kitto,' Penstemon 'Red Riding Hood,' Coreopsis 'Electric Avenue,' Echinacea 'Guava Ice' and Brunnera 'Silver Heart.'
Jeff Gillman, horticulture instructor at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C., will give a presentation about the benefits and drawbacks of organic gardening.
"Organic gardening can be healthy for us and good for the environment, but not all organic gardening practices are created equal," he says. "The greatest benefit is an improvement in soil through use of mulches and compost. The biggest challenge is figuring out which organic practices are really worthwhile. Just because it's organic, it doesn't mean it's good for us or the environment."
Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate in the Department of Entomology at Penn State, will address declining pollinator populations and how gardeners and landscapers can improve habitats and reduce risks in her presentation, "Will There Still Be Honey for Your Tea?"
Some 15 regional vendors representing nurseries, garden centers and farms will have a variety of plants and related items for sale, including 20 varieties of scented geraniums, dwarf conifers, Japanese maples, drought-tolerant plants, deer-resistant perennials and shrubs, cyclamen and Colocasia tubers, onion and leek plants, garden tools and books. Penn State Master Gardeners will be available to answer gardening-related questions.
Candy Williams is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.


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You may have been glued to the Olympics, but the excitement's not over, with the Paralympics kicking off on Saturday. Kelley is really looking forward to the swimming...
But Michael said: "My favourite sport is darts - I wish that the Paralympics had darts as a sport!"
Nathaniel said it's a really important sporting event. "It brings disabled people and able-bodied people together. If there wasn't a Paralympics, disabled people would be left out."
Tilly said everyone can join in and have fun. She said: "I do swimming every Wednesday and I can't wait to see how Eleanor Simmonds does."
Edward's really excited about the swimming too. He said: "I can't wait for the swimming to get going. I go swimming a lot with my sister Tilly, we race every Sunday."
Greta said: "I think it's great because everybody can join in."
Lucie said: "I think David Weir is going to to really well at the Paralympics. I train three times a week - I've got the same coach as David Weir."


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Previously, advertisers were able to place adverts on the search engine promoting free-to-play gambling websites but this new ban covers all online gambling sites, even those where no money changes hands.
Google and Yahoo! have recently banned advertisements on pay-to-play online gambling websites in the UK but Google is the first major engine to ban all forms of online gambling advertising from its service.
Gambling websites have tried to work around this legislation in the past by advertising free sections of their sites or separating domains devoted to free gambling on search terms like 'online gambling', in order to generate traffic. These websites had also used this method to gain details from users and manipulated this information to launch highly targeted email marketing campaigns directly to the customer, in order to entice them to sign up for pay-to play games.
'Google has always prohibited the advertising of things like bingo, poker and online casinos," said a spokesperson for Google. "However, having looked at this issue very carefully and considered the views of our users, we have decided to extend our policy. We will no longer take ads for sites that promote gambling related content or gambling tutorials or whose primary purpose is 'playing for fun', gambling or casino games of skill."
"While we respect people's differing views on gambling and support freedom of expression, we believe that this new policy is simpler for everyone to understand and more in tune with users' wishes."
The Google ban leaves MSN as the only one of the three major search engines to still allow the advertising of pay-to-play gambling websites in the UK.


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When a category is clicked, the category's items are displayed below while the rest of the page is pushed downward. Good for use in a navigation frame of framed sites.
|The JavaScript Source: Navigation: Category Menus
Simply click inside the window below, use your cursor to highlight the script, and copy (type Control-c or Apple-c) the script into a new file in your text editor (such as Note Pad or Simple Text) and save (Control-s or Apple-s). The script is yours!!!


text:
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