Green Thumb?

Baby, it's cold outside, but it's time to start thinking about this spring's gardening plans. Green Piece Indy has a great post today on upcoming gardening classes, whether you're a "backyardless beginner," "proficient planter" or "horticultural hero." Enjoy!

A Green Education

Many thanks to Green Piece Indy for this tip: The Indiana Sustainable Living Fair takes place this Saturday at the Marion County Fairgrounds. Meets eco-friendly vendors, sit it on sustainability seminars and round-table discussions, and watch a variety of demonstrations -- all with the goal of reducing your carbon footprint.

(How big is your carbon footprint? Try this calculator developed by the Nature Conservancy.)

Demonstration topics include oil-seed pressing, sheep shearing, worm composting, cooking with solar ovens, preserving food (canning and freezing), identifying plants and weeds, building your own chicken coop, and making art from found objects.

In addition, here's the seminar schedule:

9:30 -- Why Biodiversity Matters
10:40 -- The ABCs of Producing Your Own Food
10:40 -- The Benefits of Raw Milk
1:30 -- Sustainability from the Ground Up
2:30 -- Who Should Control Our Food System?
2:30 -- Nourishing Our Children
3:30 -- Choices in Natural Healing
3:30 -- Unity Community Gardens
4:30 -- Cancer, Nutrition and Healing

Admission is $10/person at the gate; children younger than 12 are free (cash only).

Playing Catch-up

All right, it's time to play some serious catch-up on this blog. Here are a few tidbits I've been accumulating during the past week or so:

• The Indianapolis Art Center is accepting registrations for its second-session classes. Click here for a full schedule. If you're pressed for time, try sparking your creativity with one of the weekend workshops instead of the seven-week classes.
• Want to learn more about creating a sustainable home? Green Piece Indy has a great tip about the upcoming Indiana Building Green symposium, to be held March 12-13 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Some of the sessions are geared toward commercial builders, but others make sense for individuals (such as the one about choosing "green" furniture).

Tomorrow evening, I'm headed to Frasier's Gourmet Foods for chef Erin Kem's grains class. I'll let you know how it goes!

Recycled Threads Fashion Show

Want to learn how to stretch your clothing budget? Our friends at Green Piece Indy are atwitter about the upcoming Recycled Threads fashion show, part of the Spirit and Place Festival.

Local fashion designers will present runway-worthy fashions made from cast-off, secondhand clothing. Categories include children's, teens', men's and women's fashions. (As Renee and Meghan point out, can't you just hear Tim Gunn saying "Make it work!"?)

The event takes place at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 14, at Epworth United Methodist Church, 6450 Allisonville Road. See you there!