I know you all are waiting anxiously for the 5th Annual Rooting DC, which is still on its way in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, come and celebrate the excitement with us this Thursday, February 2nd, 5 – 8 pm at The Looking Glass Lounge!

Check out the Facebook event for complete details: https://www.facebook.com/events/312966532075646/

Celebration!

Join us for some treats and good company to celebrate 5 years of Rooting DC! We will be asking for a $10 donation at the door, but this is a suggested donation, and no one will be turned away! There are also some excellent drink specials from Looking Glass Lounge: $2 off draft beers, $1 off rail drinks and special just for US a $4 Rooter Shooter!!!

Silent Auction Fundraiser!

We have some awesome prizes so please bring cash or a checkbook & come ready for bidding! Prizes include gift baskets, certificates to yummy local restaurants, and many more! All money raised from the silent auction will go directly towards offsetting the cost of the Rooting DC forum (to keep it free for all who attend!)

Hope you can make it on Thursday! If not, save the date for Rooting DC – February 18th, 2012 from 9:30-4. Registration details coming very soon!

Stay up to date with Rooting DC details on Facebook and on Twitter (Follow us @RootingDC and help spread the word with #RootingDC !!)

Please come! Rooting DC is an annual, FREE, community and urban gardening focused forum, with over 500 attendees! Come, attend sessions to learn and get information about what is going on in your communities and how you can get involved. Want to know how you start your own garden or how to compost? Come to Rooting DC 2012!

Please feel free to pass this information and flier along to others – Hope to see you all there!

Follow us on Twitter @RootingDC as well as on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rootingdc

Come party with Beet Street Gardens, Saturday Evening, February 11th as we celebrate the end of our 2nd season and gear up for an exciting 3rd! This midwinter gathering will feature many local flavors —  nourishment for your belly, warm beverages for your spirit, along with garden photos and live tunes.

We are jazzed to focus this season’s local growing/eating around building edible forest gardens and an outdoor kitchen. Your donations will help make that possible!

Questions: email info@beetstreetgardens.org

See you on the 11th!

Beet Street Gardens

www.beetstreetgardens.org

This training is focused more broadly on the topic of environmental advocacy, however, I thought this would be a great resource for anyone who is looking to strengthen their advocacy and communication skills!

Communications for DC Advocates

On November 16th at 10:00 AM, join the DC Environmental Network for a special opportunity to polish your advocacy skills and learn about a new resource available to help guide your efforts to influence decision makers here in the District of Columbia.  Susie Cambria, a public policy consultant, will share more than 15 years of experience working on public policy and budget advocacy issues and talk about her new book, “Communications for DC Advocates: How-to’s and Lessons Learned Over 15 Years.”

RSVP Here & Learn More About Communications!

Background:

As environmental advocates in the District of Columbia it is often necessary to communicate our story and ideas to decision makers and the staff they work with. We communicate in many ways including through letters, meetings, fact sheets and briefings, to name a few. We often ask ourselves questions like (partial):

• What is the best way to write a letter to the Mayor or DC Council member?
• How do I prepare and deliver testimony and statements for the record?
• How do I create a fact sheet?
• What is the best structure for a meeting with an elected official or their staff?

Susie Cambria will share her insights and experiences that have made her one of the most effective advocates walking the halls of the John A. Wilson Building.  She will talk about the communications tools outlined in her new book, “Communications for DC Advocates” designed to give advocates a fundamental advantage when they walk into the legislative offices of our decision makers.

About Susie Cambria:

“The guide reflects the years of experience I have in advocacy and the many lessons learned doing public policy and budget advocacy work nationally, in Connecticut and most extensively in the District of Columbia.

I have more than 15 years of experience in DC Children’s policy and budget issues. In my work at DC Action for Children (1997-2008), I helped create a robust budget analysis and advocacy operation by establishing and maintaining relationships with elected and appointed officials and engaging the community in the work of protecting and nurturing children and youth across the District. I also created public education materials, trained others on effective budget and policy practices, and was (and remain, I am told) a respected advocate and analyst.”

RSVP Here & Learn More About Communications!

DC Environmental Network Training Opportunities: The DC Environmental Network has held many training opportunities over the years on grassroots organizing, working with the media and to educate about important environmental initiatives. In the last decade the number of environmental advocates roaming the halls of government in DC has increased ten fold. This is a special opportunity to meet with a very effective District advocate and to learn about communication practices that are easily transferable to our environmental advocacy efforts. It is strongly recommended that you take advantage of this opportunity. 

Monument Music & Arts Festival and DC9 presents

A Benefit Concert for Common Good City Farm

staring Suckers and Rewards

Thursday, October 27, 2011

9:00 pm

Check out the Monument Music & Arts Fest website for more information about the event, the bands and the fundraiser!

Purchase tickets here.

Tickets are selling out fast to see the talk with Michael Pollan on Wednesday, October 26th!

The event will be at the Strathmore theater in North Bethesda, MD and will begin at 8:00 pm.

Click here for the original DC Field to Fork Network blog post about the event.

Click here for the information from The Strathmore.

At Busboys & Poets

14th & V Street NW.

6:30 pm

(From the Busboys and Poets website about the film):

6:30 PM (Langston Room) – Following the screening, Marsha Weiner of Food Muse Media will moderate a panel discussion with filmmaker Cintia Cabib, Alice Kamps, curator of the National Archives exhibit “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?”, and several community gardeners. // FILM SYNOPSIS: Throughout Washington, D.C., people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities are gardening side by side, growing vegetables, fruits and flowers in community gardens. Some are looking for basic sustenance, others for a way to remember their homelands, still others for a place to find a respite from their troubles. Through the voices of young people, senior citizens, immigrants, garden volunteers and educators, “A Community of Gardeners” explores the vital role of seven urban community gardens as sources of fresh, nutritious food, outdoor classrooms, places of healing, links to immigrants’ native countries, centers of social interaction, and oases of beauty and calm in inner-city neighborhoods. The film also looks back on the history of community gardens in the United States, from the potato patch farms of the late 19th century, to the victory gardens of World War II, to community gardening’s current renaissance. // FREE & OPEN TO ALL. http://communityofgardeners.com/

From Kate Lee, the Farm Manager of Common Good City Farm:

Come see Common Good City Farm’s rain garden and learn how to design your own as an attractive way to prevent water run-off from polluting our watersheds. USGS scientist Dean Hively will talk about conservation planting and the relevance and importance of diverting water run-off.  This workshop is free, but we are suggesting a $25 donation if you earn more than minimum wage.

Saturday, October 22, 2-4pm at Common Good City Farm, V. St, NW between 2nd and 4th Sts.

Please visit our website to register.