Welcome to the eighth issue of The Root of the Matter. Through our monthly electronic communication, Collective Roots will keep you informed about recent successes, new initiatives, upcoming events, and ways you can get involved and support our work for food system change in East Palo Alto.

In today’s world of massive deficits and debts, the sum of $10,000 may not seem like a lot of money. This is the goal of our 2008 annual appeal and we are still short of reaching our target. We rely greatly on individuals like you for financial support to help us reach our organizational goals. We invite you to click here to make a secure online donation today, or read more here and learn why we are so proud to stand behind the message of our annual appeal.

During this week of commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and celebrating the historic election of Barack Obama, we have all been asked to commit ourselves to acts of service. In celebration of this call, there are many events and activities going on this week in East Palo Alto. These activities are supported by the many fine organizations and remarkable leaders in the East Palo Alto community.

Beginning in the next issue of Collective Roots monthly enews, we are initiating a series of articles that will highlight and celebrate the work of some of the amazing leaders in East Palo Alto. In this series, we will explore the background, ideas, and passions of these leaders. We hope to inspire you to look deeper into this community and see where some of its true riches are most evident…in the hearts and souls of the people of who live and work here.

Kindergarten-5th Grade Garden Lessons
While garden lessons for second, third and fifth grades have come to a close for the year, we look forward to working with kindergarten, first- and fourth-grade students in the winter and spring. In the garden, kindergarteners engage and learn about the five senses, weather, and animal and plant attributes. First graders explore the six plant parts and which parts of plants we eat, food chains and animal needs. The fourth grade curriculum includes lessons in organic gardening, food webs, ecosystems, and decomposition. The Collective Roots Curriculum is available online; all that is needed is a username and password. To sign up for a username and password, click here.

Seventh graders at EPACS continue to work with Institute for the Future to create digital stories about their health. The students are using curriculum designed by Institute for the Future in collaboration with Collective Roots, with a grant from the Roy Amara Fund. As outlined in the curriculum, students are using digital cameras to capture images of food that they eat and writing stories about what they want their futures to be like.

Middle school students also enjoyed harvesting the first year’s bounty from the new citrus trees! They made lemonade from Meyer lemons and sampled the Valencia oranges and mandarins.

49ers Academy
Middle school students from the 49ers Academy continue to learn about gardening and cooking in the Collective Roots after-school program. Students have been busy beautifying the campus with Earth Boxes, and are looking forward to the completion of an in-ground garden that is in the works. The program has expanded from one hour to one and a half hours, which allows more time for cooking and other activities. Students enjoyed learning about seasonal fruit, and then preparing and eating a fresh fruit salad this past week!

Castilleja School Visit
On January 8th, Collective Roots enjoyed a visit from fifteen students from Castilleja School in Palo Alto.  The students visited Ravenswood Health Clinic and Collective Roots to learn about health issues, challenges and positive initiatives related to health.   They also volunteered in our garden, helping to turn the compost, plant strawberries, harvest potatoes, collect seeds, and weed!

Congregation Beth Am and National Service Day On January 18th, a group of 35 volunteers from Congregation Beth Am, organized by Marianne Mueller for National Service Day, planted fruit trees, created new garden beds, and harvested beets in the Collective Roots Garden.  Apple, pear, asian pear, plum, peach, nectarine and apricot trees, plus blueberry bushes were all added to the garden!

Researching Re-use in the Garden
If you have incorporated recycled elements into the design of your Bay Area garden-- such as old boots, tires, buckets or baths as planters, if you got your gravel free from Craigslist.org, or your pavers from neighbors--Chloe Short would love to hear from you.

Chloe is collecting research on the aesthetics of 're-use' and elements of salvage within public and private garden spaces.  Whether it's high-end barn-boards or low-fi tin cans used as yard art, if you've 're-used' then you're news! You can contact Chloe at thefoxandthewolf@yahoo.com.

Community Film Series in the Works

Garden Manager and Educator, Eron Sandler, has been working in collaboration with the non-profit, World Centric, to coordinate a community film series entitled Our World, Our Planet: Socially Conscious Cinema.  The first film will be screened on Friday, February 6th.  Visit the World Centric website or click here for a flier and more information.

We celebrated the end of our first market season on December 21st.  We’re currently surveying the community about possible days/times for the spring 2009 season through a one-page questionnaire available here. Everybody is encouraged to provide input.

We have also created a schedule of other markets on our website so that folks can continue to support the growers that sold at our market this season.

Do you have ideas for how we can improve the market, or do you want to get involved or volunteer when we reopen in the spring? Please contact David Kane at david@collectiveroots.org.

Although winter has arrived, we enjoy a year-round growing season in this part of California.  We currently have peas, mustard greens, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, radishes, and glorious cauliflowers!   Our cauliflower has amazed all, based on its size.  Garden Clubbers recently enjoyed making and eating Cauliflower Fritters (not as fattening as they sound!)  Collective Roots volunteer Johanna Peyton found this recipe in Sunset Magazine.

Cauliflower Fritters
Ingredients
1  cauliflower (about 2 lb.), washed and broken into florets (about 1 1/2 in. each)
1  tablespoon  plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
3  large eggs, beaten to blend
2  cloves garlic, minced
1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1/2  teaspoon  paprika
1/4  teaspoon  pepper
About 2 teaspoons olive oil
1  tablespoon  chopped parsley (optional)
Sour cream, salsa, or chutney (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 200°. Pour about 4 quarts of water into a 6- to 8-quart pan; bring to a boil over high heat. Add cauliflower and 1 tablespoon salt; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until cauliflower is soft enough to mash, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain.

2. Put cauliflower in a large bowl, and mash with a fork. Let cool until no longer steaming. Stir in eggs, garlic, and hot sauce, then mix in flour, baking powder, paprika, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

NOTE: This newsletter employs hyperlinks that act as shortcuts to related documents or web pages. Click on the green underlined words in the articles above to find out more information.

If someone forwarded you this newsletter, please click here to add your name to our mailing list.

To read past newsletters, go to http://collectiveroots.org/news/newsletters.