Halz Haz A Say

Free | 4.22 | Earth Day Gardening Class

Since it’s Earth Day, why not plant a balcony garden with some veggies or fruit? Eat when ripe, preserve for an out-of-season treat. And with more people moving back into Downtown Dallas, and since we lack co-op public gardens within the CBD, city dwellers need to know that even apartment living is garden-able. You don’t even need a balcony, just some sunny windows!

Tonight, Sarah Gardner from Texas Discovery Gardens will give a lesson on how to cultivate a container garden for your apartment or loft. Learn tips and tricks for an easy-and-organic garden that doesn't require a green thumb and get the scoop on houseplants that will clean your indoor air.

J. Erik Jonsson Central Library | Tuesday, April 22 | 7 p.m. | 214.670.1400

Free | 4.20 | Oak Cliff Earth Day

Oak Cliff Earth Day
Sunday, April 20 | 11 a.m. to to 5 p.m.

Geez! I so spaced out on posting this a few days earlier. Sorreez. The second annual Oak Cliff Earth Day is going down this Sunday at historic Lake Cliff Park. Me and my man went last year and it was so so so much fun, so very well attended, and so very neighborhoody cute. I highly recommend riding your bike there if possible.

A variety of foreign and domestic hybrid cars and trucks will be on display along with information about efforts to bring the streetcars back to Oak Cliff. Exhibitors will present information on community gardens, worm farming, tree planting, and butterflies. Beekeepers will show you how to safely host a bee hive in your back yard. There will be a variety of plants for sale from the Native Texas Plant Society, Friends of Oak Cliff Parks, Rainbow Garden Club, and numerous other garden clubs. Organic gardening clubs, organic food co-ops, and organic farmers will be in attendance. Many local non-profit groups will also have information booths. There will also be a booth to recycle cell phones to benefit the group "Recycle to Erdicate Poverty". There will be food, drinks and art for sale. Over 20 artists will be participating in the art show and there will be live music and dance performances throughout the day.

Free | 4.26 | Fort Worth Prairie Fest

Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area
The 3rd Annual Fort Worth Prairie Fest
Saturday, April 26 | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The fest was originally designed to bring attention to Tandy Hills in order to help protect it from gas drilling and to encourage the City of Fort Worth to take better care of it. Last year 3,000 people attended. Twice as many are expected this year, if the weather cooperates. This free event has a green theme, with booths offering information about native-plant gardening, recycling and composting, and vendors displaying sustainable-living housewares. Speakers will include "Dirt Doctor" Howard Garrett, and Brave Combo and the Mondo Drummers will do their best to make the occasion lively.

PRETTY PICTURES OF TANDY HILLS

Starlight, Star bright, The First Star I See Tonight

We have some friends that don't totally get why we've moved to Southwest Oak Cliff. The dream pad (in need of a multitude of renovations before it becomes "our home") is just great. We love it times love it times a million. We love ALL the great old trees, ALL of the hills, the history, the diversity, and the expansive views of our downtown skyline. The restaurants? Not so much. Catfish Connection will just never be my dish of the day.

On this cloudless evening, on the side balcony connected to our kitchen, I grilled up a feast fit for an Ean. I looked up and saw a sky full of stars—the kind of sky I saw as a child before light pollution took away our nighttime dreams of the man on the moon and all the magic and mystery that comes with that. So there you have it. Dallas may have the fake and bake "stars". But we have the real thing, each and every cloudless night. Dreamy.