Home Front Home Front (October 14, 2005)

ASIAN FUSION . . . Landscape designer Mark Bourne will discuss "Creating Japanese Gardens for California" tomorrow, 9 to 11 a.m. On Thursday, Oct. 20, from 10 a.m. to noon, landscape designer Katsy Swan will talk about "Design a Garden of Alliteration" -- dealing with function, form, flowers, fragrance, fountains, furniture, even a fireplace. Both classes are at Gamble Garden Carriage House, 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto. Fee for each class is $25 for non-members, $20 for members. For information, call (650) 329-1356, e-mail admin@gamblegarden.org or visit www.gamblegarden.org.

CAMELLIA CARE . . . Barry Coate will offer a Fall Fertilizing Workshop at the next meeting of the San Francisco Peninsula Camellia Society tomorrow from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Stanford University's new camellia garden (behind Memorial Church). Coate, an arborist, will show how to fertilize and mulch camellias. Participants in the free workshop are encouraged to wear waterproof shoes and bring sharp pruning shears and a two- to three-gallon bucket. Parking is free at the Oval. For information, call (650) 728-3775.

HONORING LOCAL FARMERS . . . Valley of Heart's Delight will present an evening with Michael Ableman, author of "Fields of Plenty, a Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It," on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7 to 9 p.m. The program, which will feature stories from local farmers Gary Webb and Nancy and Jared Lawson, as well as a reading from Ableman's new book and appetizers by Jesse Cool, will be at the Foundation for Global Community, 222 High St., Palo Alto. Fee is $12-20, on a sliding scale. For information, call Susan Stansbury at (650) 328-7756 or e-mail sstansbury@globalcommunity.org.

SPICE UP YOUR SALADS . . . Jody Main will teach a class on "Starting a Salad Garden" tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Common Ground, 559 College Ave., Palo Alto. Main will offer recipes, as well as information on how to grow heirloom lettuces, arugula, parsley, cilantro, Daikon radishes and other vegetables to make salads more interesting and tasty. Fee is $21. For information, call (650) 493-6072 or visit www.commongroundinpaloalto.org.

A RECORD YEAR . . . Coldwell Banker Northern California raised a record $420,000 for Habitat for Humanity through its fundraising raffle this year, nearly 40 percent higher than last year. Since the event was launched six years ago, the company has raised $1.2 million, which is used to provide housing to low-income people. Special kudos went to the Woodside and Portola Valley office, which raised $6,802, and the Menlo Park Santa Cruz office, which raised $5,457.

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