Pull out your broken stuff. Zero Waste Sonoma is hosting a Free Fix-It Clinic and Reuse Fair on Saturday to help people make simple repairs on clothing, textiles, lamps and bicycles. This collaborative event emphasizes the virtue of repairing over replacing and helps keep stuff out of the landfill. It also saves money.
Other activities include a clothes swap, tours of GreenLynx Reuse & Recycling and fun for kids cooked up by The Children's Museum of Sonoma County in their Museum-On-The-Go Bus. Through a sponsorship from Recology Sonoma Marin, free tacos will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
To further promote the idea of reuse, the event will feature upcycled art from local artists, including Patrick Amiot and Trashion Fashion of the Sonoma Community Center.
Zero Waste Sonoma is the county’s waste management agency, helping residents reduce, reuse, recycle and discard all materials in the safest and most environmentally responsible way possible.
The event is put on by Zero Waste Sonoma in collaboration with Tek Tailor, Greenlynx, Green Mary, Goodwerks, Community Bikes and the Sonoma County Reuse Alliance.
Event venue host Tek Tailor turns discarded items, such as vinyl records, signage, fire hose and feed bags, into unique, colorful and purposeful items. Also helping out will be Goodwerks, which delivers essential goods to underserved communities and provides zero-waste services to nonprofits. Its current focus is delivering drinking water to encampments for the unhoused around Sonoma County and the East Bay. They also support activities that advance reusing, repurposing and rethinking our typically wasteful habits.
The event is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 14 at Tek Tailor, 3251 Santa Rosa Ave.
A note expert on old garden roses will share insights on fragrant roses during a talk Monday for the Redwood Empire Rose Society.
Judy Eitzen, editor of Cemetery Rose and The Epitah, newsletters for the Historic Rose Garden & Cemetery in Sacramento, will explore the range of scents that a garden can offer and discuss new breeding efforts for fragrant roses.
Nonmembers are invited to attend. Proof of vaccine is required. 7 p.m. Luther Burbank Art and Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa Ave. Redwoodempirerosesociety.com.
It’s finally time to plant your summer garden and the nursery at Jail Industries has plenty of healthy starts to get you growing.
The nursery has been growing carefully selected varieties for taste and ease of growing. It also has an array of California native and drought-tolerant plants and spring annuals to pretty up your borders and beds. The Sonoma County Master Gardeners, who share space with Jail Industries, will have a new crop of succulents in pots and arrangements for sale.
Revenue from the plant sales fund the Jail Industries horticulture program and nursery, a vocational program for jail inputs at the North County Detention Facility. The program has not been active during the pandemic but the greenhouses are still being maintained. Cash or checks only. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 2254 Ordinance Road. Sonomamgsucculents@gmail.com.
The Petaluma Garden Club is celebrating its 98th anniversary with a series of garden demonstrations on the deck of the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum.
On Saturday, Hope Stewart and Cherly Feuerborn will share easy flower arranging techniques for making a centerpiece. On May 28, Sue Lovelace and Bryce Sumner will offer “A to Z Vegetable Planting.” 20 Fourth St.
Bargains await for ornamental landscape plants at the Willowside School plant sale on Saturday. The student-supported nursery has a lot of low-water and drought-tolerant perennials, California natives, succulents, grasses and plants beneficial to wildlife. They don’t have any veggie starts. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5285 Hall Road (at Willowside). For questions or to donate to the nursery call 707-569-4724.
You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com. OnTwitter @megmcconahey.
Like most everyone, I love a good feature story that takes me somewhere I’ve never been or tells me something I don’t know. Where can I take you? Who in Sonoma County would you like to know better? I cover the people, places and ideas that make up Sonoma County, with general features, people profiles and home and garden, interior design and architecture stories. Hit me up with your tips, ideas and burning questions.