April 6 (Sun.), GRAFTING AND GROWING YOUR OWN FRUIT TREES, by Dave Carlson. This largely hands-on workshop will consider the essentials of selecting the right site, planting and early care of fruit trees. Participants will be introduced to the principles behind and reasons for grafting. Various methods of grafting will be demonstrated and then practiced by participants on actual fruit trees in an orchard setting. Community Food Share, 6363 Horizon Lane, 9:00 a.m. – noon. Registration $30. Call 303-494-1521 to register.

April 7 (Mon.), FAREWEL, MY SUBARU. Author DOUG FINE speaks on his new book. What happens when a Domino’s pizza loving suburbanite from New Jersey decides it's time to leave behind the urban world to start his own off-the-grid sustainable farm in New Mexico? Find out in Farewell, My Subaru, a new nonfiction book chronicling the carbon-neutral misadventures of Doug Fine. Whether its nearly getting electrocuted setting up his own solar panels, buying goats and hens for the first time, or getting the munchies from the smell of his newly converted veggie-oil truck, Doug comically shows that even through the struggles and lack of know-how, with the right mindset an everyday American can take massive successful steps towards sustainability. Co-sponsored by Boulder County Going Local. Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street, 7:30 p.m. Free.

April 10 (Thurs.), ETHNOBOTANY OF THE FRONT RANGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL PLANTS OF OUR AREA, by Claire Zimmerman. Learn to recognize the most common and usable plants of the front range. This class will cover the most easily recognizable plant families and their medicinal attributes, along with basic medicinal and edible uses of commonly found local flora. Boulder Meadows Community Room, 4500 19th St. (Violet & 19th), 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Free.

April 13 (Sun.), BIKERS' ED AT COMMUNITY CYCLES. Get out of your car and join us as Boulder County Going Local partners with Community Cycles to teach participants improved riding skills that enhance confidence as a biker, including safe riding skills and rules of the road, with an emphasis on commuting and running errands by bike. Bring your bike and try out your newly found skills during a fun ride immediately after the class. For beginners to intermediate riders. Feel free to bring any unwanted bikes that Community Cycles can work on and donate to low income residents! 9:00 a.m. - noon, Community Cycles, 2805 Wilderness Place, Suite 1000. Suggested donation $35.

April 17 (Thurs.), HOW SERIOUS IS CLIMATE CHANGE? And how serious are we about addressing it? Third in an ongoing series of energetic discussions. Panel features Dr. Kevin Trenberth, NCAR Senior Scientist and IPCC Report lead author; Dr. Brian Toon, CU Atmospheric Science Department Chair; Dr. Patricia Romero Lankao, NCAR Social Scientist and IPCC Report author. Moderated by Richard Brenne, author of the forthcoming The Truth About Everything. 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., Norlin Library, 5th Floor, Center for British & Irish Studies. Free and open to the public.

April 19 (Sat.), SUSTAINABLE APPROACHES TO DIGITAL CULTURE, Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts. "As representatives for some of the most forward thinking and innovative arts movements, technology-based artists have a duty to recognize their role in the current world crisis and to embrace the shift into more localized, renewable-energy-based lifestyles... It is pressing that individuals, artists as well as the digital community as whole, begin to consider and implement practices of sustainable energy consumption and production, as well as culture lifestyles that build longevity. This panel discussion aims to stimulate participants to reconsider their impact and role in their environment, to discuss alternative perspectives, and to offer current sustainable approaches to technology-based lifestyles. In essence, how will technologically-based culture, or a culture based inherently on the consumption of electricity, endure in a world that must move away from non-renewable resources in order to survive?" Participants include: Clark Warner, Beatport; Jean-Patrice Remillard, Archipel; Michael Brownlee, Boulder County Going Local. 11:30 a.m., ATLAS Building, CU Campus.

April 22 (Tues.), RELOCALIZATION: MAKING FRIENDS WITH AN UNTHINKABLE FUTURE, by MICHAEL BROWNLEE, co-founder of Boulder Going Local. Fourth in the series on FACING LIMITS: 21st CENTURY CHALLENGES, sponsored by Sustainable Mountain Living. 7:00 p.m., Estes Park Museum, 200 Fourth Street, Estes Park. Call 303-747-9351 for more information.

April 23 (Wed.), EARTH DAY AT NAROPA UNIVERSITY: DIALOGUE WITH THE EARTH, A CEREMONY OF CONNECTION. Michael Brownlee will facilitate a special ceremony, EARTH SPEAKS, WE ANSWER.: "On the brink of an evolutionary threshold, what message does the Earth have for us now? Can we listen deeply enough to hear? Can we answer her call? On Earth Day, we will gather in stillness, bringing into the circle treasured objects from the living planet--rocks, flowers, branches, crystals, bones, shells, feathers, fossils, seeds, whatever speaks to you. One by one we will give these objects voice, speaking for the voiceless, and we will listen together to the Earth. Then, one by one, we will answer with our deepest, most heartfelt response. What will we say to the Earth now? Do we have a promise we can offer, or a gift we can commit? Can we stand together and answer Earth's calling? Can we speak together for humanity? Please join us in this sacred encounter." Noon to 1:30 p.m. Performing Arts Center, Lincoln Building, Arapahoe Campus, Naropa University. Free and open to the public.

April 24 (Thurs.), KING CORN, a new documentary film presented by Boulder County Going Local. You are what you eat. By growing an acre of corn in Iowa, college buddies Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis uncover the devastating impact that corn is having on the environment, public health and family farms. Nomad Theater, 1410 Quince Ave. 7:00 p.m. Reserve your seat early! Tickets $10, available in advance by calling 303-494-1521.

Apr. 26-27 (Sat.-Sun), 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., SOLAR GREENHOUSE DESIGN WEEKEND, with Sandy Cruz and friends. Learn to design an integrated, sustainable greenhouse using passive and active solar architecture, slanted or vertical glazing, and earth-friendly building materials. This weekend we’ll cover solar design principles, along with the nuts and bolts of greenhouse materials and technologies. We’ll consider the strengths and weaknesses of several existing greenhouses, and demonstrate Permaculture site analysis and brainstorming techniques. Then we’ll create a solar greenhouse design on site. Location: 2150 Tamarack. Registration $170, $130 ten days in advance. Call 303-494-1521 to register.

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