Daily Acts

05/29/2026

How does a late spring, Friday morning outside in the garden sound?☀️

Not only does spending time outside with your hands in the dirt have proven health benefits, but this volunteer opportunity provides a way to connect meaningfully with community too!

We'd love for you to join us at the Miwok Park pollinator corridor to help us provide ongoing care such as weeding and spot mulching.

Come learn about this landscape, it’s rain gardens, and all it offers. We look forward to your company in the garden!

Sign up here: dailyacts.org/event-cal/garden-stewards-workday-at-miwok-park-060526/

05/25/2026

On this day, May 25th, 2002, Trathen Heckman led his first Sustainability Tour, taking folks who were interested in learning about permaculture practices through 4 different inspiring sites.

The tour started in Sebastopol at Laguna Farm where folks had a chance to pick some organic veggies, then continued on to Erik Ohlson's permaculture garden where they learned about small space solutions and how to set up a worm bin for composting. After that, they headed to Ocean Song near Occidental to check out a naturalized home with some cob building projects. The final stop was at Trathen's home in Monte Rio where he had used recycled concrete to transform the shaded hillside into terraces covered in medicinal and edible plants.

Daily Acts is still leading tours like this, 24 years later, aiming to inspire people to enact sustainable practices in their landscapes.

Check out the original article, "Sustainability Tour is home-grown ecotourism," by Sara Bir, here: bohemian.com/papers/sonoma/05.16.02/tour-0220.html

[Photo by Michael Amsler]

05/22/2026

We're excited to announce that next week, our very own Senior Programs Coordinator, Emily Nodal, will be attending the California Water Efficiency Partnership's Peer to Peer event!

This event brings together a community of water efficiency and conservation professionals to foster meaningful connection, candid dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving.

Emily and the City of Petaluma Environmental Services Technician, Ryan Dunbar, will be facilitating a presentation and conversation to discuss how Daily Acts' collaboration with the City of Petaluma has improved impact and uptake of both the Mulch Madness Program and the Land Resilience Partnership program through ongoing partnership.

Learn more: calwep.org

05/21/2026

Do you know a school, community garden, or non-profit farm looking for compost?
Zero Waste Sonoma is offering compost donations right now! This is a perfect opportunity to help the soil on-site to flourish for an organization that needs it. There is a minimum of 20yd, and requests will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Submit a request today: https://zerowastesonoma.gov/resources/compost-giveaways .

05/20/2026

Did you know that there are 1,600 species of native bees in California?🐝

Most of these bees are solitary, live underground or in wood, and don't make honey! They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors– from the large Carpenter Bee you see in this video to very tiny Sweat Bees. Each bee plays a vital role in our ecosystem, keeping plants pollinated and creating food for other wildlife!

In the past several years alone, Daily Acts' lawn conversions have helped to create habitat across over 2 acres in Petaluma to support our local pollinators, including our beloved bees!

If you want to keep up to date with all of our programs and upcoming events, sign up for our newsletter by visiting dailyacts.org/newsletter

05/20/2026

We need to convert another 50,000 square feet of lawn to to reach our goal!😲

Learn more by visiting: dailyacts.org/grass-to-gardens

In order to be eligible, applicants should have at least 1,000 sq ft of irrigated lawn AND one or more of the following apply:

-You qualify as low-income, are a Title I school, or have been unable to access turf incentive programs due to financial or systemic barriers.
-You are a Tribal entity or Indigenous group caring for culturally significant land within city limits, even if that land falls inside municipal boundaries that are offering “cash for grass” programs.
-You manage publicly accessible land such as a park, community center, or library that serves a low-income community and is located within 1/4 mile of public transit, a bike path, or another safe, non-car transportation route.
-You are part of a small or community-run water system that has not had access to landscape transformation funding or technical support.
-You rely on well water, live in unincorporated county areas, or have never had the opportunity to participate in a turf incentive program.

The more people to sign up or have larger lawns the quicker we will reach that goal, so please apply now or share with someone who might be interested!✨

05/15/2026

This new pilot program is now taking root in Petaluma!🌧️🌿

What might look like a small patch of soil has the potential to do a lot of heavy lifting: capturing stormwater before it runs into stormwater drains, filtering pollutants, cooling our neighborhoods with shade trees and vegetation, and creating pockets of habitat for pollinators and urban wildlife.

Through our NEW Harvest the Rain Program, we’re excited to pilot the transformation of these spaces across Petaluma, turning underutilized strips of land into vibrant, living systems that manage water, support biodiversity, and invite our neighbors into a closer relationship with the natural world.

Working with the City of Petaluma, Sherwood Design Engineers, project partners and flood-impacted residents, Daily Acts will conduct outreach and education, install 5 – 7 residential pilot projects, and create template and permit processes to support scaling these practices. Input from this pilot will be used to inform the City Stormwater Master Plan.

Read more by visiting dailyacts.org/harvest-the-rain

[This rain garden is at the Tahola Lane Pocket Park in Petaluma, and has grown in beautifully over the past 7 months!]

05/13/2026

05/05/2026

Last week, Daily Acts' Founder, Trathen Heckman, hosted a tour in his very own food forest! Participants explored the garden on foot and enjoyed tasting the in-season fruit right off the plants, including Mulberries and Goji berries! They learned about his garden's humble beginnings and his journey to transforming it into an abundant landscape that also sequesters tons of carbon each year.

After exploring Trathen's garden, they headed over to the Cavanagh Center Food Forest, which used to just be a swath of turf lawn. Now it provides a variety of publicly available fruits and herbs for harvest throughout the year, such as various apples, pomegranates, figs, plums, elderberries, and lemon balm.

It was a joyful, roving gathering filled with inspiration, connection, and shared wisdom. From permaculture insights to real-world examples of regenerative design, the evening offered a meaningful glimpse into how we can all cultivate more resilient, abundant spaces at home.

We’re so grateful to everyone who joined us and helped make it such a warm, engaging, and memorable event. Stay tuned for more opportunities to learn, connect, and grow together!🧡

If you want to learn more about our public gardens, visit: https://dailyacts.org/demonstration-gardens/

04/30/2026

Join us at Future Fest this Sunday, May 3rd, from 12-4pm at the Petaluma Community Center!😁

Free, fun, and full of hands-on activities, local resources, and climate solutions. We'll be tabling alongside over 50 other local organizations⏤come say hi!

Find out more at coolpetaluma.org/futurefest2026