Crunchy Palm springs?

[daniellebluetoo]

Looks like we'll be moving there in a few months! Please tell me ALL the crunchy things about the area, PLEASE!!!???? for the love of BOB, PLEASE! ;-)  Is HMN active there? Do I need a place with a pool, (any real estate mamas want to help;-)  TIA, Danielle

[Becken]

My FIL lives in Cathedral City and don't really know much beyond what we visit when we are there. You are going to LOVE the Desert Experience zoo type place. Get a membership! :)

[daniellebluetoo]

whats that>? the Desert zoo>?

Edited by daniellebluetoo - 4/11/11 at 5:05pm

[Debstmomy]

The Living Desert....check it out!!!! Great place for kids  & parents!

[mata]

Not that far from Joshua Tree, which is as crunchy as you can get. There's also a children's museum in Palm Desert, a good art museum in Palm Springs, too. Idyllwild isn't that far (artsy mountain village) either.

[daniellebluetoo]

Ohh, Joshua tree is crunchy????... please tell me more!

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by daniellebluetoo 

Ohh, Joshua tree is crunchy????... please tell me more!

Joshua Tree is pretty crunchy, yeah. I live in Coachella which is oh... 30 to 40 minutes from Palm Springs? Truth be told there isn't a lot of crunch here but the community does seem to be growing!

[nicolelynn]

Are you here yet? Yes, very little crunchy going on here unfortunately...the desert is run by wealthy retirees who don't care about family stuff. The Children's Discovery Museum is great. Joshua Tree is half crunchy/hippie and half um, shall we say redneck? Hehe. I think Jadabugs in La Quinta has some AP classes so some networking might happen there.

[daniellebluetoo]

HI NIcolelynn,  YES i'm finally here, just arrived wednesday!  WHEW is it hot here!...I'm in palm desert too 

WEnt to the living desert in may when we came to scope everything out..NOT impressed!!!!!!!  THe conditions that some of the animals were in, is awful!!!!  I'm NOT a "zoo" type person, and honestly wouldn't have gone if i thought it was like that, but the locals said it was like safari, and I spose for some of the bigger animals yes, kinda...but the vultures and smaller creatures were kept in enclosures the size of my living room!!!!! NOT COOL.

WHats jadabug??????   What EXACTLY is Joshua tree.... i thought it was a state park.... is it not?

I'm also looking for good open or indoor farmers markets to score some reasonably priced local/org. produce......went to the one at COD but the produce venders aren't there yet ;-(

SProuts and the local grocers that i have been too are "meh" for prices,  comparable to NJ, i'd say. Was hoping since it IS cali, that i would be able to find better prices ;-(  ALso looking for a local farm to pick up some org. meats and eggs, maybe even some raw dairy. Got any suggestions?

BUT, other than that, it's awesome here, i'm thoroughly enjoying having a pool, seeing baby geckos in the house, and watching the local fauna. Not to mention watching my own parrots flying in the cathedral ceilings! I can't wait til the weather simmers down then i can explore the area more on foot.

DS starts school on monday and I have to get him some uniforms, this will be new for us too, but i'm looking forward to less (maybe) laundry?...lol

[nicolelynn]

Well welcome then! Our farmer's market starts back up after Labor Day. It meets at the PD Vistors Center right behind Quistot/across from the mall.

The sad thing about the desert is we are a huge agricultural center and grow every produce item there is, but is all contracted out to big retailers. There are a few stands. You may have seen Grower's Market by now. Only about half of their stuff is local, very little organic...but it is still better than supporting a chain retailer.

As far as meat, dairy and eggs, not as much luck there. When the farmer's market starts back up I get eggs there from Jaime Farms...I don't think they are high quality pastured....but better than store bought eggs. For meat and dairy try localharvest.org. The desert doesn't really have any ranches or dairies, but we've got meat from Murietta which is a lil over an hour away. Etc. I've got Organic Pasture's raw milk at Harvest Health Foods before, the only place in the desert that is still selling it.

Yes, Joshua Tree is a national park and DEFINITELY a must see, but there is a small town by the same name next door where I grew up and got the heck out of haha. We loved driving up Hwy 62 to the main entrance in Joshua Tree, then driving home the back way through Chiriaco summit and seeing the vast array of landscape.

Jadabugs is a baby botique in La Quinta, and I think a friend said she went to an AP class/support group there.

And yes, once the weather cools it's heaven here (well, besides all the "snow birds" which keep the area un-crunchy in general haha) and you can spend all day outside exploring, If you are active exploring our trails is a MUST. The Bump N Grind is famous and nice but packed with people, I like discovering the lesser known ones.

[Calliope85]

Are there any birth resource centers in the area?  I'm looking for a place to possibly teach BFW classes.

[daniellebluetoo]

oooh, I'd like to know too, I'm looking for midwives in the area (preemptively;-)

[nicolelynn]

You might try contacting Jadabugs to point you in the right direction for that. It's not my area of expertise since I did not have biological children =).

[daniellebluetoo]

THANK YOU Nicolelynn!  

I had the chance to get to harvest health yesterday, boy they are $$$$$, the 1/2 gal of  raw milk was 8-9$!!! Holy cow,I think I'll go with out!  lol

WHat is the farm in Murrietta you go to for beef?.. I'm trying to convince dp to invest in a freezer and some bulk meats, since the only logical way to up our consumption of meat from once a week is to buy in bulk, but he's so far, not having it ;-( SOooo,maybe if I can find a good source and crunch some #'s it'll help;-)

THanks for the jadabugs  ref. I'll check with them on monday,it seems like all the midwives are like2-3hrs away, I hope i can find a nice one locally.

I love your tag @ the foster-adopt of your kiddos, is there a story that you've posted, I'd really like to read/ learn more about that!