by Meg Bertoni

The Lakeshore Neighborhood Plant Exchange is all about free botanical fun.

For the last seven years, neighbors and folks traveling from as far away as Marin County have enjoyed this greenest of swaps and this year, the group expects more than 500 people.

(Editor's note: Our continuing series that looks at Oakland Local's picks for people/organizations to watch in 2011. See all profiles in this series.)

Christoper Shein is the Bay Area's resident permaculture design guru and for the last 10 years, he has taught the Permaculture Design class at Merritt Community College’s Landscape Horticulture Department, inspiring hundreds of students to build new gardens and integrate permaculture's principles of sustainability into surrounding landscapes.

Shein just signed a contract with Timber Press to write a permaculture gardening book in 2011, with the working title of "The Edible Gardener's Guide to Permaculture."

From our permi friend and amazing talent Christopher Shein:

“People have been saving seeds for 12,000 years,” said Rebecca Newburn, kicking off the Seed Saving 101 class in Richmond earlier this week. “Now we’re starting to come back around to learning this skill again in local communities.”