Store Wars!

The struggle continues between local, organic and corporate conventional agriculture. Join CukeSkywalker and ObieOneCanoli in this great production of the Free Range Studios for The Organic Trade Association - Store Wars! See the video here!
May the Farm be with you!

Winter gardens get the fame they need!

Here at the Gardens Project we LOVE winter gardening and feel that it just does not get as much love and attention as summer gardening does. Summer gardening bears the fruits that we all love and enjoy: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Melons, and other juicy and sweet fruits that we so love. Who doesn't love spending a hot summer day with chilled watermelon slices?! Winter gardening is the time for Chards, Kale, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower; vegetables that just aren't as sweet and juicy as their summer counterparts. But, still enjoyable! Winter vegetables make great soups for rainy and chilly days.

But, this winter, winter gardens are getting the publicity they need. While Obama is occupied in Copenhagen with Climate Change talks, the White House staff and USDA are busy preparing the White House garden for the winter. The USDA is promoting their "know your farmer, know your food" campaign where "every family needs a farmer". Part of that campaign is providing funding for farmers to extend their seasons by hoop houses and other winter infrastructure. The volunteers at the White House are also planting rye, a resilient cover crop that will add nutrients back into the soil. The USDA is stating that the White House garden is a more sustainable garden - helping water quality, improving the soil quality, and reducing the impact of climate change. Isn't that nifty? Lets hope USDA passes that message on to Obama ..

You can check out the White House youtube video here. Hopefully this will help give winter gardening the boost it needs to reach the fame and status of summer gardening.

P.S. If you haven't heard yet, Kale is a superfood!

Thanksgiving in the Plowshares Garden

Thanksgiving in the Plowshares garden proved to be one of the happiest days for all involved.

The weather was gorgeous. People were rejoicing. Clients coming to eat, Mexican families from the neighborhood, and my partner Ed and I planted nearly 150 plants. Among those were: garlic, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and chard. Many of those plants came from Lovin' Blooms in Philo. Kevin from Navarro donated the pink hollyhocks which went along the north fence.

It was really a group effort. The wheelbarrow was flat and was needed to haul compost. Somebody offered to take it in their truck to the gas station. Meanwhile, the kids helped plant garlic learning alongside the adults as the next bed was double dug and filled in with amendments. Fresh hay was laid all around the baby plants to make sure they were warm and fed.

We all worked steadily for 3 days and by the last day nobody seemed to want to leave. Stories of gardens and childhood farms blew out with the west wind. There was a sense of accomplishment and a job well done. I think we could've planted a small farm there was so much enthusiasm! Who knows? Maybe we will.


Julie Drucker

Gardening and Climate Change

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Copenhagen, The Gardens Project would like to take a moment to contemplate the interaction between climate change and gardening: how the simple and beautiful act of gardening helps combat the behemoth that is climate change and how, unmitigated, the behemoth will affect gardening for all of us in the future.

Climate change can seem like a daunting problem, one so big that we don’t know where to begin to address it. Here’s our big idea: the garden.

Our modern food system is one of the greatest contributors to climate change because it relies on fossil fuels and chemicals to grow, process, distribute, and dispose of food. Agriculture is responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions and 65% of methane emissions. By growing food for you and yours, you can change all this. Here are a few steps you can take, in the garden, on the long walk back towards a balanced and harmonious world:

- Grow your own food – then it won’t have to be trucked or flown in thousands of miles. Alternatively, frequent the farmers market.

- Grow organically – synthetic fertilizers require loads of fossil fuels to be created. You can get the same results with compost and mulch. You’ll feel better, and so will your grandkids.

- Compost – divert yard and food waste, like leaves and apple cores, from trucks that head to the landfill or the incinerator. Keep it local. Turn it into compost instead.

- Install a garden ornament – the clothes line! They’re beautiful, they’re quaint, they dry your clothes real good without using electricity.

- Eat less meat, more veggies – according to the UN, the production of meat leads to vast deforestation, huge energy inefficiencies compared to the production of grains, and loads of greenhouse gas emissions. Save the planet. Go veg.

If we don’t take steps like these now, climate change may drastically affect our gardening by changing weather patterns – making our specific knowledge of local horticulture less and less relevant, increasing droughts and deluges, pests and weeds, and the chances that our plants will die and we can’t do anything about it. The prospects are frightening. Don’t let it happen! Take the leap and grow a garden! If you already have one, do all those things you’ve always been meaning to. It’s good for the soil, it’s good for the soul!

Kale to the rescue!

As you're doing your vegetable shopping this winter you may pass by some weird looking curly, leafy, greenish-blueish vegetable and you may ask yourself, "What the heck is that?!" Well, its probably Kale. If you ask me, Kale is a funny looking vegetable, but when sauteed with a little garlic and pepper.. its amazing. Not only does it taste great, but it is a highly regarded superfood - quite the title for a funny looking vegetable. Superfoods are foods that can lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, and some say they can even put you in a better mood. Kale got its superfood status by being high in antioxidants, vitamin C, Calcium, Fiber, and Iron. Wooza!! Not only that, but winter is a great time to enjoy this food. Kale, which is part of the brassica family, grows well in the winter and the flavor is even improved with a freeze.

Not sure how to cook with this superfood? I recently made an amazing Polenta with Kale and Portabella mushroom dish that I tested on Lucy who gives it a ten on the Richter scale. Check out our Polenta with Kale and Portabella mushrooms on our recipe page, or just saute it with some garlic and olive oil to enjoy as a side dish. You can also use it as an addition to your soups, morning eggs, or omelet.
Enjoy your kale!

Peas and Carrots,

Ukiah's got an Onion Habit

For the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Oak Valley Nursery was the destination for Ukiahns needing to get their fix - their onion fix. The nursery sold 28,000 onion seedlings in three days to gardeners of all shapes and sizes, colors and ages, ideologies and gardening philosophies, but who all had one thing in common - they need to grow onions this winter.

In late October and early November, you could feel the gardening community getting antsy. "Do you know where I can get some onions, man?" it would ask, with a paranoid look in its eyes and a twitch. People were starting to get desperate - contemplating traveling long distances for the little allium cepas and bemoaning the prospect of a winter with no onions in their garden - until those three little words started circulating: Oak Valley Nursery.

And then they arrived! 16,000 onion seedlings in one day! 12,000 another! The phone was ringing off the hook with the callers pleading "did you get them? did you get the onions yet?" and people darkening the nursery's door, giddy at the thought of getting their onion fix.

John Jensen, proprietor of Oak Valley Nursery, attributes this general sense of desperation for our fine-bulbed-friends to the fact that Mill Creek Nursery recently retired, leaving one less onion-dealer in a town crazy for onions. Jensen has 10,000 seedlings growing in the nursery now that will be ready in a couple of weeks. Next year, he plans to distribute 100,000, since it seems Ukiah's onion habit is simply insatiable.

Mendocino College Spring Courses

Do you want to learn about pruning, mushroom identification, the spring vegetable garden or other garden, food, and agriculture related subjects? Here's your chance! Mendocino College's agriculture department is offering exciting courses this spring semester. There is something for everyone - from the beginning gardener to the practiced green-thumb, from full-semester courses to two-day workshops.

Search their course catalog by clicking here, or go to the "How To: Take Courses" section of our website to see a complete listing of Spring gardening and agriculture classes at Mendocino College.

Knowledge is power! Let's get learnin' and let's get growin'! <3

Get to know the Noyo Food Forest

The Gardens Project has a rockin’ sister partner on the coast – the Noyo Food Forest (NFF), a group dedicated to growing the local food system in Fort Bragg. In the past 4 years, the NFF has created 5 innovative and unique community-based garden projects on the coast.

The NFF’s main project is The Learning Garden, a Farm-to-Cafeteria program at Fort Bragg High School where organic food is grown on-site by students, staff, and volunteers and served directly in the school cafeteria and snack program. Several exciting expansion projects are also in the works at The Learning Garden: this fall the NFF had a Rainwater Catchment Workshop where they installed a 3,000 gallon water tank to collect rain in the winter; they planted a 30-tree apple orchard with the help of Common Vision and 90 local students; there is a big ol’ strawberry patch in the works, and they eagerly await the arrival of another hoop house to grow more warm weather loving plants! Workdays are every Friday, 1-5. Everyone is welcome! To learn more or get involved, click here

Other gardens include: the Senior Kitchen Garden, growing fresh organic produce for the Redwood Coast Senior Center lunch program; the Head Start Preschool Family Garden, a hybrid school/community garden creating opportunities for students and their families to grow their own fresh produce, with workdays every Thursday from 1-3pm; the Noyo Come-Unity Garden, a traditional community garden where individuals and families rent plots to grow their own fresh produce; and rounding out the quintet is the Grey Whale Garden, which provides a haven for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators and provides a beautiful site to passers-by on HighWay 1!

Orchard Work Day - Sunday !

It's time to get our fall gardens going!! Orchard Garden will be having a work day this Sunday, starting at 11:00 AM. Get to know other gardeners, plant fall crops, share ideas, help clear beds, and get rid of that NASTY Bermuda grass. The work day will start off with a brief garden meeting to get reacquainted with each other and to discuss fall planting.

Be ready to plant your fall gardens! Not sure what to plant? Kale, Chard, Broccoli, Onions, Garlic, Cauliflower, Lettuces, Spinach, and Brussel sprouts are all good options. Check out our "How To" section under grow food for a local planting guide.

And, as always, volunteers are always welcome! Bring tools, gloves, and a good attitude!

WISC Garden Grows 15 Fruit Trees Bigger!!

On Wednesday November 11th 30 people from the community gathered to celebrate the new homes of 12 apple and three cherry trees. With drums playing African planting rythyms, the Emandal choir singing songs of plant growth, a healing OM circle and compost donated by Spare Time supply of Willits, these trees are sure to produce abundantly for all. Located in the middle of the Willits Integrated Service Center as a symbol of food security, these trees are an important step in the development of the Willits Permaculture Water Conservation Demonstration Garden.

A special thanks to Common Vision (http://www.commonvision.org/) for their efforts in our community and all over the state of California in bringing healthy food to stomaches every where. A big thank you also needs to go to Willits city Mayor, Larry Stranskey, because he worked hard in planting a tree and was very appreciative of community coming together for positive action. A thank you also is well deserved to David and Ursala Partch whose efforts have made the WISC garden into a beautiful example of Permaculture and Water Conservation. Over the 2008-2009 growing season the WISC garden provided over 1,000 pounds of food for the Daily Bread, Food Bank, and Volunteers!

If you are interested in volunteering at the WISC garden please contact Mason Giem at 841-0464.

Sincerely,

Mason Giem

Americorps VISTA

Community Gardens Organizer

Gardens Project Staff attends Grow BIOINTENSIVE training

Three staff members from The Gardens Project attended a three day workshop on the Grow BIOINTENSIVE mini-farming method this weekend, put on by the organization Ecology Action, based in Willits. For the last 35 years, Ecology Action has sough to answer the question, 'what is the least amount of space one person needs to grow all their own food?' and have attempted this question using the biointensive method, which focuses on soil fertility, plant spacing, and a bed-preparation technique called 'double-digging.' This method could be practiced by any backyard gardener, but is especially relevant to developing countries and the world of the future in which there will be far greater land- and water-shortages than there are now.

The three of us joined a group of thirty other workshop participants from all over the country and world and were inspired by their energy and all the great things they are doing in the world of food-system change and activism. We learned so much, about gardening, about sustainability, and about the tremendous changes that are going to need to be made to meet the demands of the world of the future. Now we are going to figure out how to share the information we learned with the community gardens in Mendocino! We'll let you know.

South Ukiah Winter Garden Planted

It has been done - South Ukiah Head Start pre-school has planted their winter garden! The garden is looking great, the plants are looking very happy and ready to grow in their new home. The garden has incorporated a fun kid friendly design, with lots of flow and room to run around the beds; it has been fun teaching the kids to stay on the path. Last week the kids planted broccoli, chard, kale, onions, lettuce, and spinach. This week they became familiar with the vegetables and gardens.

Today we played follow the leader to teach the kids to stay on the paths - not the garden. We also taste tested broccoli, chard,and radishes so they can get to know whats growin' on in the garden.

Beached whale has a future - as compost!

When a beached blue whale washed up on the shores of Fort Bragg, its disposal became a pressing issue. How to deal with a rotting, incredibly smelly, 50 ton creature? And how to respect the majesty and legacy of such a creature in its disposal?

Our friend, Martin Mileck, over at Cold Creek Compost had the answer - compost it! The initial plan was to send the whale to the landfill, but Martin fought to have it composted instead. And we, at The Gardens Project, greatly appreciate his efforts. It seems only fitting to honor this majestic creature by turning it into top-notch soil that will nurture gardens and farms around Mendocino County, instead of removing it from natural cycles and letting it go to waste in a landfill.

In order to get the body of the whale, Martin had to agree to donate an equal amount of compost in the upcoming year. Martin is already very generous with his compost and has donated many yards of the delicious, stinking stuff to The Gardens Project, but maybe now we can expect a little more. A blue whale more. Thanks, Martin! And thanks to you, blue whale! Many thanks. Long may you roam.

Click here to read the article in the Ukiah Daily Journal.

Brookside Volunteer Day

21 volunteers from Willits High School showed up on Tuesday October 27th to volunteer over 52.5 hours of labor! We had a lot of fun with an inspiring gardener pledge, dirt clod throwing, garlic planting, manure spreading, cover crop planting, frost killed crop removal and roto tilling. We had snacks of local organic apples, organic peanut butter, and high spirits. I want to give a special thanks to Antonia Partridge the farm manager for her excellent leadership in directing the students in the best ways to garden. I would also like to thank David Stephens a counselor from the High School for his innovative grading program that gives points for community service. We are looking to create a weekly high school volunteer day on Tuesday's. Please call Mason Giem if you are interested in volunteering.

Garden Work Days

This past weekend Nokomis Head Start and South Ukiah Head Start had work parties at the gardens. The families and children came out to celebrate their gardens by building compost piles, harvesting produce, pulling out summer crops, and moving dirt!



Jack Simpson also hosted a work day at their garden. They were able to plant some Iris bulbs, herbs, and flowers around the boarder of their garden. The Jack Simpson garden is looking fresh for the fall with their new starts already planted!





Looking for something to do this weekend? Talmage state pre-school is having a work day with the CCC volunteers where they will pull up summer crops and plant some fresh fall starts! Check out our event calender page for more information on this weekends work parties, and for future volunteer opportunities!

Gardens get new gates!

Ukiah High Students With Gate
Originally uploaded by The Gardens Project

A big thanks to the welding class at Ukiah High. They donated their time during class to make some awesome looking gates for some of our gardens. The gates were made for Nokomis, Talmage State Pre-School, Orchard Apartments, and the MCOE youth gardens.

Thanks also to Reliable Mill steel who helped us in obtaining steel for the gates, and to Norcal powder coating and NCD painting who will paint the gates for us this week. Look for the gates in your neighborhood garden!

Winter Bed Prep

The following tips have been provided by the MCOE Youth Garden. The MCOE Youth Garden is currently winterizing their garden sites and would like to share some insights with you:

Chris Nelson writes:

1.Compost dead plants to create a good soil conditioner. Hot, active piles of compost kill weed seeds and diseased pathogens. Make sure you throw questionable plants into the trash or put on the burn pile.

2. To prevent rodents from nesting in the soil, wait until the ground is frozen before adding a 6 inch layer of winter mulch.

3. Protect the tender bark of young trees from growing critters by wrapping stems or trucks with wire or commercial tree guards.


Miguel Pereida writes:
1. First, clear out the bleached stems and foliage of annual plants. The cool weather is a good time to make a cold frame to protect winter starts.

2. Man, if it snowed in Ukiah it sure would make a great mulch. Snow covers and isolates the soil like a mulch!

3. Protect your rose trees from the winter! Make sure to stake and wrap burlap around the rose stems. Also add a 6" layer of mulch. This will help protect them from the cold.



Jose Nunez writes:
1. Now is the time for bare root season. It's time to plant new trees. Make sure you pick a spot with good soil that has lots of worms and microbes. It is very important to put in new mulch when prepping the area. Old leaves work really well and break down easily.

2. Pruning time! You should cut off dry stems off of trees that are dry. You should also cut out any dead or dying plants. Put them in the compost and have them serve you in their next life as a soil builder.

3. STOP FERTILIZING YOUR ROSES! Fall brings on the dormant season for roses. Make sure your last rose feeding is 2 months before the first frost.

Daniel Alvarez writes:

1. Cut back dry stems of perennials to soil level after the first frost to neaten the garden and remove pest eggs and disease spores that may linger. Leave stems with attractive seed heads for winter sowing.

2. Compost dead plant debris to create an organic soil conditioner. Hot, active piles of compost kills weed seeds, inactive piles do not.

3. Cut off diseased foliage from evergreen plants, shrubs, and discard it in the trash. Rake up and discard the old disease bearing mulch, too.

Gardener of the Month - Genaro Vega!

Congratulations to our first Gardener of the Month: Genaro Vega! At The Gardens Project, we know Genaro as The Chili Man, for his knowledge and cultivation of different varieties of chili peppers. Genaro is also the volunteer coordinator at the largest and oldest community garden in Ukiah – the Cleveland Lane Community Garden. To witness the tremendous work Genaro dedicates to this garden and to hear him speak of his respect for chili peppers is truly inspirational. The Gardens Project interviewed Genaro one afternoon and, unsurprisingly, he offered some valuable insight into the world of Ukiah community gardens. To watch the interview, click here.

Do you know someone who should be our next Gardener of the Month? Nominate them! Contact us and tell us why you think they deserve be highlighted.

To see pictures of the Cleveland Lane Community Garden, click here. To see Cleveland Ln. in person, visit it! It’s located behind the Grace Hudson Museum. Here is a map.

Solar Living Institute offers class at Talmage

The Solar Living Institute has partnered with the Gardens Project and is offering an Earth Oven class at the Talmage Garden. An earth oven is a wood fired oven made out of a cob like mixture that you can make tasty breads, great pizzas, slow cook some stew, or make some roast! The workshop will cover: basic oven functions and designs; available materials; proven construction methods; and resources for students to build an oven of their own! The best part of the workshop is that you get to actually take part in making the oven at the Talmage garden. Anyone interested in the Earth Oven should go to the Solar Living Institutes website to register.

But, before you can build an Earth Oven, you need to build a foundation for one- and the MCOE youth garden students sure did build! With the gracious help from John Richards construction, a local Rammed Earth Builder, the youth were able to mix earth and cement and helped compress it into a foundation. It was a dusty process, but they did a great job! A huge thanks to John and his son, Caleb, for all their help and consultation in building our rammed earth foundation.

Talmage Harvest Party

Last Thursday the Talmage State Pre-School had a harvest party for the parents and the pre-school kids. The kids dug out sunflowers, harvested cherry tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and loads of tomatillos. Over all we gave away to parents a five gallon bucket of tomatillos and baby tomatoes, about 4 pounds of cucumbers, and some summer squash. Along with the parents help we were able to build a great looking compost pile, weeded, and planted a new bed with beet seeds. The Talmage state pre-school staff also made a delicious meal for the parents and kids of veggies from the garden. What a great day! Feel free to stop by any of our other harvest parties. September 23rd at 5:30pm at the Grace Lutheran garden, September 24th at 4:00pm at the Jack Simpson Garden, September 26th at 12:00pm at the Cleveland Lane garden, and September 27th at 3:00 pm.

Peas and Carrots,

Abundance

This month the kids at Fort Bragg Head Start have eaten green beans, carrots, peas, radishes, and chives from the garden. The children helped wash and cut the green beans before Cindy the cook steamed them and served them for lunch.






We are also harvesting food for the Head Start families and volunteers at the weekly workday.












The classes have been coming to the garden with their tiny work gloves on, ready to explore. This week they planted peas, watered the garden and harvested radishes and carrots that they brought in to wash, cut and sample.

The garden is producing lots of organic food, dirty hands and happy faces!

United Way Day of Caring

Yesterday was the 19th annual United Way Day of Caring event, and with lots of help from some caring local volunteers we made things happen! With the help from employees from Fetzer Winery, and the Ukiah Valley Medical Center we were able to put in a wheel-chair accessible path at the Jack Simpson apartments. We were lucky enough to have 20 individuals help us accomplish making the path, and they were great!! The group was able to move a large pile of gravel from the parking lot into the garden, rake it out, and use the vibe plate to mush it all together. We were able to make a path around all the beds in under four hours!



The Plowshares Garden also had some great volunteers helping to pull out some tough bermuda grass and build the foundation of a potting shed adjacent to the garden, where vegetables will be washed, plants potted, and memories made. John Cunnan, a rockstar craftsman who has ventured into building with sustainably harvested Doug Fir trees that reduce fire hazard, led the team digging trenches, mixing cement, and carefully placing cinder blocks, all the meanwhile keeping the elegant structure to be in mind.

To see more pictures from the day, click here!!!

Thank you again to all the volunteers who came out yesterday, and for all the organizations for giving them the day off!!

Peas and Carrots-

The Gardens Project