The California Conservation Corps was back at work building wheelchair accessible raised beds and tool sheds for three new gardens in the Ukiah Area. A giant thank you to the numerous crew members who diligently worked for 6 days to build 15 two foot high raised beds for the senior Jack Simpson Apartments and the Orchard family apartments of RCHDC. They also constructed three tool sheds for the two apartment gardens, as well as the Talmage State Preschool.
The CCC is a tremendous resource and all of the gardeners are so appreciative of the amount of work that they were able to accomplish.
Many thanks to North Cal Wood Products for their generous donation of sustainably harvested redwood for the beds, Mendo Mill and Lumber Co. for the great discount they provided for the tool shed materials, and John Haverman at MCOE for the tool shed designs. Additional thanks go to the Ukiah Natural Foods Coop and the Community Foundation of Mendocino County for their generous grants.
To see pictures of all of their great work, visit The Gardens Project photo gallery. Let the planting begin!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Lovin' My Community
Five years ago, I drove into the town of Fort Bragg with little more than my weary truck could hold, my sweet dog Kenya, a broken heart and a sprinkle of hope for a better life on the Mendocino Coast. Within days, I found a job, I scored a cabin in the redwoods, and I met incredibly helpful, inspiring, loving people who let me know that I was welcome here.
I quickly found that my passion for positive, meaningful, lasting social change through community agriculture was shared by many people here and within no time I found myself united with several motivated, capable, fun-loving people. We decided on a name and a mission and we became the Noyo Food Forest.
Flash forward to the Earth Day Festival held last month at The Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School. A fabulous gathering of the beautiful people of the Mendocino Coast! At one point during the day, from my viewpoint on stage as the event’s emcee, I welled up with tears at the sight of my community. When I looked out over the crowd, I saw the familiar smiling faces of children, elders, and every age in between celebrating the Cool Blue Planet. Over 1,500 people celebrated with us that day and over 30 local businesses and organizations came together to produce the event for the community. It was a true community event, made possible by the generous donations of 20 business sponsors and the volunteer efforts of 70 local people. Incredible!
As we cleaned up the Garden at the end of the day, I remembered my personal journey from sleeping in my truck on my first night in town, to the first meeting of the five women founders of the Noyo Food Forest in Katrina’s garage, to the digging of beds at The Learning Garden at Earth Day 2007, to this wonderful, sunny day in April 2009. I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the people of this community, this place I call home, Fort Bragg. I am humbled by your openness to an outsider from Louisiana, your warmth, and your willingness to work hard for a better world. I’m not sure if my story would be possible in any other place.
Thank you, Fort Bragg, for embracing the vision that “Another World Is Possible!” Thank you to all of the individuals, businesses, and organizations that made Earth Day a living example of what we want our world to be like. Thank you to each of you who make this community such a wonderful place to live. And thank you, fellow Noyo Food Foresters, for your commitment to “Being the Change we wish to see in the world.”
I quickly found that my passion for positive, meaningful, lasting social change through community agriculture was shared by many people here and within no time I found myself united with several motivated, capable, fun-loving people. We decided on a name and a mission and we became the Noyo Food Forest.
Flash forward to the Earth Day Festival held last month at The Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School. A fabulous gathering of the beautiful people of the Mendocino Coast! At one point during the day, from my viewpoint on stage as the event’s emcee, I welled up with tears at the sight of my community. When I looked out over the crowd, I saw the familiar smiling faces of children, elders, and every age in between celebrating the Cool Blue Planet. Over 1,500 people celebrated with us that day and over 30 local businesses and organizations came together to produce the event for the community. It was a true community event, made possible by the generous donations of 20 business sponsors and the volunteer efforts of 70 local people. Incredible!
As we cleaned up the Garden at the end of the day, I remembered my personal journey from sleeping in my truck on my first night in town, to the first meeting of the five women founders of the Noyo Food Forest in Katrina’s garage, to the digging of beds at The Learning Garden at Earth Day 2007, to this wonderful, sunny day in April 2009. I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the people of this community, this place I call home, Fort Bragg. I am humbled by your openness to an outsider from Louisiana, your warmth, and your willingness to work hard for a better world. I’m not sure if my story would be possible in any other place.
Thank you, Fort Bragg, for embracing the vision that “Another World Is Possible!” Thank you to all of the individuals, businesses, and organizations that made Earth Day a living example of what we want our world to be like. Thank you to each of you who make this community such a wonderful place to live. And thank you, fellow Noyo Food Foresters, for your commitment to “Being the Change we wish to see in the world.”
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Month of Everything
Greetings CSA Family and Friends!
May is the month of Everything. Cool season crops can still be sown. Warm season crops are in the greenhouse and can be seeded at the end of the month. So we still have bed prep. We are weeding. We are seeding and transplanting. We manage the greenhouse. And, yes indeed folks, there is a little food to harvest.
Not a lot though. I want to manage some expectations for a minute. In our climate the ground stays pretty cold until about now. This is because of the cool nights. So it may look and feel like late spring to you, but for the plants they are just now shifting into high gear and we have to be patient and wait for them to become fully mature individuals before we cut them down and chew them into bits. In past seasons Brookside Farm has had the first weekly pick-ups beginning late May and early June. This year is no different.
Tomorrow is your day to pick up produce! We will have the first lettuce of the year, plus chard, leeks and multiplier onions. If you are savvy you might want to check out the strawberry patch too. The rule at the farm is: feel free to forage for fabulous soft fruits. I don’t collect these because they are so delicate. I can see that the raspberries and blackberries are flowering, so keep an eye on those too!
Thrills and Delights at the Farm. I have really been enjoying work this year. I feel like I know enough to be in the groove. I get out to the farm and get into the flow of doing various tasks. I am efficient. The tools are in good shape. The soil is nice. Antonia is working with me too, so I have someone to check in with on strategies and priorities, etc.
However, just when I am giving myself a mental high five for being on top of things and having Mother Nature under control and all, some minor agricultural disaster strikes. Carrot seeds are getting mowed down, during the night it seems. We consult with David Drell and he thinks it may be slugs or cutworms. We throw out diatomaceous earth and Bt-laced wheat bran and begin chanting paganesque prayers to Demeter and Persephone.
Since then no more damage is occurring, and the lettuce and kale transplants aren’t getting touched. So I am both humbled and hopeful that thick beds of carrot seedlings will be seen promptly.
A Cry for Help. The farm had a whole lot of cloth produce bags made, around 80 of them. We are down to about a dozen that I am aware of. I would love to bag your greens for you as this makes sure everybody gets a fair share, but I can’t when we are so low on the produce bags. So do me a favor and check every nook and cranny of your kitchen for cloth bags and bring them tomorrow.
Potluck at Farm. Since the weather is obviously fabuloso and expected to stay that way, I suggest people bring some food to share and stay at the farm for a meal tomorrow evening. Bring your own utensils and drinks (besides water) too!
Happy Eating!
Jason
May is the month of Everything. Cool season crops can still be sown. Warm season crops are in the greenhouse and can be seeded at the end of the month. So we still have bed prep. We are weeding. We are seeding and transplanting. We manage the greenhouse. And, yes indeed folks, there is a little food to harvest.
Not a lot though. I want to manage some expectations for a minute. In our climate the ground stays pretty cold until about now. This is because of the cool nights. So it may look and feel like late spring to you, but for the plants they are just now shifting into high gear and we have to be patient and wait for them to become fully mature individuals before we cut them down and chew them into bits. In past seasons Brookside Farm has had the first weekly pick-ups beginning late May and early June. This year is no different.
Tomorrow is your day to pick up produce! We will have the first lettuce of the year, plus chard, leeks and multiplier onions. If you are savvy you might want to check out the strawberry patch too. The rule at the farm is: feel free to forage for fabulous soft fruits. I don’t collect these because they are so delicate. I can see that the raspberries and blackberries are flowering, so keep an eye on those too!
Thrills and Delights at the Farm. I have really been enjoying work this year. I feel like I know enough to be in the groove. I get out to the farm and get into the flow of doing various tasks. I am efficient. The tools are in good shape. The soil is nice. Antonia is working with me too, so I have someone to check in with on strategies and priorities, etc.
However, just when I am giving myself a mental high five for being on top of things and having Mother Nature under control and all, some minor agricultural disaster strikes. Carrot seeds are getting mowed down, during the night it seems. We consult with David Drell and he thinks it may be slugs or cutworms. We throw out diatomaceous earth and Bt-laced wheat bran and begin chanting paganesque prayers to Demeter and Persephone.
Since then no more damage is occurring, and the lettuce and kale transplants aren’t getting touched. So I am both humbled and hopeful that thick beds of carrot seedlings will be seen promptly.
A Cry for Help. The farm had a whole lot of cloth produce bags made, around 80 of them. We are down to about a dozen that I am aware of. I would love to bag your greens for you as this makes sure everybody gets a fair share, but I can’t when we are so low on the produce bags. So do me a favor and check every nook and cranny of your kitchen for cloth bags and bring them tomorrow.
Potluck at Farm. Since the weather is obviously fabuloso and expected to stay that way, I suggest people bring some food to share and stay at the farm for a meal tomorrow evening. Bring your own utensils and drinks (besides water) too!
Happy Eating!
Jason
Friday, May 15, 2009
New Community Garden In Ukiah - Plots Available!!
The Grace Lutheran Church of Ukiah has begun a new community garden. Plots are still available to the community at large. This is a great opportunity to get involved and start growing your own food in a community setting. Thanks to the Church for providing this space and organization! The garden is located at 200 Wabash Ave. in Ukiah. For more information, contact Toni Fort at tonifort@pacbell.net or call #367-5267.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Noyo Food Forest. This Week at The Learning Garden.
Howdy folks
Redwood elementary students will be munching on sweet tender carrots today as we made the first harvest from the greenhouse boxes yesterday. Yummy!
The highschoolers have done a great job this week planting three more beds of cucumbers, sowing greens, forking a pea bed, and helping weed as well as caring for their personal beds.Ashton made the first student harvest from his bed last week and also made a new screen for the compost. Yeah Ashton!
Veronica got in the rest of the basil, double dug a new flower bed, and prepped the outside tomato bed.
Today we will start compost tea, plant zucchini,sunflowers, cherry tomatoes and peas, and also get started on some new planter boxes for the greenhouse.
If we are lucky it will rain tonight and tomorrow. For the market today we will have delicious greens, edible flowers, and perhaps a few bouquets.
For the work day on Friday we can plant more flowers, prep a big bed for sweet peas, make compost, and work a little on the dripsystem. Please join us 1-5 nibbling on peas, Sakina
Redwood elementary students will be munching on sweet tender carrots today as we made the first harvest from the greenhouse boxes yesterday. Yummy!
The highschoolers have done a great job this week planting three more beds of cucumbers, sowing greens, forking a pea bed, and helping weed as well as caring for their personal beds.Ashton made the first student harvest from his bed last week and also made a new screen for the compost. Yeah Ashton!
Veronica got in the rest of the basil, double dug a new flower bed, and prepped the outside tomato bed.
Today we will start compost tea, plant zucchini,sunflowers, cherry tomatoes and peas, and also get started on some new planter boxes for the greenhouse.
If we are lucky it will rain tonight and tomorrow. For the market today we will have delicious greens, edible flowers, and perhaps a few bouquets.
For the work day on Friday we can plant more flowers, prep a big bed for sweet peas, make compost, and work a little on the dripsystem. Please join us 1-5 nibbling on peas, Sakina
Friday, May 8, 2009
Here's a quick update on upcoming events!!
This Saturday May 9th is the Fort Bragg Mill Site Specific Plan CommunityWorkshop at Dana Gray Elementary School from 9am to noon. This is a very important step in the redevelopment of the millsite and we need FoodForesters to show up and express support for the development of a LocalFood Center on the millsite! Imagine a year-round covered farmers market,greenhouses full of food, a compost/bio-remediation test-site, and aneducation center with workshops, classes, etc. Yes!
Saturday afternoon from 1-5 is a garden workday at the Head Start Gardenright next to Redwood Elementary School. Call Kim for more info, 937-0113.
Monday May 11th is the next NFF community potluck from 5:30 to 7 at theGrey Whale Inn. Join us! Remember to bring your own plates, cups, andforks. I'll be bringing a garlic scape stirfry. Yum!
The Farmers Market is back! Stop by the Noyo Food Forest booth for fresh greens, herbs, and nursery starts. The Fort Bragg market is every Wednesday from 3:30 to 6 at the corner of Spruce and Main Street on the north end of Fort Bragg. Bring your "Certified Noyo Food Forester"membership card for 10% off! Or find out how to become a member yourself!
Okay, thats all folks. Hope to see ya'll around town.
Still stoked from Earth Day,Susan
Saturday afternoon from 1-5 is a garden workday at the Head Start Gardenright next to Redwood Elementary School. Call Kim for more info, 937-0113.
Monday May 11th is the next NFF community potluck from 5:30 to 7 at theGrey Whale Inn. Join us! Remember to bring your own plates, cups, andforks. I'll be bringing a garlic scape stirfry. Yum!
The Farmers Market is back! Stop by the Noyo Food Forest booth for fresh greens, herbs, and nursery starts. The Fort Bragg market is every Wednesday from 3:30 to 6 at the corner of Spruce and Main Street on the north end of Fort Bragg. Bring your "Certified Noyo Food Forester"membership card for 10% off! Or find out how to become a member yourself!
Okay, thats all folks. Hope to see ya'll around town.
Still stoked from Earth Day,Susan
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