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.