Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Gardens Project T-shirts are BACK!

We have a women's cut t-shirt and the same unisex style as last time. 


T-shirts come in 3 colors: Purple, Green, and Blue
Sizes:
Unisex (Adult): S, M, L, XL, XXL
Womens: M, L, XL
Youth: S, L 


T-shirts cost $20-$25 each, the profits go to building more community gardens in Mendocino County! 


Give us a call at 467-3212 to buy your t-shirt and show your support for the Gardens Project

Monday, May 14, 2012

MCOE Youth Gardener's Can Help YOU this Summer for FREE

Hey All, I have a fantastic work crew this summer who are looking to get down and dirty in local community and school gardens. We will have between 10 - 18 students Monday - Thursday June 20th - July 26th from 9am - 10:30am. We will be able to travel to inland areas only. We will provide the labor, supervision, transportation, and we'll bring our own tools. You provide the materials and a plan! If you would like us to make your garden a weekly stop then please let us know. Dates and availability are filling up fast, so reserve your date and time TODAY! Thank you for giving our youth an opportunity to serve their community. Cheers, Jonna Weidaw New Beginnings School Program MCOE Youth Garden 463 - 4808

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Attention Farmers: Winter Vegetable Production Workshops!

Grow When Competition is Low and Prices are High!

This workshop will cover what to plant, when to plant it, low-cost, easy to construct crop protection (floating row covers, low tunnels, and more), and how to market your winter crops!  John Richardson of Noyo Hill Farm will present on winter vegetable production techniques and Susan Lightfoot of the Farm to Fork Project will present on marketing your winter crops to local restaurants.  Join us to learn more about extending your season and expanding your income!

Two locations and dates are offered:

Saturday, June 2nd from 9am to 3pm at Noyo Hill Farm (403 N. Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg)

or 

Sunday, June 17th from 9am to 3pm at Green Uprising Farm (2301 East Hill Road, Willits)


PRICE: $35 (please bring a bag lunch)



RSVP: Please send a check to:


John Richardson

Noyo Hill Farm

403 N. Harbor Drive

Fort Bragg, CA 95437

(707)357-2295


Please be sure to note which workshop you will be attending on your check (June 2- Coastal or June 17- Inland).

Sponsored by North Coast Opportunities – Community Action


Sharing the Bounty

This may have been the most successful Sharing the Bounty yet.
Patrona was packed with community gardeners, farmers, land owners, donors and people ready to get involved in the local food system.

The evening started out with music by Marcos Peredia, creating a relaxed community atmosphere for people to gather around the appetizers of Sea Palm with Red Chili, French Deviled Eggs and Stinging Nettle Croquette, as well as tantilizing wines from Husch Vineyards, Campovida and Nelson Family Vineyards.

As people settled into their seats, they were greeted by a slideshow with pictures from the community gardens and a salad of Mixed greens, fava leaves, arugula, apples, sun chokes, ramps, beets, radishes and lemon dressing, with Schat's rolls made with local Red Fife flour, accompanied by a Truett Hurst from Dark Horse Vineyards and Chenin Blanc from Husch.

Miles Gordon gave everyone an overview of what the Gardens Project does and an introduction to the local food system as people finished their salads. We have 11 new community gardens and 8 new school gardens, creating a countywide network of 32 community and 35 school gardens and this number is growing all the time with support from community members like those at Sharing the Bounty!

This talk was followed by the main course: a choice of Spiced Lamb Shoulder or Spring Greens Gratin and Lentils, both on a Sonora Cracker and topped with delicious Goat Cheese Sauce.

The goat cheese sauce was so good most people forgot about dessert until it arrived, a beautiful Pomelo Pie with Honey Walnut Crust, topped with whipped cream, that was tart and flavorful.

Thank you to everyone who attended for your support, and to the community and school gardens, farmers, food producers, foragers and winemakers who provided the food and wine for this meal!

You made this event a great success and we appreciate your involvement in creating a thriving local food system!
Cleveland Lane Community Garden
MCOE Youth Garden
Pomolita School Garden
Ecology Action
Fairall's Farm
Filigreen Farm
Green Uprising at Blackberry Bend
Love Farms
Lover's Lane Farm
Magruder Ranch
Mendocino Grain Project
Mendocino Organics
Ocean Harvest Se Vegetable Co.
Owen Family Farm
Peggy Backup's Garden
Redtail Ranch
Schat's Bakery
Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese & Summer Breeze Ranch
Smart's Mountain Farm
Stella Cadente Olive Oil Company
Dave's Bike Shop
Campovida
Husch Vineyards
Nelson Family Vineyards
Dark Horse Vineyards

You can see more photos here

Monday, May 7, 2012

Gardening Workshops are a Success!


The first three gardening workshops of the year got Mendocino residents out gardening!

We kicked off the workshops on Earth Day, April 22nd, with a cob building party at the Talmage Preschool Garden at MCOE.
Cob is a natural building material made of clay, sand and straw and we used it to build counters around an already existing outdoor oven. The preschool will use this outdoor kitchen to bake bread and chop up veggies and fruits from the garden for snacks.

After the cob party, Ron Woolsey, of Living Sculpture Studios, led a "Planning a Summer Garden Workshop" at the preschool garden.
For more information about Ron's workshop, check out this article from the Ukiah Daily Journal!
Ron will be teaching more gardening workshops soon: "Weeds, Mulch & Compost" in June and "Hoop Houses & Row Covers" in October, so keep your eyes open for details coming soon on those workshops!

This was followed by a "Seed Starting Workshop" by Nona Carpenter and Louisa Aronow, of the Master Gardeners at the Grace Lutheran Church Community Garden.
Louisa will be teaching a "Planning a Fall Garden" workshop in July, so look for details on that as well.

On 5 de Mayo, Peter Reynolds, of Down to Earth Landscaping and a Plowshares garden volunteer, taught a Drip Irrigation workshops at the Plowshares Garden. The Plowshares garden provides fresh vegetables for the Plowshares Peace & Justice Center kitchen, which serves several hundred people a day. Peter installed the fantastic drip irrigation system for this garden, and demonstrated how to install a system like that at the workshop.

All of these workshops were a great success and we look forward to the next 10 workshops of the year! Details coming soon.

You can see more photos from our workshops here