More on our involvement with Mendocino County's kids and school gardens

For everyone who expressed an interest in the school gardens, here is some more information for you.

GENE, the garden-based nutrition education program, serves 32 schools from preschool to 12th grade in Mendocino County. The Gardens Project of North Coast Opportunities' Community Action Agency is proud to work with these school gardens, and together we reach more than 8,000 students and 1,000 families through gardening and nutrition events each year. This year federal funding for the program ended, putting these gardens at risk of closing.

The U.S. has an obesity epidemic, and we believe educating children about where their food comes from is more important now than ever. We hope to raise enough money to hire a garden coordinator for each school in order to keep the gardens alive and the students growing their own food.

Help fight childhood obesity and keep the gardens alive.

Creating Access to Local, Organic Food 

The Gardens Project is the coordinating agency for The Gardens Network, and facilitates the development of community-supported gardens throughout Mendocino County. 

Additionally, we support various projects including After School Nutrition Programs, Farm-to-Cafeteria, Food Stamp Outreach, and our Food Policy Council. The Gardens Project relieves hunger and inadequate nutrition in low-income neighborhoods, senior communities, schools, and youth enterprise projects by providing: 

• Education: We teach methods for growing organic food, as well as its nutritional, social, and economic benefits. We also offer leadership training for garden members and organizers.
• Nutrition/Physical Health. We do our best to bring a nutritious food supply to individuals, children, and families in a physically engaging, community-supported environment.
• Economic Development. We work to provide people with life-long, transferable, and self-sustaining skills in food production, cooking, surplus food sales, and reducing household food costs

Farm to Table Harvest Feast: Support School Gardens!

We are delighted to bring the Farm to Table Dinner experience to our inland community this fall, to help keep school gardens open throughout the county.

Eat Mendocino Presents a Farm to Table Harvest Feast

Hosted at Black Oak Coffee Roasters (476 N. State Street, Ukiah)

Saturday November 9th, 2013

Join us for a 100% Mendocino-grown harvest dinner paired with local wine and coffee

6:00 pm: Open wine bar & behind-the-scenes tour of the roasting room

6:30 pm: Dinner begins

This is a benefit to help save Mendocino County’s School Gardens. We will be raising funds for the Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education (GENE) program, to support a healthy, fresh food future for the children in our community.

Tickets will be available at Black Oak Coffee Roasters and Westside Renaissance Market in Ukiah. Or email eatmendocino@gmail.com to RSVP.

$50 advance/$55 at the door

Contact Sarah for more info (707) 593-6135

Mendocino County school gardens need your help!

On October 1, Mendocino County’s 32 public school gardens - operated by the Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education (GENE) program - lost funding.

There are so many proven benefits of garden-based education, and if a significant community interest in school gardens and nutrition education is demonstrated to each school board, GENE has a very real chance of thriving once again.

Until then, most students will miss out, and unattended gardens run the risk of being plowed over. The cost to fully fund the GENE program is about $25 per student per year, or $500 per classroom. We hope that in the years to come the schools will prioritize funding for the program, but for this year we need community donations to keep the gardens alive.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Watch this video, share it with your friends, and post it on any social media sites you use.
2. Make a donation to your favorite school garden through the Community Foundation.
3. Urge your school board to fully fund the Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education program.
4. Volunteer in your local school garden: e-mail Terry D’Selkie at tdselkie@uusd.net.

Saturday October 26, 2013: Make a Difference at Nokomis School Garden

Come out and enjoy a national day of service at Nokomis Elementary School!

A garden work party will be held from 9am - 12pm at Nokomis Garden; Saturday October 26, 2013. That's just a few days away! We'll be ridding the garden of Bermuda grass, laying and securing weed cloth, and spreading wood chips to help form clearer paths for students.

USA Weekend Magazine and Points of Light have collaborated for over 20 years to host Make A Difference Day; a national day of service recognized by AmeriCorps.

RSVP,
Food Corps Service Member Keegan Niland
email: kniland@ncoinc.org

or

NCO Volunteer Network
phone: (707) 467 - 3200 X200

Winter Garden Tip: Have One!

A Broccoli start, ready to go!

Winter gardens often get the cold shoulder from tired gardeners with too many green tomatoes to count. But there are many wonderful, nutritious crops you can plant in the fall before the coldest months of December and January. Here’s a list of plants you can put in your garden right away.

- Broccoli/Cauliflower
- Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts
- Kale, Chard, Collards, Arugula, Mustards
- Carrots & Beets
- Garlic & Onions

Mendocino Local Food has a great Planting Guide that you can use to determine whether to start your vegetables from seeds or starts. The Gardens Project also has resources online with vegetable gardening basics and tips.

Be sure to either look at the information on planting from your seed packet or if you buy starts from the farmers market, ask the farmer! Growing will be slow during the coldest months of January and December, but as soon as it starts to warm up a little in February or March your garden will pick up speed.

Raised Beds for Autumn Leaves

The 92 senior residents of Autumn Leaves Senior Apartments in Ukiah now have 20 beautiful raised beds to make their garden more wheel-chair accessible. The avid gardeners at Autumn Leaves saw the need to have raised beds so that all residents could participate in growing their own food in more easeful way.

The garden at Autumn Leaves has been around for many years, but focus in the garden has changed over time. Jerrie Woodward, a resident of Autumn Leaves of four years, has had a garden all her life. She said that before she lived there, most of the gardeners used the garden produce for just their families. Now, Jerrie and another woman of Autumn Leaves focus on producing a lot of food to give back to the 92 residents living there.

The Gardens Project partnered with and the Pinoleville Pomo Nation YouthBuild Program to create the raised beds. North Cal Wood Products donated redwood and Cold Creek Compost donated compost to fill all the new beds. All three have donated their time and resources to many other gardens working with the Gardens Project.  See all the photos of the beds being constructed by these resourceful youth at our Autumn Leaves Photo Album!

Most of the beds have already claimed by current gardeners needing the upgrade, though four residents will be starting their first garden at Autumn Leaves soon. Simply put, Jerrie says “It’s going to be so great!”

Green Tomato Salsa Verde

Autumn is bursting with ripe vegetables—and some not-so-ripe ones.
If you’re looking for a way to use your green tomatoes without having to roast or fry them, try this recipe, courtesy of Live Power Community Farm:

Green Tomato Salsa Verde
-1.5 lb green tomatoes, halved
-6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
-Half an onion, chopped
-1-2 hot peppers, minced
-Juice from 1-2 limes
-Cilantro, parsley, or mint minced

Place tomatoes (cut side down) and garlic cloves on sheet pan, and place under broiler for 5-7 minutes until skin on tomatoes starts to turn black, or roast for longer at a lower temperature. Combine roasted tomatoes and garlic (after removing the skin from the cloves) with remaining ingredients in a blender and pulse until combined, or chop and mix by hand. Add salt to taste.

Mendocino County Educators Reach-Out to Keep School Gardens Growing

Twenty Mendocino County educators dug in and shared a nutritious meal in celebration of Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education in October. Let's ensure that healthy gardens and children grow in Mendo'!



Food Systems Project Assistant April Cunningham of the Gardens Project led a G.E.N.E. Workshop at Nokomis Elementary School Saturday October 5, 2013. The G.E.N.E. Workshop served as an opportunity for educators in Mendocino County to strengthen their network, share and acquire resources, and fortify their ability to utilize garden space as an additional classroom.

The G.E.N.E. Workshop served 20 Mendo' County educators from in-school and after-school programs; ranging from Willits Charter to Pomolita Middle School. In collaboration with Master Gardeners Gloria Jarrell and Karen House, Food Corps Service Member Keegan Niland, HealthCorps Service Member Steph Logsdon, Teacher Pam Chiriboga, and G.E.N.E. Coordinator Terry d’Selkie; April demonstrated activities like “Eat a Rainbow” where the importance of eating fruits and vegetables rich in a variety of colors is highlighted; and, “Food Safety in the Garden” where educators learn the importance of preparing foods from the garden safely while recycling water.


The Mendocino County teachers were happy to be a kid for the day while demonstrating garden and nutrition education activities. Keegan led a Life Lab activity called “Six of One Thing, Half Dozen of the Other” where participants classified objects in the garden and talked about them as a group. The activity was a great way to explore how the new common core curriculum set to launch next school year can be incorporated into garden education. Steph led a workshop showing how toilet paper rolls, newspaper, and good potting soil is enough to germinate seeds and grow starts. Steph’s workshop opened up avenues and explored how starting a garden is accessible and cost-effective. April led a cooking workshop to instruct on proper knife technique and facilitating minimal-heat/no-heat recipes for kids. Mendo' County teachers were excited to create their own salad dressing and try bulgur wheat for the first time!

Educators left the G.E.N.E. Training feeling supported by their peers and community. In addition to the information and technical components, Terry d’Selkie helped source a gardening kit with basic tools; and seeds from Bountiful Gardens. It’s an incredible experience to meet and collaborate with folks in the community that choose to teach and empower young people to grow, eat, and celebrate healthy foods.

Mendocino Farmers Guild

A new hub for your local farming community

Have you heard about the new Mendocino Farmers Guild yet? Join them for the monthly meeting next week. Tuesday the 15th, 6pm at the Little Lake Grange in Willits!

*Oct 15th*		*6pm*
JOIN US NEXT WEEK AT THE
MENDOCINO FARMERS GUILD

Eat, drink, meet, and connect with fellow farmers and farm-minded folks in the county. Farmers, ranchers, apprentices, and interns of all ages and experience levels are encouraged to come! Come collaborate, communicate, commiserate! We'll meet each 3rd Tuesday of the month.

All are welcome—bring a dish or drink to share. Show off your harvest!

THIS MONTH: Hear from fellow farmers, learn about new farm-based opportunities and find out how you can take a stand against the FDA's new food safety rules. Plus a visiting chef from your sister Guild down in Sonoma will be cooking up a Mendocino-only pasta pork ragu.

Questions?
Contact Whitney at info@emandal.com
or Evan Wiig at evan@farmersguild.org

Little Lake Grange Address: 291 School St, Willits, CA

Bountiful Baskets! What a Deal!

I’m always hearing how expensive it is to buy local, farm fresh produce. Is that really true? Here’s “Part 2” of my fact finding mission!  (click here to read "Part 1")

Here’s what I did…

On September 10, 2013, I picked up my weekly delivery of local, farm fresh produce from Live Power Farm’s CSA and catalogued what was in my basket. The basket was overflowing this week with summertime treats!… There were Lambkin and Tasty Bite melons, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, 1.5# potatoes, 1 eggplant, 2 sweet peppers, 3 summer squash, 1 large head of lettuce, 6 stems of chard, 3 radishes, a small bunch of arugula, a small bunch of Asian greens (tatsoi), 2# of slicing tomatoes, 2 spicy peppers, 1 basket of cherry tomatoes, and a head of garlic. 

With this list in hand, I then headed out to our local grocery store, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op. This store has beautiful, organic produce… though only some is LOCAL produce. Here are a few notes about my procedure: 1) I didn’t find exactly the same items at the Co-op as were in my CSA basket. For example, they did not have Lambkin or Tasty Bite melons, only Honeydew. 2) The Co-op did not have any corn on the cob or Asian greens, though they were in my Live Power CSA basket… I just estimated that 3 ears of corn would be about $1.00 on sale at a big grocery… I simply left out the Asian greens. And 3) I did my best to check for size and weight that matched up with what was in my CSA basket.

And now… check out the results of my point-in-time price comparison survey.

Fresh Produce	Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op
Lambkin melon	4.87
Tasty Bite melon	4.87
Corn	1.00*
Cucumbers	2.00
Potatoes	.65
Eggplant	2.30
Sweet peppers	1.40
Summer squash	2.00
Green Leaf lettuce	1.85
Chard	2.29
Radishes	.50
Arugula	.15
Tatsoi (Asian greens)	*
Tomatoes	8.38
Spicy peppers	.75
Cherry tomatoes	5.00
Garlic	.78
TOTAL for Live Power CSA  $22.66	TOTAL for Co-op  $38.79

I have to say that I am pleased to be eating local, farm fresh, AFFORDABLE produce from Live Power Farm’s CSA. I even saved $16.13 buying from a CSA! Plus, I enjoy knowing exactly where my food is coming from and to be in a relationship with local farmers.

Are you interested in joining a CSA? Check out the complete listing of Mendocino County CSA’s in the Local Food Guide.