Celebrate Food Day and Volunteer With Us October 24th!

Celebrate Food Day 2014!

We all love food, so spend your Food Day making a difference at a garden workday and potluck, next Friday October 24th! 

Come support community gardens and have a good time working outside! We will be completing projects at Vinewood Park Community Garden and Village Circle Community Garden.

Where?

Meet at the Gardens Project office at NCO 413 North State Street in Ukiah, and we will carpool out to the gardens

When?

Friday, October 24th. Meet at 9 am

Lunch back at NCO from noon to 1pm

Lunch?

To properly celebrate Food Day, we will provide a harvest soup to share, bring a potluck dish to share if you are able!

What to bring?

Please bring a water bottle, work gloves, and good working shoes.

Bring your friends, family, or neighbors to share in the fun.

Please RSVP to Jessie at jruff@ncoinc.org or call at 467-3200 ext. 399 

RSVP-ing helps us greatly with lunch planning!!

See you there!

Can't attend this time but still interested in volunteering? Click here. Or give us a call!

To read more about the gardens in Ukiah, click here.

MLK Day Work Party @ Nokomis School Garden (1.20.14)

FoodCorps Service Member Keegan Niland is hosting a garden work party in tribute to Dr. King!

Where: Nokomis School Garden @ 495 Washington Avenue (Garden is located west of school on Helen Avenue).
When: Monday January 20, 2014. From 9am to 12:30pm.
What: Transferring soil to garden beds, creating a garden reading circle, and planting.
Why: "The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is a way to transform Dr. King's life and teachings into community service that helps empower and strengthen local communities."

* Snacks and beverage will be provided. Please wear closed toe shoes and bring garden gloves if preferred.

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.

Gardens Celebrate Earth Day!

This year, we decided to celebrate Earth Day by getting our hands dirty!

11 Gardens, 2 California Conservation Corps (CCC) crews and a whole lot of enthusiastic volunteers spent the week of Earth Day shoveling compost, spreading mulch, installing irrigation, battling weeds, building fences and planting starts! Whew!

Thanks to all the gardens that participated by hosting a work day:

Grow the Good Food Garden- Fort Bragg

Orchard Apartments Garden- Ukiah

South Valley High School- Ukiah

Yokayo Elementary School Garden- Ukiah

Grace Hudson Elementary School Garden- Ukiah

Calpella School Garden- Calpella

Willits Charter Elementary School Garden- Willits

Yuki Trails Garden- Covelo

Anderson Valley High School Garden- Boonville

Anderson Valley Elementary School Garden- Boonville

And thank you to all the wonderful volunteers and the hardworking CCC crews who gave their time and energy to getting these gardens ready for spring planting!

To see more photos check out our Flicker page
If you have photos from a Earth Day Garden Blitz work party please email them to nloots@ncoinc.org

Become an AmeriCorps with the Gardens Project!

Want to be of service? Improve the health and resilience of our community by boosting the local food system?
Then AmeriCorps HealthCorps is for you!

The Gardens Project is currently recruiting  one AmeriCorps Community HealthCorps member for 2013-2014!

Applications are due May 24th!
 

Position Description: 

* Facilitate the development of community supported and school gardens based on a community ownership model.
* Coordinate a continuously expanding Gardens Network of community and school gardens
* Perform outreach and promote access to existing and new community and school garden programs.
* Increase community and school-based gardening opportunities.
* Research and develop garden, nutrition and garden leadership based educational and training resources
* Develop and manage volunteer Program  

Minimum Qualifications:

* Bilingual in Spanish/English
* Strong writing and oral presentation skills
* Knowledge and experience with gardening/farming, and nutrition education
* Experience working with youth, tutoring, and/or teaching
* Competency in MS Office suite
 

Stipend & Benefits:
 

      * A $12,100 living allowance paid in bimonthly installments
* CalFresh food program (food stamps) benefits of up to $200/month
* Health insurance coverage and child care benefits starting immediately
* May be eligible for a $5,550 education award upon successful completion of term of service
* Student loan forbearance
* Requires a minimum of 1700 service hours over a minimum 10 month term
 

Apply through AmeriCorps at americorps.gov and submit a supplemental application as outlined under the programs tab at ruralcommunityhealth.org

 Contact the Gardens Project if you have additional questions about this local opportunity. 

Junior Academy Students Dig In!

This week, 20 enthusiastic students from Ukiah's Junior Acadamy donated their time and effort to help give Woodlands Apartment Garden a Spring cleaning!

With the sun shining and the air unseasonably warm, it was a perfect day to tackle stubborn Bermuda Grass and spread wood chips.

A big thank you to the hard workers at Junior Acadamy!

Click here for more photos of Woodlands Garden.

 

United Way's Day of Caring

 

People were chatting and sipping warm coffee at Ukiah's Civic Center bright and early on Friday, September 21st as a kick off  to the United Way's Day of Caring: A day meant for people to come together and serve their community by volunteering. The Mendocino College Women's Basketball team and a few other caring individuals joined the Gardens Project at Mayacama Industries in order to turn an old, filled in swimming pool into a useful garden. The crew spent the day pulling weeds, digging trenches, installing irrigation, building the garden bed and moving it into place. Because of their efforts there is now a place where the members of Mayacama can grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables.

Thank you Russ Troxler, Garret Troxler, Corrinne Chaulk, Jody Steliga and the Mendocino College women's basketball team as well as the great folks at Mayacama for all your hard work!

For more on the Day of Caring check out this article in the Ukiah Daily Journal or click here to see more pictures!

Meet our new Americorps member!

Myself, Cassie and our newest volunteer, Elizabeth, in the State St. Garden

Hi! My name is Natalie! I'm the new Americorps member here at the Gardens Project. After making the trek from the Midwest out here to the great state of California I am excited to explore life in Ukiah and be a part of the Gardens Project. I can already tell its going to be a busy year! I dove right in this past Sunday by helping out at the annual Homegrown Community Garden Tour   -the perfect orientation to some of the beautiful community gardens here in town. I got to meet many of the great people who manage and work in the gardens and I am already looking forward to helping out with the next big event: Run the Ranch on September 30th. Ukiah is beautiful and I am looking forward to hiking, biking, climbing and exploring the coast here. Hope to meet you soon!

Want to Intern with the Solar Living Instittute?

Solar Living Institute accepting applications for 2012 Intern Program

HOPLAND, CA – The Solar Living Institute (Institute), a leader in promoting sustainable living through inspirational environmental education, is accepting applications for their seven month Intern Program, which will run April 1 to October 31, 2012. Information and application information are available online at www.solarliving.org.

Since 1998, the Institute had over 200 young adults participate in their Work-Trade Intern Program that provides the opportunity to live at the 12 acre Solar Living Center demonstration site in Hopland, CA, while participating in courses on solar photovoltaic systems design and installation, organic gardening, natural building, and sustainable living. In exchange, the interns learn about and participate in the Institute’s Kids’ Education Program Tours, workshop training program, demonstration site operations, marketing and communications, and special events.

Established in 1998, the Solar Living Institute is a 501(c) (3) non-profit solar training organization that promotes sustainable living through inspirational environmental education.

The Institute’s Kids’ Education Program provides educational tours to K-12 schools at the 12 acre Real Goods Solar Living Center demonstration site in Hopland, CA, and cover curriculum related to solar power, natural building, organic gardening and sustainable living. Additional information is online at www.solarliving.org/visit-us/tours/.

They also provide onsite and online classes in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that are accredited by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), as well as a range of sustainable living classes that includes, natural building, greywater systems, raising goats and chickens, beekeeping, building Cobb ovens and more.

For more information about the Solar Living Institute and their 2012 Intern Program, visit www.solarliving.org, or call 707.472.2460.

Volunteer with The Gardens Project This Summer

If you have free time this summer and want to engage in some meaningful volunteer work, come to a garden!

Below are regular, weekly volunteer opportunities in community and school gardens. There are gardens with old people, young people, schools, neighborhoods... During these times, there will be a garden coordinator at the garden to direct volunteers. For more information, contact the coordinator listed for each garden. It's not a bad idea to call them and make sure the timing is correct. Or, be brave and just show up! We look forward to seeing you out there!

Jack Simpson Senior Apartments
Tuesdays at 9:30 am
Coordinator: Lucy 391-0444
NorthEast corner of Bush and Low Gap, Ukiah

South Ukiah Head Start Preschool
Wednesdays, 8:30 - 10:30 am
Coordinator: Lucy 391-0444
2165 S. State St., Ukiah

Talmage State Preschool
Mondays and Thursdays, 10 am
Rhea, 468-7436
2240 Old River Rd., Talmage (at the Mendocino County Office of Education)

Plowshares Peace and Justice Center
Fridays, 8 - 10 am
Julie, 463-1760
1346 S. State St., Ukiah

Grace Hudson Elementary School
Wednesdays 11 am - 1 pm
Garden is at Dora between Jefferson and Fircrest, Ukiah

Yokayo Elementary
Wednesdays 9 am - 11 am
Amy, 391 - 2046
790 S. Dora St.

Calpella School
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 - 11:30 am
Julie, 463-2238
151 W. Moore St., Ukiah

WISC Community Garden
Wednesdays 5 pm (with potluck)
Mason, 841-0464
221 S. Lenore St., Willits

We Miss Our Intern - Alison Petro!

The Gardens Project is truly sad to have to say goodbye to Alison Petro - an amazing student intern from the Community Services Dept. at UC Santa Cruz. Alison has been a great asset to the organization over the past six months.
As Alison learned, The Gardens Project is engaged in numerous projects with the overall goal of creating access to local, fresh produce and facilitating the rebuilding of our local food system. An area of great need, particularly in the Willits area, has been to develop the capacity to implement a Farm-to-School program with the Willits Unified School District. Alison’s main accomplishment has been developing this capacity.
* She developed a Farm-to-School resource binder with case studies from other schools focusing on successes and challenges.
* She assisted with the leadership and community development of the new WISC Community Garden through facilitation and participation in weekly events.
* At the Willits Farmer’s Market, Alison assists with the promotion of the Brookside School Farm and sales of their produce to support the Willits Farm-to-School program, as well as sell Brookside produce, along with the sale of bulk grains from a local grain promotion program - Grange Grains, promote the Farm-to-School program and the Brookside School Farm.
* At the Brookside School Farm she assisted with weekly harvesting of vegetables for food preservation workshops and for farmers market.
* She proactively facilitated meetings with the Food Service Director, helped organize food service staff trainings in the use of fresh produce, and is actively promoting food preserving classes to preserve foods for the developing program at Willits Unified.
* One of the other pieces to developing capacity in the Farm-to-School movement is providing food service staff with training to handle seasonal, fresh produce. Alison successfully facilitated the development of trainings for food service staff in Fort Bragg, Willits, and Covelo. The trainings, paid for by NCO, brought in a local executive chef to train food service staff in fresh produce preparation.
Once again, we are grateful to have collaborated with UCSC to host Alison at The Gardens Project of NCO. We hope to have the opportunity to work with Alison in the future. We miss you!