What's growin' on this Spring with the Gardens Project!

The Gardens Project is feeling the spring fever, and we want to tell you all about it! 

Students from the Ukiah Junior Academy volunteering at the Vinewood Park Community Garden in March

We are digging into our 9th year of community garden work with fresh new ideas on the horizon as well as old events coming back to life... all to grow food and community in our beautiful Northern California land!

Wanna learn about all we're doing and get involved? Here's a look at what's growin' on, click on the links to dig deeper into each topic.

New Garden Projects in Mendocino and Lake Counties

We are working with communities from Leggett to Lucerne this year to help build new garden projects for different communities, agencies, and apartments. The first few groups we'll be working with this year include:

• Arbor Youth Resource Center of Redwood Community Services in Ukiah - New Garden
• Community Transition Program Garden at Observatory Park in Ukiah - New Garden Fence, additional raised beds 
• FLOW Community Garden in Lucerne - New Garden Fence
• North Shore Senior Apartments of RCHDC in Lucerne- 3 new 4x20ft
  Raised Beds and Irrigation!
• Village Circle Community Garden in Ukiah (new in 2014) - Large Hoop-house for season extension.

North Shore in Lucerne will have new raised beds for easier gardening!

 More about projects in Leggett, Boonville, and Hopland coming soon!

Garden Leadership Training in Ukiah

Garden Leaders from the Arbor, Jack Simpson & Village Circle

Community Garden Managers from 7 gardens in Ukiah are in the middle of a 4 week training to become effective leaders for their gardens- with lessons on community building, communication, event planning and more!
Participating are leaders from the Arbor Youth Resource Center, Vinewood Park, Village Circle, State St, Washington Ave, Thunderbird and Jack Simpson Gardens.

The Gardeners' Gathering

A NEW EVENT FOR THE GP- the Gardeners Gathering will bring together community and home gardeners from Lake and Mendocino Counties together to learn and share gardening skills, with a special presentation on the Drought and how it impacts our gardens, mini-workshops, free seeds, plant starts, resources and more!

FREE and ALL are welcome to attend, click here for more details.

Supporters of the Gardens Project 

Fetzer Vineyards has partnered with the GP to donate 5% of their Community Wine Sale proceeds to community garden development! Community Wine Sales are held at Fetzer in Hopland every other month during the year. We are grateful for this new partnership that will provide funding for garden projects throughout the year! 
The next Community Wine Sale starts now! Place your orders by Friday, April 10th to pick up your wine at Fetzer on Saturday, April 18th. Click here for ordering information.

SAUCY restaurant in Ukiah will be hosting a Dine-Out day for the Gardens Project on Tuesday, April 21st. Come to Saucy all day for a meal and we'll be donated a portion of the proceeds from the day! Don't forget that it will be Earth Day WEEK- so there will be local farm fresh specials on the menu!




Want to make a donation to the Gardens Project?
You can donate online at anytime, just click here!

We also sell our Gardens Project T-shirts for a $20 donation (for pick up in Ukiah). Contact GP Coordinator, Stephanie, at 462-1958 or slogsdon@ncoinc.org to get one!

The Homegrown Garden Tour- coming back to life!

Genaro in the Cleveland Lane Garden showing off his Nopales in 2012!

Have you been to the Homegrown Garden Tour in Ukiah? It's been a few years since the GP has hosted the tour for the community to visit the gardens, but this year it's coming back this August! Keep a check on our events page for tour information.

Gardens Project VIDEOS

Did you know that the GP had a video intern last summer? Kenny Logsdon, Anthropology student at Appalachian State University, spent last summer interviewing our community gardeners and documenting workshops.

Take a look at this video about our drip irrigation workshop last summer- and then get inspired to set yours up to for water conservation!

Thank you for your continued support of community and school gardens in Mendocino and Lake Counties!

2014 Garden Survey Results, FUN!

Sharing the Bounty 2014

Created with flickr slideshow.

The 5th annual Sharing the Bounty fundraiser for The Gardens Project of NCO held at Saracina Vineyards this past Saturday, September 13th was a huge success.  The event raised $10,000 for developing school and community gardens.   Over 75 community members were treated to a unique and delicious 4 course meal prepared by local chefs:

• Elizabeth Archer of the NCO Gardens Project Staff
• Corey Halowchak of Piazza de Campovida 
• Craig Strattman of Patrona Restaurant and Lounge
• Marta Pires of Dora's Gourmet Cafe (formerly North State Cafe)

All food and wines for the event were donated by local farms and wineries, then presented to the chefs to create unique the unique flavors of our county.  Dinner was served overlooking the olive orchard, vineyards and mountains of the Sanel Valley of Hopland.  A huge thank you to John Fetzer and Patty Rock for donating their space at Saracina for the event.

Additionally, a tremendous thank you to the following individuals and businesses that made the event possible by donating their labor and products,  thus helping create a resilient and accessible local food system in Mendocino County and beyond:

 The wineries and winemakers that provided the supreme libations for the evening:  Husch Vineyards,  Roederer Estates, Alex MacGregor and Saracina/Atrea, Simaine Cellars and DNA Vineyards. The foundation of our local food movement, the farmers and producers: The Apple Farm , Aqua Gardens Family Farm, Black Dog Farm, Black Oak Coffee Roasters, Brookside School Farm, Cathy Monroe Apples, California Balsamic, Carson and Bees, Cinnamon Bear Farm, Covelo Organics, Elmer's Orchards, Grange Farm School, Green Uprising at Blackberry Bend, Live Power Community Farm,  Mendocino Grain Project, Mendocino Organics, Seely Farm Stand, Schat's Bakery,  Stella Cadente Olive Oil Company and Tres Bien.

Special thanks also go to our volunteers from Community HealthCorps. Thompson's Party Rentals for giving us a great discount, Ukiah Natural Foods and Raley's for material support, Marcos Pereda for his great music, and Moira Evans for leading dinner service.

We live in an amazing community and are grateful to all for sharing the bounty to help us build school and community gardens.

Missed the event, but still want to help?  Donate!  Volunteer!  Contact us!

                                             See you at Sharing the Bounty 2015.

Give a Growing Gift!

Are you proud to be living in a county where healthy, garden-fresh produce is abundant and available? We sure are!

Join NCO’s Gardens Project in empowering community by making a tax deductable donation to support our efforts to build a healthy future, one garden at a time.

Your donation will go directly into the infrastructure needed to develop and sustain community and school gardens, as well as provide skill training and garden nutrition education.

Donate $25 or more before December, 31st and we’ll send you an awesome Gardens Project sticker you can sport on your water bottle, car bumper or notebook!

Donate $100 or more and we’ll send you a sticker PLUS a Gardens Project T-shirt! (We’ll contact you for your size and color choice).
      
      

      
See the network of 75 Mendocino county gardens on our interactive map!

You can also contribute by liking us on Facebook and subscribing to our Real Dirt Blog on our website.

Thank you for supporting community and school gardens in Mendocino and Lake Counties!

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.

Sharing the Bounty, September 14th... A Farm to Table Dinner

Freshly harvested tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash... paired with local, grass-fed meat... amazing wines... and a delicious dessert... a four-course meal prepared by four superb local chefs... YES! It's the 4th Annual Sharing the Bounty farm-to-table benefit dinner on September 14th, from 5:30-8:30pm.

Tickets are $75 per person. Proceeds go to the Gardens Project... and directly support building new school and community gardens. Limited seating is available, so reserve your ticket now!

And this year, the event will be held at the beautiful outdoor venue at Saracina Vineyards. Saracina is a 600-acre bio-diverse property encompassing three ranches located in Hopland, California.  With 300 acres in vineyards, the property's openness and unspoiled yet well-tended beauty are unique in Mendocino County.  The main ranch is home to Saracina Vineyards, a small-production, state-of-the-art, California Certified Organic (CCOF) winery and the first wine caves in Mendocino County, carved out of solid rock over a two-year period.

Want to take a walk down memory lane? In past years, Sharing the Bounty has been held at Ukiah's Patrona Restaurant... check out some of the great food and generous people who supported the Gardens Project over the years! Click here.

Follow the BEET!

Did you see our team walking in the Human Race Event on May 4^th? In case you missed us, we were the ones wearing fruit and vegetable shirts and hats!

Our team raised over $4500!!! for the Farmers’ Market Food Stamp Match Program… a program that encourages families to use their CalFresh/EBT funds to purchase fruits, vegetables, meat, and plant starts at the farmers’market… by matching their EBT charges with up to $15 in “farmers’ market bucks”… great for family’s health and great for supporting our local farm businesses!

Our fundraising team was a huge collaboration between local businesses (like local farm vendors, the Westside Renaissance Market, and Parducci Winery), local healthcare clinics and staff (like Hillside Health Clinic and ARCH’s Healthcorps Navigators), local agencies (like NCO and the Planning and Prevention Unit at Mendocino County’s Public Health Dept.), as well as individuals from across the community.

Want to learn more about this program? Interested in donating? Check it out on the Farmers’ Market Food Stamp Match Program webpage.

We Ran the Ranch!

Sunshine, fresh air and community support was abundant Sunday, September 30th at the Run the Ranch 5k! Jaxon Keys Winery generously hosted this fundraiser for the Gardens Project to help support the continued building of community and school gardens. Over 50 people came out to run or walk the course that wound through rolling hills and beautiful vineyards of the winery. Participants were rewarded for their efforts with a farm fresh lunch. Kids had a great time making their own organic smoothies with our smoothie bike and adults enjoyed complementary wine tasting on the porch. Winners of each age category took home a bottle of  Jaxon Keys wine or spirits.

A big thanks to all who came out to support the Garden's Project!
 Thank you to all who made this event possible:

- Schat's Bakery

-Lovin' Mama Farm

-Jaxon Keys Winery

-North Coast Striders 

 -Our wonderful volunteers: Lauryn Ringwood, Lucy Shapiro, Jessica Ohland, Kristin Cutler, and Elizabeth Archer!

Homegrown Community Garden Tour 2012

This past Sunday was our 3rd annual Homegrown Garden Tour. With a break in the late summer heat, it was a beautiful evening to showcase 5 of our community and school gardens and the people that make them possible. More than 50 community members came out to experience and celebrate the State Street, Cleveland Lane, Plowshares, South Ukiah Head Start and Thunderbird Apartments gardens. Garden members served tasty bites made from their own produce, played music, grilled out and gave tours of their bountiful plots.

The evening wound down at the Grace Hudson Museum as people enjoyed fresh caprese salad, sipped wine, traded garden tips and discussed how adorable the Head Start garden is while they listened to lovely music provided by Steven Hahm and Sid Bishop. Thank you to all who came out to support the Gardens Project! We hope to see you again next year! 

A big thank you to everyone who  made the event possible!            

Garden managers and garden members from all five gardens

Grace Hudson Museum

Husch Vineyards, Fetzer Vineyards and Jaxon Keys Winery

Sid Bishop and Steven Hahm

Wipf Construction

Patrona Restaurant and Lounge

For more pictures visit our facebook page or our flicker page

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!