by Linda Carloni April is plant sale month! Specifically, pop-up sales of veggie seedlings for spring and summer harvest. ABG’s annual spring plant sale is Saturday, April 20, 2024 at Alameda’s Spring Shindig. Basics of planting those seedlings Prep your soil, be it in pots, in raised beds or the […]
by Marla Koss January 31, 2024 The Edible Schoolyard in North Berkeley is a magical place. Twenty-five years ago Alice Waters and friends broke ground next to Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, intent on giving students hands-on experience in the wonders of growing food and being nourished by it. […]
by Margie Siegal People have grown fruit trees for thousands of years. In that time, careful farmers have developed techniques to help each tree be the best tree it can be. That means appropriate watering, control of bad bugs and plant diseases, adding fertilizer as appropriate, and – pruning. Pruning […]
by Linda Carloni February can seem like a pretty dismal month for the gardener. Sometimes (thank goodness) it rains a lot, and the ground is really soaked. Sometimes it’s very chilly. And always, the days are short, at least at the beginning of the month. But for the flexible gardener, […]
by Jillian Saxty, ABG Project Pick Coordinator I read an article in the SF Chronicle on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023 and it struck a nerve. The title was ‘On the joy of feeding your fellow humans’ written by Bob Brody. It made me think of Alameda Backyard Grower’s Project Pick. […]
by Margie Siegal At the end of the summer, gardeners and farmers from many different cultures faced a similar problem: tomatoes that got started too late and never ripened. Gardeners and farmers around the world share two traits: first, they never throw anything away if they can help it and […]
by Margie Siegal We had a cold start to the year, and the fava beans were loving it, as were the radishes. The squash and tomatoes were cowering and shivering. By the middle of June, the favas and radishes were finally done, and I was going through my seed packets, […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member As the summer vegetables finish, it’s time to think about your garden next season. Many gardeners plant cool season veggies in late summer or early fall and harvest in late fall, winter or even next spring. If you do replace your […]
On August 5, 2023, Marla Koss, one of ABG’s fruit tree pruning experts, demonstrated winter dormant and citrus pruning which also helped Farm2Market in Alameda at the same time. She discussed the best methods for keeping your stone fruit trees in good shape via summer pruning and other tree care […]
On July 22, 2023 ABG members and other participants attended a demonstration and talk on irrigation by two Alameda County Master Gardeners, who focused on saving water and still meet the needs of plants! For an information sheet on what was discussed at this demonstration click here. Our speakers provided […]
The UC Master Gardener Program of Alameda County’s New Volunteer Training Class Will Begin in October 2023 Classes are taught by University advisers, local horticultural educators, and certified Master Gardeners. Topics include horticulture basics, integrated pest management/problem diagnosis, and growing and caring for edible and landscape plants. Gardening experience is […]
by Margie Siegal We regular gardeners have experienced that a session out in the garden planting, harvesting, pruning, or even weeding gives us a mood lift, and it sure seems like all that digging and pulling is lots of exercise, and we may be right. There are now scientifically based […]
by Alison Limoges, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member Despite the fact that the Bay Area got ‘atmospheric river’ rains this winter and spring, in our typically Mediterranean climate we can still expect very dry summers, and of course, we know we will have dry winters in future years. California’s […]
Text and photos by Marla Koss, additional photo credits to Holly Johnson JANUARY: The holidays are over. Things are finally quiet for most. But Alameda Backyard Growers’ Spring Plant Sale organizers are just getting revved up. They have a mere three-and-a-half months to raise hundreds of tomato, vegetable, herb and […]
On May 17, 2023, Alameda Backyard Growers’ Birgitt Evans held a pollinator plant starting workshop. Participants learned how to start seeds and plant beautiful, butterfly and bee attractive plants, including California Natives, to create a Pollinator Paradise! Bees, butterflies and other pollinators have been struggling because there are not enough […]
by Linda Carloni The calendar says it’s spring, but with our continuing atmospheric river-fueled storms, it often still feels a lot like winter, a wet chilly winter. Nevertheless, there are tasks in the garden to tackle when you can seize a dry day. Remember to avoid working the soil when […]
Alameda Sun, Thursday, March 9, 2023 by Holly Johnson Tomatoes are nearly everyone’s favorite food to grow for themselves. Here are some tips for successful tomatoes in Alameda, collected from Alameda Backyard Growers’ resources, local gardening experts, and notes from a past presentation by Evan Krokowski, the former farm coordinator […]
Alameda Sun, Friday, September 16, 2022 by Holly Johnson Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) held their August educational program on site at Farm2Market, the social enterprise farm division of Alameda Point Collaborative (APC). The session, part of the group’s monthly education series, gave three dozen attendees a hands-on learning experience as […]
Alameda Sun – Thursday, December 8, 2022 by Holly Johnson When Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), which requires homes and businesses to separate food waste from trash, became law on the first of this year, Alamedans might not have noticed. The city’s waste management system has included curbside food waste […]
by Marla Koss By the time this newsletter reaches your inbox, Alameda will have accumulated over 600 chill hours* since November 1. This means all the following deciduous fruit trees should have their dormant (winter) pruning done by the next week or two (or ideally, already have had it), depending […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member The calendar is turned, and we’ve started turning the pages in our seed catalogs (or clicking online). January can be a busy month for the gardener. Two major tasks for food gardens are planning the spring and summer garden and selecting […]
by Birgitt Evans Master Gardener and ABG Board Member When we first moved to Alameda, we rented a house with a huge garden and I began my lifelong experiment with growing as much of our food as I possibly could. In those days, I was wildly experimental, growing six colors […]
We are sad to mark the passing of our friend Pat Potter. Alameda Backyard Growers first met Pat as the very first Project Tree recipient in late 2016, when we helped her plant a White Genoa fig tree in her yard. She was a big fan of milkweed and Monarch […]
A big shout out and thank you to Alameda Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) Garden Club students who organized picking apples from the orchard on their campus. They donated 100 lbs of delicious fruit that was delivered to the Alameda Food Bank. ABG appreciates the dedication of these students to […]
Outdoor learning ramped up in Alameda during the pandemic as a way to get students back to school sooner. In some of the older school buildings, adequate ventilation and physical distancing that met CDC standards was a cost prohibitive barrier to reopening. The pandemic forced schools and entire districts to […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member Now that it’s autumn, gardening changes, but in our area it doesn’t end. Here’s a guide to resources from ABG and other excellent sources for some autumn gardening tasks: planting and cultivating fall and winter crops; improving your soil with cover […]
by Kristen Smeal, ABG Co President While traveling to visit family in Central Appalachia this Summer, I visited two sphagnum (peat) moss bogs; the Cranesville Swamp Preserve and Black Moshannon State Park. These two regions are similar in that they are at higher elevation in a basin-shaped landscape, which traps […]
by Paige Benviniste September 20, 2022 The organic food label means more than the absence of pesticides and herbicides. When you buy organic, you’re buying food grown by farmers that are required to maintain and improve soil health. Soil health is not only important for the environment, it’s important for […]
by Margie Siegal Mulch can be a lot of different things, from straw to high tech plastics, but basically, it is anything you put on top of the soil your plants are growing in to help them along. There are almost as many reasons to mulch as there are kinds […]
by Stefani Leto If you garden in the Bay Area, you are either familiar with powdery mildew, or you soon will be. The fungus is ubiquitous and there’s a spore variety for seemingly every plant. Powdery mildew is a catchall name for a group of airborne fungi that reproduce on […]
Alameda Sun – Thursday, July 14, 2022 by Jillian Saxty, Co-President of Alameda Backyard Growers Community organizations in other cities now have a handy tool for setting up their own food recovery or gleaning groups thanks to the new booklet produced by StopWaste and Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG). The publication, […]
Edible East Bay, May 23, 2022 Got a fruit tree in your backyard? Then you’ll know how plentiful the harvest can be! It’s not a surprise that fruit often goes uneaten as many owners are too busy or physically unable to harvest. Others simply have more than they can possibly […]
Alameda Sun – Thursday, March 10, 2022 Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) invited a youth at Farm2Market to share their perspective on gardening. Oliver Stouffer, a 17-year-old senior at Encinal High School, accepted their offer. My name is Oliver Stouffer. I am 17 years old and a Senior at Encinal High […]
Alameda Sun – Tuesday, February 8, 2022 by Alison Limoges, Board member of Alameda Backyard Growers and Master Gardener As humans, we all eat. Some of us grow our own food, but mostly we buy, prepare food, and then dispose of the leftovers. Unless we have pigs or goats to […]
by Birgitt Evans, ABG Volunteer Coordinator Last year was a watershed year for ABG with more than 7,000 pounds of gleaned fruit donated to the Alameda Food Bank, an expanded Plant Sale, packed Zoom classes, information packed e-Newsletters and our second annual Plant Swap. In addition, we added five new […]
by Kristen Smeal, ABG Board Member These books were handpicked by five-year-old Rosemary, a lover of books and gardening. Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming Young children will engage with this book, repeating the onomatopoeic phrases of hungry rabbits finding their way into Mr. McGreely’s garden. With the turn of […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member For me the very best reason to plant asparagus is because it’s delicious. It also grows well here by the Bay, thriving in cool, humid summers. Asparagus is a perennial plant, so you plant it one year and with luck it […]
by Birgitt Evans, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not the holidays, silly. Seed season. All your seed catalogs have arrived, the nurseries are chock-full of seeds and it’s time to get out some Post-its and start making your choices. This […]
Alameda Sun – Thursday, January 13 2022 by Linda Carloni, Board member of Alameda Backyard Growers and Master Gardener Fruit trees can be planted in fall, winter, or spring, but only in winter are bare root trees available. Back in the day, bare root fruit trees were the only way […]
Alameda Sun – Thursday, October 14, 2021 by Ron Limoges, President of the ABG Board of Directors Happy Autumn!! Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) quietly moved into our 10th year of service last Spring, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of celebrating, we continued to search out new ways […]
by Jeff Bridge, answering questions from ABG Board Member, Marla Koss Alameda Backyard Growers and so many of us as individuals have grown to love and depend on Ploughshares Nursery and its stalwart manager Jeff Bridge. In early October Jeff left Ploughshares to join a wholesale nursery in Petaluma. At […]
by Linda Carloni, ABG Board Member Many experts recommend that broccoli and bok choy (as well as other cruciferous vegetables) be planted in the inner East Bay in February/March or from July through September. But I plant mine from seedlings in October. Planting in October risks slow growth if the […]
by Margie Siegal So there you are, poking through the seed racks at Ploughshares Nursery or Encinal Nursery, and trying to figure out what variety to buy, or scrolling around all the different seed companies on-line, reading through the descriptions and trying to figure out what variety to buy. Once […]
Almanac Beer Co. is now brewing the fresh new Bay of Plenty Hazy IPA in support of Alameda Backyard Growers, together with Alameda Food Bank and Alameda Point Collaborative, all nonprofits that nourish our community through education, sharing, and volunteering. This beer is dry-hopped exclusively with Moutere, creating an intensely […]
by Marla Koss, ABG Board member If the best part about having a fruit tree in your yard is enjoying the fruit itself, then the satisfaction of watching it thrive year after year has got to be a close second. Whether you have just one — or a half-dozen — […]
by Birgitt Evans, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member Last year I took a class from Master Gardener Guy Duran and finally perfected my onion growing technique. This year I grew big, fat onions, some weighing in at 15 ounces! Onions are biennial, producing bulbs in their first year to […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member Plants that are native to California are becoming more and more popular, both as part of an established garden or as a replacement for a lawn. There are lots of good reasons for the increasing interest in native plants. Why Plant […]
by Birgitt Evans, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member Trees are the largest living organisms in the landscape and the most important. Trees take carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in their roots and tissues, they cool the ground and reduce the heat island effect, they slow, sink […]
by Margie Siegal One of the (few) positive side effects of the current pandemic is a renewed interest in self sufficiency. One way to become more self-sufficient is to learn to preserve food. By preserving, you take food that is easily available in large quantities for short periods (for example, […]
by Marla Koss, ABG Board Member Inspiring? Check. Comprehensive? Check. Full of handy local resources? Check check check. That’s the alamedabackyardgrowers.org website, reflecting the passions and values of its volunteers. ABG’s website helps fulfill the original aim of founders Amanda MacLean Bruemmer and Janice Edwards for their fledgling non-profit to […]
