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 and new partners to help us nourish residents in Alameda. Food security remains a serious issue for too many people who live in our community, and the pandemic has only added to the problem for so many.
When we were founded, ABG’s original mission was to harvest fresh fruits from the many trees in the yards of our neighbors on the Island and to bring that produce to the Alameda Food Bank. Nearly every week our Project Pick volunteers add to the more than 40,000 pounds of apples, plums, persimmons, and citrus we have delivered so far.
Our mission also guides us to share expert information about successful year-round gardening in our monthly meetings and our regular newsletter (click to sign up). We also advocate widely for more sustainable and organic food as well as for the reduction of waste in the food delivery system. In the past year we have built, installed, and supplied six Free Seed Libraries around Alameda. From these we have distributed 40,000 hand-filled packets of more than 200,000 vegetable seeds to both experienced and novice gardeners, to encourage the improvement of home gardens so that even more produce might be shared with those in need.
Our Board and volunteers have been so busy during the pandemic that we did not take time to recognize our hard work and many successes over the past 10 years. As we began to talk about some sort of celebration, Sarah Miller, one of our Board Members, learned that a brewery located on Alameda Point liked to partner with local not-for profits to produce a “Cause Beer.” Working with the skilled craftspeople at Almanac Beer Company, we were excited to help develop a fresh, new brew called Bay of Plenty Hazy IPA. This special beer (in lovely 16 oz. cans) is dry-hopped exclusively with Moutere, a process which creates an intensely tropical ale bursting with notes of grapefruit and passion fruit.
ABG Board members Sarah Miller, Jillian Saxty and Holly Johnson celebrate the Bay of Plenty IPA
Since this special brew was created to highlight and benefit the good work done by local not-for profits, we decided to share this interesting spotlight with our partners, the Alameda Food Bank and the Alameda Point Collaborative’s Farm2Market, both currently located at Alameda Point. On each can is printed a QR code so that consumers can link to information about these three organizations and learn more about what we do to improve food security for so many people.
Help us celebrate by engaging with us, donating, volunteering, being informed and also, now, by purchasing Bay of Plenty Hazy IPA, which can be found at Almanac’s taproom and barrel house at 651 West Tower Ave., online, and now in distribution throughout California.
Alameda Backyard Growers is dedicated to teaching our neighbors how to grow food. During this difficult time, our education program has moved online. Join our mailing list to receive our educational newsletters and information on classes and events, locate the Free Seed Library nearest you, or join Project Pick as a fruit picker or fruit donor. Contact ABG at info@alamedabackyardgrowers.org.
Ron Limoges is President of the ABG Board of Directors.
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