John Wilson is here from Oklahoma to give one of his renowned grafting workshops here in Alameda, Ca. After he demonstrates some of the more popular grafts, such as cleft and whip grafts, attendees will have a chance to practice what they’ve learned on branches and trees in Jasmine’s garden. If you have your own grafting knife, please bring it. Jasmine will have knives to lend as well. The garden has more than 20 different fruit trees, (many multi-budded,) and is a great place to learn creative and attractive permaculture techniques. A potluck meal will be shared after the grafting workshop in the garden. Donations appreciated. Please RSVP in comments below on this page, or message Jasmine directly, so we can assure you a spot and give you the street address. We’ll schedule a second workshop for Sunday afternoon, same time if we get more than 12 people signed up. (Don’t worry, the TV will be on in the living room during Super bowl and we will break for half time) We look forward to seeing you!
Find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift at our special plant sale on Saturday, Feb. 10, from 9am – 1:30pm. We have a large variety of lush indoor plants and beautiful pots. All proceeds go towards keeping the Plant Exchange free and open to the public. See photos and flyer at http://theplantexchange.
Come and visit our booth at the 2018 Alameda Earth Day Festival! We’ll have fun activities for children, educational items for adults, and tomato starts for sale!
Permi-curious? Hear stories from real, on the ground, projects showing ways we can meet our needs while being beneficial to all life. Hear stories about Permaculture design. If you love good food, regenerative farming, natural building, community building, renewable energy and are curious about a design system that ties it all together then come check out this free introduction.
We’ll discuss practical ways you can use permaculture design in your life to grow your own healthy food, harvest and clean your own water, build your own home, transition your career, reduce your carbon footprint and increase your carbon rootprint while building lasting, quality community relationships with people that share your values.
Taught by David Cody of the Urban Permaculture Institute. To learn more about permaculture design trainings in the SF Bay Area, visit the Urban Permaculture Institute at www.UPISF.com.
Happy Earth Month! What are you doing to show the earth some love? Food Shift invites you to join us on May 18th to learn how you can help reduce wasted food to create healthy communities and a healthy planet.
In the U.S. 40% of the food produced is wasted, and if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of green house gases. By recovering food, we are saving Earth’s precious resources that would have been wasted and the harmful greenhouse gases emitted in disposal. Last year Food Shift recovered 35,000 lbs of food, which is equivalent to the carbon footprint of driving accross the United States 10 times!
We are connecting the dots between wasted food and the contradictory fact that 1 in 7 people are food insecure in the U.S. and many face high barriers to employment. Food Shift sees these interconnected problems as an opportunity to create a scalable and replicable model that integrates education, environmental sustainability, and workforce development as part of a holistic vision for healthy communities and individuals. This is the vision of The Food Shift Kitchen.
Tour The Food Shift Kitchen and enjoy a delicious vegetarian buffet meal made from recovered produce. All proceeds from the event go directly to supporting Food Shift’s efforts to recover more food, feed more people, and create more jobs.
Capacity is limited, purchase tickets soon.
This 19th of May, APC invites you to eat, celebrate, and advocate for a great cause at the Alameda Point Collaborative Farm. Give extra meaning to words strength, home, and growth.
APC will be hosting its annual fundraiser on May 19th from 1pm to 3pm. This farm to table experience will happen in the center of APCs 2 acre urban farm and, will include a completely organic and sustainable meal prepared with produce sourced directly from the farm.
Alameda Point Collaborative hosts this unique and elevated fundraiser ever year to raise funds for its residents living within its supportive housing community on the decommissioned Naval Base at Alameda Point. With every dollar raised, APC is given more support in its mission against fighting homelessness and poverty.
So, we ask that you join us for a beautiful meal on the farm and open your hearts to the beautiful community that is APC. May 21st, give the gift of strength, home and kindness at Alameda Point Collaboratives Urban Farm to Table Luncheon.
The City of Alameda is now a leader in reducing plastic pollution!
Join us May 30th (6-8 pm) for the award-winning documentary STRAWS, and meet the woman who inspired Alameda’s local student movement to eliminate plastic straws (and now all plastic food ware) in Alameda.
DETAILS:
Jackie Nunez, founder of The Last Plastic Straw, will present an award to the City. Jackie will show a special presentation of the 30-minute film “Straws” (narrated by Tim Robbins) which highlights impacts of plastic pollution and how communities across the nation, like Alameda, are making a difference. ReThink Disposable Youth Ambassadors (local high school students) will present new findings.
Alameda is an island impacted on all sides by marine litter, mostly single- use plastic food packaging. Last year, Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable program selected Alameda for its groundbreaking community-wide project, Unpackaging Alameda, where over 100 restaurants throughout the city are being recruited to reduce disposable food ware in favor of reusables.
On May 30th, The ReThink Disposable Youth Ambassadors will present their findings, celebrate the ReThink Disposable restaurants in Alameda (over 40 already signed-up!), and inspire us as we make our transformation toward a plastic-free Alameda.
Sponsored by CASA, Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund, and City of Alameda’s waste reduction initiatives. This is a FREE event. All attendees will receive their very own reusable, metal straw!
Take the mystery out of tree pruning with this hands-on workshop! Learn the basics and leave with skills you can start using immediately.
Topics covered include:
- How trees grow
- Why pruning keeps trees healthier
- How trees react to pruning
- Seasonal pruning
- How to prune properly
- Common pruning mistakes
- Identifying a properly pruned true
and more!
The workshop will also include a show-and-tell of different types of wood, branches, branch collars, compartmentalization of decay in trees. Bring your questions and come prepared for a fun interactive learning experience.
Tony Wolcott is a Certified Landscape Horticulturalist, Certified Irrigation Designer, Board Certified Master Arborist, Master Composter, and Bay Friendly Designer. His work experience includes being the urban forester at the Cities of Albany and San Francisco, non-profit work with Friends of the Urban Forest, Our City Forest, and arborist representative with Bartlett Tree Experts. Currently he is professor of Arboriculture within the Horticulture division of the Biology Department at Diablo Valley College.
Join us for Alameda Backyard Growers’ Second Annual Garden Tour. This year, Mary Sotelo is opening her beautiful garden, which showcases her love of color and edibles. Much is packed into a small backyard. Fruit trees are kept small to maximize space. Large containers are also used. In addition to fruit trees, berries and veggies, the garden includes chickens (who enjoy a chandelier in their coop), compost bins, and a garden wall of Talavera Mexican pottery. The garden is an important part of the curriculum of Mary’s preschool, allowing children to learn about gardening and where our food comes from.
About the gardener: Mary got her love of gardening from her grandmother at an early age. The last few years, she converted some of her flower beds into veggie beds, so she could have fresh, organic veggies right outside her door. For now, the garden is her perfect mix of art, flowers, and edibles.
This event is now full.
with David Blood, Master Gardener of Alameda County
July 21, 2018, 2 to 3:30 pm
Alameda Main Library, 1550 Oak Street, Alameda
Yes, summer gardening may be starting to wind down. But in the Bay Area, we can grow food three, or maybe even four, seasons of the year. In the fall, some crops actually do better than in the summer, because pest problems may be fewer. David Blood, long-time Alameda County Master Gardener, will speak on how to approach the fall and winter garden: what crops work and what to avoid, how to start seeds for the fall/winter garden, and other issues to consider. David’s presentation will be followed by a seed starting workshop, featuring seeds suitable for the fall and winter garden. Take home a six-pack of planted seeds and try out a fall/winter garden!
About our Speaker: David Blood became an Alameda County Master Gardener in 2001, and has many years of experience growing food. He co-leads the ACMG Lake Merritt Trials Garden, which conducts tests of which varieties do best in our moderate western Alameda County climate, provides presentations on growing food each summer, and showcases the plants named Outstanding Plants of Alameda County.