DATE: Saturday, July 13
LOCATION: Ploughshares Nursery, 2701 Main St, Alameda, CA 94501
Join us to learn more about Ploughshares Nursery and help Jeff Bridge and his team with fun projects!
Help Ploughshares weed out and plant the propagation area, transplant fruit trees and seed native plants for next year’s sales. Bring work gloves and clippers, it’s going to be fun!
Directions: From Webster Street, turn West onto Willie Stargell Ave. or Atlantic Avenue (Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway). Turn Right onto Main Street. Ploughshares is across the street from Svendsen’s/Bay Ship and Yacht.
Help Save Our Monarchs by Planting Milkweed and Flower Seeds!
Last Thanksgiving, only 28,429 monarchs were counted in their wintering colonies compared to a historic population of about 10 million in the Western Monarch migration. Today monarchs face several challenges, the most intractable being a lack of milkweed (Asclepias spp.), where females typically lay their eggs, as well as a lack of winter blooming nectar plants to feed them along their journey. They are also being decimated by the increased use of glyphosate in agriculture, which kills milkweed and other sources of food for these butterflies.
If you have a sunny, open 4′ x 4′ space where you could plant milkweed and butterfly flowers – you could be part of the solution!
At this special workshop we will talk about how to plant and maintain a butterfly garden, then help you plant California native milkweed (and other flower seeds) so you can create your own butterfly garden. You will leave with milkweed, winter blooming flowers and information on how to help the monarchs!
Join us Saturday, August 10 for a Field Trip and talk on cool season Gardening.
Location: Alameda County Master Gardeners Trials Garden, at the Gardens at Lake Merritt
Hi Project Pick Volunteers!
I hope you’ve had a great summer break! Fall is around the corner and I’m sure we’ll be picking lots of apples and persimmons.
Meanwhile, we have one plum tree to pick this Sunday, September 8, from 2 – 3:30 (only one tree).
If you’d like to join us for this quick pick, please click here (https://forms.gle/JbBf9VcnKUZqk7818) to fill in our sign up form.
I will let you know where to meet the group.
Please bring gardening gloves (if you have them), water to drink and a hat.
Let me know if you have any questions at info@alamedabackyardgrowers.org
Thank you!
Jillian Saxty
It’s time for our annual harvest-time potluck! We’ll munch on garden and other delights, and talk about our summer gardens – our triumphs and our woes, our successes and our failures, those nagging problems and our solutions.
Bring food or beverage to share, or just bring yourself. Please bring your own reusable plate and utensils to help us reduce waste. We look forward to seeing you!
Hi Gleaners,
After a summer pause, we have lots of fruit coming in for the fall.
The pick this Sunday, September 22 between 2-4 PM will feature apples and lemons.
Please let me know if you are available by filling out this form:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sHlMPrx31zNc5-0crH7-hoL0wHRVhkY1pcc_4E1MfhU
I will contact you about where to meet when you RSVP.
Thank you!
Jillian Saxty
Project Pick Coordinator
October 15, 2019, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda
Did you know your head is as heavy as a bowling ball? (your poor neck!) Or that losing 1 pound means 4 pounds of weight off your knees-a 4 to 1 ratio?
Come hear about how ergonomics can make your gardening less painful and extend your time in the garden, both now and in the future. Join The Alameda Backyard Growers on Oct 15 to hear more.
The goals of the presentation include:
- Understand how garden activities affect your body ergonomics and wear and and tear on your joints
- Learn to correct gardening activity for better body mechanics
- Demonstrate best ergonomic practices
Our Speaker, Joan Sarlatte, worked as a nurse practitioner caring for injured workers, many of whose injuries related to repetitive jobs. She became interested in ergonomics as a way to retrain your body toward better working practices. Now retired, Joan graduated in the Master Gardener class of 2018, and is interested in helping gardeners learn to work with less discomfort and fewer injuries.
Hi Pickers,
There’s been quite a lull in fruit picking requests – not sure why. However, we do have one (fuyu) persimmon tree that needs picking.
Can anyone help with that on Sunday, Nov. 10 between 2 – 4 PM?
If so please fill our our volunteer form here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sHlMPrx31zNc5-0crH7-hoL0wHRVhkY1pcc_4E1MfhU
I will provide the joining location and other information with your RSVP.
Who knows? We may have more trees on our list by then. 🙂
Thank you
Jillian Saxty
ABG Project Pick Coordinator
November 19, 2019, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda
We see the winter holidays as a time of abundance, family, and sharing. Unfortunately, when it comes to food, this season is also the most wasteful. The average American household throws out 25% of the food they purchase, equivalent to about $1,600 a year for the average family of four. Wasting food has broad implications, but reducing wasted food is one of the easiest ways to impact climate change. By preventing food waste from being generated in the first place, you are eliminating the green house gasses associated with disposal of that wasted food.
ABG has invited Maricelle Cardenas of StopWaste to share what she has learned about the problem of wasted food and simple ways to change how we shop, prepare, store, and serve food this holiday season and all year round. Learn how to save money and reduce the amount of food we throw away in our homes.
For more information, tools, and tips, visit StopFoodWaste.org.
Our Speaker
Maricelle Cardenas is a community educator with a background in waste, environmental, and social issues. She has supported various projects at StopWaste and is currently working on an exciting campaign focused on helping residents of Alameda County reduce wasted food.
Hi Pickers,
Yey! We finally have rain! That’s the good news!
Finding time between the showers – that’s the tricky part.
Looks like it should be (mostly) dry on Sunday, Dec. 8 between 10 am – 12 noon.
Let me know if you can make it by filling out our our volunteer form here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sHlMPrx31zNc5-0crH7-hoL0wHRVhkY1pcc_4E1MfhU
We should have lemons, apples and persimmons – the full spectrum.
I will provide the joining location and other information with your RSVP.
Thank you
Jillian Saxty
ABG Project Pick Coordinator