Hi Pickers!
THIS PICK IS CANCELLED DUE TO THE RAIN FORECASTED ALL WEEKEND.
Please let us know if you can join our team in picking citrus this Sunday by fill in this form:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sHlMPrx31zNc5-0crH7-hoL0wHRVhkY1pcc_4E1MfhU
I will provide joining instructions and additional details when I receive your RSVP via this form.
Please bring a hat and gardening gloves if you have them.
Picking dates are subject to change and weather dependent. We will keep you posted if we change pick dates.
Thank you for all your help!
Jillian Saxty
Sadly, due to COVID-19, the City of Alameda has cancelled the Earth Day festival in Washington Park. Please celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day by supporting your favorite environmental organization, or participating in any of the many online events via many environmental non-profits.
Take care and stay healthy! Alameda Backyard Growers
Come and visit our booth at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Earth Day! We’ll have tomato plants to buy, information to share (on growing food, going plastic free, planting trees, etc.).
You may also have the opportunity to plant trees around Washington Park.
We’ll be sharing our booth with StopWaste – so you can learn more about stopping food waste, urban carbon farming and much more!
If you’d like to volunteer at our booth, please email us: info@alamedabackyardgrowers.org
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Per Aspera Ad Astra: From Adversity to the Stars
Benefit Concert with Black Violin
December 10, 2020 from 4 – 7 PM Live Streaming
Acta Non Verba Celebrates 10 Years!
100K Trees 4 Humanity is back mulching trees!
This Saturday 12/12 – 9am-12pm
@ Franklin Park. 1432 San Antonio Ave.
map: https://goo.gl/maps/R2bkhKqecwPDMAyz8
10:30am-12pm @Washington Park
740 Central Ave., Alameda, CA
map: https://goo.gl/maps/aLDF1xuALVbard17A
Join us and Alameda Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD) as we work to help save these trees on this day of mulching!
First 40 people to sign up get to volunteer. Signup here!
Masks are mandatory. We follow a strict COVID protocol of social distancing and work procedures found here. We ask all participants to adhere to these guidelines at all events and work projects.
Tools: We are providing mulch, buckets, wheelbarrows and shovels.
Optional: If you want, bring your own gloves, water bottle, and shovel.
See you on the 12th!
Sheet mulching is an easy and efficient technique for saving water, recycling resources, suppressing weeds and building healthy soil. Please join Lori Caldwell as she discusses the steps for this process as well as her own tips and tricks for how to sheet mulch. Please bring all your questions!
Lori Caldwell is an Alameda County Master Composter, self taught edible gardener and residential sheet mulch maven. Her mission is to “connect people to the soil and all that it provides”. She has been happily teaching sustainable gardening classes and transforming yards in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2007.
The Alameda Free Library invites you to attend Edible Garden Basics, an exciting virtual gardening program.
UC Master Gardener Susan Fritz will review the importance of selecting a planting site for sun/shade, improving and preparing your soil, watering, mulching, fertilizing, deciding what to plant, and keeping pests at an acceptable level. Making the right decisions about all of these items will lead to a plentiful harvest! Join our fun gardening event and learn the essentials to be a successful vegetable gardener.
Susan became a Master Gardener in May 2014, and has led the Speaker’s Bureau for five years. She enjoys teaching the public about gardening and how they can improve the methods they use to make their gardens more sustainable.
The event will be hosted by the Alameda Free Library via Zoom. A brief Q&A will follow the presentation.
WHAT: Edible Garden Basics, an exciting virtual gardening program
WHERE: Zoom!
WHEN: June 26, 11:00 am
HOW: Register online before the event to receive a link to the event
Please contact Jenny Gillette at refdesk@alamedaca.gov with any questions. For more information about library programs, please visit www.alamedafree.org/Events-directory/Calendar or contact the Main Library at 510-747-7740 during Library Takeout hours, Monday 2:00pm-7:00pm and Tuesday-Friday 12:00pm-5:00pm.
Join Alameda Backyard Growers as we work and learn at Farm2Market, one of our favorite Alameda places. Farm2Market (2600 Barbers Point Road) is a great place to learn innovative and sustainable techniques for growing fruit and vegetables. Lots of different tasks will be available – at least one should fit your interests and abilities! Have fun, gain some gardening know how and enjoy the company of other food growers while helping out a valuable Alameda non-profit.
Farm2Market is a small, diversified working urban farm and a social enterprise of Alameda Point Collaborative. The farm employs APC residents to work with staff and volunteers to produce delicious, nutritious fruits and veggies, raw honey and beautiful flowers. Proceeds from its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership program are used to help sustain APC’s supportive housing community.
COVID precautions: If you are fully vaccinated, you are not required to wear a mask. If you are not fully vaccinated, you must wear a mask whenever you are within six feet of another person.
Bring along your garden gloves, water bottle, sunscreen, your favorite hand tools, and whatever else you’d like to make your gardening work comfortable – knee pad, stool, kneeler, etc. Be sure to wear sturdy closed toe shoes!
Volunteers will help weed, sheet mulch, weed whack, compost, etc. After the work party tours of the farm and neighboring MakerFarm will be available.
After you get your ticket, we’ll contact you so you can sign the APC waiver, which is required in order for you to volunteer at this work party.
Questions? Email info@alamedabackyardgrowers.org and put WORK PARTY in the subject of your email.
Seed Saving Class
Sunday, November 14, 11am
Healing Gardens (Taylor/Webster) in West Alameda
Class Description: Civilization began when humans began to save and plant seeds. Come and learn about the seeds of common food plants we eat today. We will talk about the history of seeds, explore the different sizes and shapes of seeds and how to grow plants for seed, harvest for viable seeds and collect those seeds, focusing on five seeds that are easily saved by the home gardener. The talk will be followed by a hands-on exercise where participants will collect the seeds from different plant materials and package them up for both themselves and the seed library.
Birgitt BIO: Birgitt Evans has grown her own food on a large scale for the past 30 years and created a successful garden and nursery business. She is passionate about growing and raising food and seeks to encourage and educate others so they can also share the benefits of fresh, healthy, homegrown food. She grows vegetables in four different Alameda County gardens and starts 90% of her plants from seed. She has been an Alameda County Master Gardener since 1999 and was on the advisory board for 14 years. She has been on the board of Alameda Backyard Growers since its inception and is currently the Treasurer.
Kristen BIO:
Kristen Smeal (she/her) volunteers and serves on the Board of Alameda Backyard Growers. In her role as the Garden Science teacher at St. Philip Neri School in Alameda, she is passionate about teaching children how to grow food and to care for the Earth and each other.
Do you prefer homemade to store bought? Then now is just the time to create a decorative holiday wreath for your home or a gift. You might even want to use some of your own harvested fruit, veggies or herbs!
Welcome to ABG’s fun, outdoor, in-Alameda wreath-making workshop Saturday, November 27 from 1-3 pm. We will use harvested, gathered and purchased items to craft beautiful wreaths of various sizes for your table, wall or door. ABG will provide the instruction, wreath backings, floral wire, hot glue and light refreshments. We ask attendees to gather and bring supplies of your choice including some of the following:
- pine boughs
- pine cones
- grapevines
- magnolia leaves
- gingko leaves
- seed pods
- shells
- feathers
- grasses
- dried fruit/herbs/veggies
- ribbons, bows and trinkets.
The workshop fee is $25, masks will be required and we can only accommodate 20 adults.
Registration is required. Click here to register. Once you register we will let you know the location for this event.