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
Hi Pickers!
What a year we had in 2019! Think we can beat 7,500 lbs in 2020? Let’s start working on that this Sunday, January 12 at 2PM.
If you can join our team in picking lemons, oranges and grapefruits, please fill in this form:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sHlMPrx31zNc5-0crH7-hoL0wHRVhkY1pcc_4E1MfhU
I will let you know where to meet up when I get your RSVP.
Please bring a hat and gardening gloves if you have them.
Thank you!
Jillian Saxty
On Monday, January 13, ABG will present a movie night at Rhythmix, 2513 Blanding Ave. in the city of Alameda , co-hosted by StopWaste! Free popcorn!
Please bring your own container for water to reduce waste.
Trevor Probert of StopWaste will lead a Carbon Farming discussion after the movie.
Our movie, ‘Symphony of the Soil‘ is an artistic exploration of the miraculous “living skin of the earth.” By understanding the elaborate relationships between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental problems of our time, including climate change. Filmed on four continents and featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, Symphony of the Soil is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil creating healthy plants creating healthy humans living on a healthy planet.
Trevor Probert is a Program Services Specialist at StopWaste and resident of Alameda.
Trevor Probert is a Program Services Specialist at StopWaste and resident of Alameda. He teaches StopWaste’s public workshops on composting, gardening for soil health, and carbon farming. Trevor works with urban farms and community gardens to set up on-site composting systems. He has worked as an elementary school garden teacher, classroom teacher, and landscape contractor, and has bachelor degrees in Geography and Environmental Science and a master’s degree in Education.
Hi Pickers!
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
Hi Pickers!
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
Hi Pickers!
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
Join Alameda Backyard Growers speaker Birgitt Evans for an informative and hands-on seed starting workshop.
About this Event
Starting vegetables from seed can save money and will give you access to thousands of vegetable varieties not available as transplants. We discuss which seeds are best planted directly in the ground and how and when to start them. We will move on to seed that are best started indoors and how to plant them and considerations such as the importance of cleanliness, seed starting mixes, which containers you can use, how many seeds to plant and how deeply, seed viability and hybrid vs. open pollinated seeds, watering, fertilizing, providing light and heat for your seedlings and hardening off seedlings before transplanting them out into the garden. Students will then plant several 6-packs of seeds to take home with them. Resource lists will be provided to attendees.
About the Speaker: 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, including three terms as president. She has been on the board of Alameda Backyard Growers since its inception and is currently the Treasurer.
Space is limited for this event. Tickets available here.
Photo by Lori Eanes. Birgitt Evans demonstrates the delicate work of transplanting fall crops from the six packs where they germinate into larger containers or garden beds.
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
ABG regrets to announce that the March 17, 7PM meeting at Rhythmix is CANCELLED.
In light of the new event restrictions and government mandates about maintaining at least 6ft of distance between event participants, Rhythmix has cancelled all Rhythmix activities, events, meetings and classes through the end of March, including our March 17th meeting.
Alameda Backyard Growers will be in touch regarding future events
Learn about the perils of pesticide use with Andrew Sutherland, SF Bay Area Urban IPM Advisor, University of California (Davis) Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Our first Virtual Monthly Education Meeting!
Backyard Permaculture: Regenerative design for food and herbal medicine production
April 21, 7 to 8:30 pm Via Zoom.
Click here to view their presentation.
Program
7:00-7:10 People get oriented on Zoom
7:10-8:00 Presentation
8:00-8:30 We answer questions from the audience (and of course folks can sign off at 8 if the are feeling complete)
We will introduce Permaculture, and then dive deeper into applying Permaculture principles into regenerative backyard design and local food production. We hope to inspire a dialogue about these topics in the context of COVID-19 and the climate crisis. We will cover topics such as veggies beds, water (re)use, fruit trees, chickens, backyard herbal medicines and more! The Backyard Permaculture Guild is a select group of Permaculture experts that collaborate to design, implement, and maintain permaculture inspired backyards.
Professional bios
Nina Gordon-Kirsch believes that building community around shared local resources and tending to the earth are some of the most effective tools for climate resiliency. She earned her Permaculture Design Certificate at Occidental Arts and Ecology center, after which she envisioned the Backyard Permaculture Guild (BPG)! Nina is the BPG water woman – installing Laundry-to-Landscape (L2L) greywater systems and envisioning rainwater catchment designs. She apprenticed with Greywater Action in Oakland for 3 years before becoming trained as a CA Professional Greywater Installer. When not installing greywater systems, she spends her time educating folks on where their water comes from and how to restore human relationships with the land, waters, and other humans. Moving forward, she’ll be following the call of the Waters and backpacking her way from Oakland to the Headwaters of the Mokelumne River, where EBMUD sources our East Bay tap water from. Sign up here to follow her journey!
Helen Cowart grew up on a Christmas tree farm in central Vermont and has been chopping firewood and pruning trees since she was a kid. After graduating with a BA in Environmental Studies from Vassar College she found herself continually wanting to be working hard in the dirt outdoors (not in an office!). She worked on small, organic, vegetable and flower farms for several years and then founded a few farm projects. Finding herself drawn to the synthesis of design aesthetics and outdoor work with plants she founded Solscape Ecological Design in 2015. Helen has been designing and tending native plant gardens, veggie gardens, pruning fruit trees ever since. She joined the Backyard Permaculture Guild in 2019 to share knowledge and inspiration with a group of like-minded earth tenders. She is also studying forestry and land management and has a passion for returning healthy fire to local landscapes. In her spare time Helen is a primitive skills enthusiast, mythologist and artist.
Alejandra Vargas-Johnson (Ale) completed her permaculture design course in Chile in 2010. She lived in Brazil between 2014-2018 where she helped organize agroecological events for rural, working class communities. She currently works for a non-profit health care reform think-tank and gardens in Alameda and Oakland with Nina and her mom Holly Johnson, ABG Board Member.