Calendar


Apr
22
Sat
2017
Join us for the Alameda Earth Day Festival @ Washington Park
Apr 22 @ 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Earth DayAlameda Backyard Growers will have a booth at this event, and volunteers who can help answer questions about growing your own food!

Jan
28
Sun
2018
Fruit Tree Pruning with Jeremy Watts @ Ploughshares Nursery
Jan 28 @ 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

We can increase production, improve appearance, and insure overall health of our fruit trees with dormant-season pruning. Learn how and when to cut back your trees for maximum food production, as well as the basics of water-retention, pest management and tool maintenance.

Jeremy is the founder of Edible Ecology, a permaculture-based landscaping company in the East Bay.
He has studied fruit tree care extensively and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.
Learn more about Edible Ecology at edibleecology.net

May
12
Sat
2018
Intro to Urban Permaculture
May 12 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

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.

Jun
9
Sat
2018
The Art of Pruning
Jun 9 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

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.

Jun
23
Tue
2020
Tour of Italo’s Garden at the Alameda Boys and Girls Club @ Alameda Boys and Girls Club
Jun 23 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Italo's GardenAlameda Backyard Growers invites you to attend a

Self-guided Tour of Italo’s Garden 

Tuesday, June 23 2020
Italo’s Garden (ABGC)1900 3rd Street, Alameda, CA, 94501  

6:30-7:15pm 20 people/tickets
7:15-8:00pm 20 people/tickets

More information on the ABGC Garden

In 2012 the Alameda Boys & Girls Club had a vision to transform a neighboring ¼ acre urban lot into a thriving healthy foods and habitat garden that would support the nutritional health and develop the ecological literacy of Club youth. In summer of 2013 the Club hired its first Seed to Table Director, Kristen Getler. Italo Calpestri, together with other Board Members and ABGC staff, began fundraising and reaching out to community partners like GoDaddy to enlist in help with projects such as building and filling the raised beds. His background as an architect and experience on the board was instrumental to the garden’s successful and accessible installation. A keystone of the Club’s Health and Wellness Initiative, the garden provides a living, outdoor classroom where youth steward the garden using organic practices to grow annual and perennial food crops. A complementary culinary education program teaches our youth how to prepare the garden-fresh produce into healthy-foods recipes they are able to share with their families. Current Seed to Table Director Gretchen Doering took over in March 2015 and continued the installation of fifteen additional planter beds, a bioswale, greenhouse and outdoor classroom. The garden continues to grow with support from local Eagle Scout projects, the Alameda Garden Club, Alameda Backyard Growers, invaluable volunteers, and other generous donors.

Click here for a downloadable map of the garden tour. 

Click here for the downloadable Alameda Boys & Girls Club – Italo’s Garden Master Plant Descriptions

Click here for a downloadable list of plants in Italo’s Garden.

Alameda Boys and Girls Club garden

Eric Kos and Italo Calpestri look on while Marla Koss and Gretchen Doering teach kids how to plant a fig tree.

Jan
15
Fri
2021
Container Gardening Presentation
Jan 15 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Container Gardening Presentation

Container Gardening Presentation, January 15 at 1:00pm via Zoom

Are you interested in learning more about container gardening? With limited space, container gardening gives you the opportunity for cost-effective, manageable gardening. Jeff Bridge, Ploughshares Nursery Manager, will be discussing container gardening in a meeting hosted by the Alameda Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Jeff’s presentation, followed by questions and answers, is expected to last one hour.

Register in advance for this presentation here.

Jan
21
Thu
2021
StopWaste SWEET Online Course Deadline
Jan 21 all-day

The deadline to register is January 21, 2021!

StopWaste SWEET Training