Irene Rakochy, a Founding Board Member of ABG, a great friend, and a dedicated ABG volunteer, died unexpectedly in her sleep in June. She was 69, and leaves two adult sons. We miss her so much. A Celebration of Irene’s Life will be held on Saturday, July 15th at 1 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 2255 Santa Clara Avenue, in Alameda.
The Plant Exchange, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, is a community and a celebration that encourages resource sharing, reuse, recycling, and organic living. Our mission is to encourage green practices and support Oakland’s designation as one of the greenest cities in the country.
The premier program of The Plant Exchange is its semi-annual, free, one-day event where gardeners, landscapers, urban farmers, educators, and enthusiasts all come together to exchange plants, equipment, tools, and information about ways to make our urban environment more sustainable, aesthetic, and healthy.
The event also features gardening demos, food trucks, a live band, raffle prizes, and more! And, it is all free to everyone. For more information, visit www.theplantexchange.org.
The Bay Farm Free Library Needs Your Help!
Looking for a few folks who like to garden and don’t mind getting their hands in the dirt.
WHY YOU ASK?
If you are interested in signing up for a PLANTING PARTY on Saturday November 18 at 1:00 p.m (weather permitting).
Please contact Lynda at (510)747-7787 or
lwilliam@alamedaca.gov
Plan to bring work gloves and any garden tools you think might be helpful
Refreshments will be available
BECAUSE: The Bay Farm Island Library has received a wonderful gift of:
250 Daffodil bulbs (and some irises). They will look so beautiful come spring but, for that to happen the bulbs need to go in ground before the end of the month.
Kick-off a Year of Sustainable Gardening!
Join Alameda Backyard Growers at 7PM on January 11, 2018 at Rhythmix Cultural Works for a screening of filmmaker Mark Kitchell’s new film: Evolution of Organic.
This is the story of organic agriculture, told by those who built the movement. A motley crew of back-to-the-landers, spiritual seekers and farmers’ sons and daughters reject chemical farming and set out to explore organic alternatives. It’s a heartfelt journey of change, from a small band of rebels to a cultural transformation in the way we grow and eat food. By now organic has gone mainstream, split into an industry oriented toward bringing organic to all people and a movement that has realized a vision of sustainable agriculture. It’s the most popular and successful outgrowth of the environmental impulse of the last fifty years.
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
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.