Understanding Systemic Insecticides and Their Potential Impacts in Urban Ecosystems
Please join us!
Topic: Understanding Systemic Insecticides and Their Potential Impacts in Urban Ecosystems
Date: July 21, 2020 at 7PM
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Sutherland To attend, please sign up on Eventbrite
Meeting description: Systemic insecticides, such as neonicotinoids, are commonly used to protect nursery stock and sometimes used to protect urban landscapes from pest damage. How do these materials move around in the environment, and what effect might they have on pollinators, beneficial insects, and other non-target organisms? Let’s review the known and unknown aspects of this increasingly scrutinized issue.
The speaker: Dr. Andrew Sutherland is the Urban Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Advisor for the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), directly serving the San Francisco Bay Area and, through the UC IPM program, indirectly serving the entire state of CA as a conduit for IPM-related information and resources. The major focus of his programs is to develop new IPM strategies, or to adapt and implement IPM strategies already available, in cooperation with other researchers, pest control operators, pest management professionals, public agencies, schools, parks, public housing, and regulatory agencies involved with household, structural, and industrial IPM. His overarching goals include education about IPM principles, development of IPM programs for clientele, reduction in pesticide applications, and mitigation of surface water contamination due to urban pesticide applications. After you sign up on EventBrite, we’ll send you the Zoom sign-in link you’ll need to access the July 21 meeting. Attendance limited to 100.
Join us Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm for a virtual potluck on Zoom in the comfort of your own home. This August ABG meeting will be a “Garden Show/Tell and Ask” where we all get to relax, enjoy our own snacks and compare notes with friends.
If you wish, please email us a photo by August 16 of one of your garden successes or challenges that you’d like to talk about. Send it to abg.grow.food@gmail.com.
Then, during the meeting we’ll invite you to share a gardening story, a photo, ask some gardening questions and enjoy visiting with fellow Alameda backyard gardeners.
Our next virtual meeting is: Alameda: An Agricultural History, with Eric J. Kos on September 15 at 7:00 pm. We asked Eric to put together a presentation for us about Alameda’s original settlers’ primary occupation: agriculture. It promises to be full of intriguing photos, informative glimpses into our food-growing past and really entertaining narrative. Join us!
Our speaker: Eric J. Kos, owner of the Alameda Sun newspaper for the past two decades, has collected a vast amount of historical Island City images and information to share with the public. Eric has written, helped publish or contributed to countless publishing efforts, most notably, San Francisco Then & Now and locally Bay Farm Island: A Hidden History of Alameda.
Registration is required, and the audience is limited to 100. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqcuuqrjkpG9Ky282kIjKrCAAOweCazFMN . After registering, you’ll receive your individual link for the meeting.
The Fernside neighborhood was once the Fernside Estate owned by one very notable family.
One of Alameda’s many monikers included “The Dahlia City” for a time.
Thank you to those who joined us on Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom for our presentation: Carbon Farming for Home Gardeners, with Trevor Probert of StopWaste.
Trevor explained how home gardeners can make use of carbon farming practices to build healthy soil and protect the health of the climate. He will share lessons learned from local urban farms, resources for residents to make sense of soil health and carbon farming at home, and tips for how residents can support carbon farming in their cities.
Trevor Probert is an outreach coordinator for composting and carbon farming at StopWaste. He manages StopWaste’s partnerships with urban farms and tests their soil to measure carbon sequestration and soil health. He is a garden educator, a home gardener, and a resident of Alameda.
Click here for a link to Trevor’s presentation (PDF) which includes his speaker’s notes.
Here’s a link to information from StopWaste on building healthy soil.
Or view the presentation below:
October Plant Swap
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Alameda Backyard Growers is inviting you to a socially-distanced, outdoor plant swap.
Please arrive at 1pm.
- Masks must be worn and a distance of 6ft or more maintained.
- Everyone must use provided hand sanitizer prior to entering the plant swap area.
- Attendees must bring at least one plant to donate to the swap.
- Make sure plants are clearly labeled. Plants should be in good health and in healthy soil, to minimize the possible spread of garden pathogens.
The location for this event is in West Alameda and will be announced 48 hours prior via email reminder. Please be sure to register with a valid email address that you are able to check.
You may also bring other garden related items: books, magazines, tools (no broken tools), and seeds to place on our FREE table.
Tickets for this event are limited. Click here to register.
Please join us for a presentation on
‘The Politics of Food and Agriculture‘
with Twilight Greenaway
Thursday, December 3 at 7:00 pm
Register by clicking here.
Please bring your questions on food systems, organics, climate and food, agricultural labor and technology, food safety and seafood.
Twilight Greenaway is a writer and editor focused on food and agriculture, and the senior editor of Civil Eats. Her work has appeared in a number of media outlets including the New York Times, The Salt (NPR’s food blog), the Guardian, Food & Wine, Slate, Mother Jones, Eater, and on Grist.org, where she served as food editor. She lives in Oakland.
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!
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.
Happy New Gardening Year!
January 19 at 7:00 pm on Zoom
Meeting Details:
Thinking about starting a garden for the first time or just want to see some friendly faces? Please join Alameda Backyard Growers for Happy New Gardening Year. In this hour-long Zoom meeting we will talk about how to prepare for the new gardening year.
We will discuss some of our favorite tools as well as how to clean, store, and sharpen them. Wondering when to prune fruit trees? We’ll tell you. Wondering how to take care of your most important asset – your soil – in January? We’ll discuss that too. Whether you’re a new gardener or a seasoned expert, there will be something for everyone in this meeting.
Please pre-submit any gardening questions to info@alamedabackyardgrowers.org prior to January 15.
Speakers: ABG Board Members Alison Limoges, Marla Koss, Birgitt Evans, and Kristen Smeal
To register in advance for this meeting click here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. You will also receive a follow-up email closer to the event.