Fig tree owners, you’ve had a disturbing year, thanks to the Black Fig Fly (BFF), if nothing else. Maybe last year you saw dropped figs and thought it was just the cold summer weather, but by now you should have noticed all the dropped figs and wondered what was up. […]
Rooted in Alameda: Free Seed Libraries Celebrate a Record 2025 and Look Toward Spring by Kristen Smeal and Birgitt Evans What a truly remarkable year it has been for the Alameda Backyard Growers’ Free Seed Libraries. Thanks to the unwavering support of the ABG Board, our dedicated donors, and our […]
by Margie Siegal The bird in the photos is a California Towhee. This robin-sized bird is common in the San Francisco Bay Area. It eats just about anything, but what it really likes is the seedlings you just planted. One year I lost half of my tomato starters to this […]
by Linda Carloni April is plant sale month! Specifically, pop-up sales of veggie seedlings for spring and summer harvest. ABG’s annual spring plant sale is Saturday, April 20, 2024 at Alameda’s Spring Shindig. Basics of planting those seedlings Prep your soil, be it in pots, in raised beds or the […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member The winter rains brought us much needed water, leading to increased water availability for agriculture and cities, a bounteous wildflower bloom, and a start to recharging our depleted groundwater. It also brought us a very severe peach leaf curl season. Peach […]
by Linda Carloni The calendar says it’s spring, but with our continuing atmospheric river-fueled storms, it often still feels a lot like winter, a wet chilly winter. Nevertheless, there are tasks in the garden to tackle when you can seize a dry day. Remember to avoid working the soil when […]
by Birgitt Evans Master Gardener and ABG Board Member When we first moved to Alameda, we rented a house with a huge garden and I began my lifelong experiment with growing as much of our food as I possibly could. In those days, I was wildly experimental, growing six colors […]
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member For me the very best reason to plant asparagus is because it’s delicious. It also grows well here by the Bay, thriving in cool, humid summers. Asparagus is a perennial plant, so you plant it one year and with luck it […]
with Birgitt Evans Starting vegetables from seed can save money and will give you access to thousands of vegetable varieties not available as transplants. And with three Free Seed Libraries in Alameda in 2021, you are going to want to know how to care for your seeds. This year’s class […]
Alameda Sun, Thursday, May 14, 2020 by Marla Koss In a time of food insecurity, what could be more inviting than a tree covered in fruit? The again, sometimes the gods can be too kind. Overly generous fruit loads have a way of breaking branches and yielding small, poor-quality fruit […]
by Birgitt Evans, ABG Board member and Master Gardener What a wild ride March was! Lives were turned upside down. We traded security for uncertainty. While many people ran for toilet paper, the rest of us surveyed our options and decided that we preferred home food security. And then we […]
by Marla Koss, Alameda Backyard Growers Board Member Alameda Sun, Thursday, April 12, 2018 As Alameda’s deciduous fruit trees have come out of dormancy, passers-by might be forgiven for having simply enjoyed the beauty of their blossoms, unaware of the dynamic little miracle advancing the tree’s true mission. In super-slow-motion […]
with Susan Fritz of the UC Master Gardener Program of Alameda County April 17, 2018, 7 to 8:30 pm Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda Looking forward to enjoying some lovely spring crops soon? Want to prevent those spring insects from enjoying your crops first? Join Alameda County Master […]
with Jasmine Tokuda and Marla Koss April 11, 2016, 6:30 – 7:30 pm Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2512 Blanding Ave., Alameda Having had a nice drink of water, are those fruit trees in your yard now blossoming? Are you wondering what you need to do so they’ll produce for you this […]
