Sustainable Gardening


Succession planting

Succession Planting to Maximize Your Garden Yield

by Birgitt Evans, ABG Board member and Master Gardener I have a friend who lives outside of Toronto. Like me, she grows and puts up a great deal of food from a smallish garden. She, however, has a two week window in which to plant her entire summer garden if […]


Beginner’s Guide to Planting Victory Gardens

Alameda Sun, Thursday, April 9, 2020 by Birgitt Evans In March 2010, Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) held its first meeting. Formed in response to the financial crisis in 2008, we created educational programming and set up Project Pick to help our community grow and donate food. Exactly 10 years later, […]

New Victory Gardens

Backyard Permaculture Guild

Permaculture in Backyard Gardens

Our 1st Zoom Meeting Was a Great Success! Thank you to our presenters (bios below) who introduced the concept of permaculture, and how to apply permaculture principles into regenerative backyard design and local food production. We had a wonderful dialogue about these topics in the context of COVID-19 and the […]


‘Tis the Season for Oak Root Fungus to Strike

Alameda Sun, Friday, December 20, 2019 by Marla Koss Alameda’s garden soil may be tops for cultivating and planting in, but it does have a significant drawback: it harbors oak root fungus Armillaria mellea. Do not confuse this with “sudden oak death” Phytopthora ramorum. Armillaria is a serious forest pathogen […]

Oak root fungus

Succession Planting

Tips on Succession planting and Interplanting

Alameda Sun, Thursday, May 9, 2019 by Margie Siegal Since the growing season in Alameda is 365 days long, it is possible to grow something tasty during every season of the year. Although most Alamedans have small spaces in which to cultivate, practicing succession planting (replacing harvested crops with a […]


Fighting Climate Change in Our Backyards

Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 7:00 – 8:30 pm Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding, Alameda Panel discussion with Birgitt Evans, Marla Koss and Damian Mason The term “Carbon Sequestration” is the turning up everywhere in the fight against global warming. It may sound intimidating or difficult, something to be done by […]

Alameda Earth Day 2018

Preparing your soil

Succession Planting and Interplanting for Summer Veggies

May 21, 2019, 7 to 8:30 pm Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda Meet Alameda County Master Gardeners Sam Foushee and David Blood to discuss planting your summer vegetable garden. Here in the Bay Area we can garden all year long but it requires a bit of planning. We’ll […]


How to Build Monarch Butterfly Habitat in Tiny Garden Spaces

by Mary Sotelo, Alameda Backyard Growers Alameda Sun – Thursday, October 11, 2018 Sadly, the monarch butterfly population is declining. One of the primary reasons is the loss of open space where the monarchs’ host plants, milkweeds, grow. Alameda gardeners can help increase the monarchs’ numbers by building habitats in […]

gardening for monarch butterflies

Powdery mildew

Powdery Mildew – Bane of Alameda Food Growers

by Linda Carloni, Alameda Backyard Growers Alameda Sun, Thursday, June 14, 2018 Powdery mildew may well win the race for “most common problem in Alameda food gardens.” Here’s what happens. It’s June or July, and the vegetable plants in the garden are getting big. They look lush and green and […]


Fig Propagation and Garden Tour – Jun 20

Please join ABG for a very special event, the first of our “off site” summer season.  Jasmine Tokuda, a very successful Alameda grower of fruit trees and vines, both common and rare, is opening her garden for the evening. Jasmine will describe and demonstrate her technique for propagating fig trees through […]

Jasmine Fig Propagation Demo

Vertical Gardening Techniques for Fruits and Vegetables

Monday, August 10, 2015 (6:30 – 7:30 PM) Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave, Alameda Learn about growing edibles on the Up and Up: Vertical Gardening Techniques for Fruits and Vegetables with Claire Splan, author of “California Fruit and Vegetable Gardening”. Looking for a way to fit some more fruit […]


Drought gardening: tips for growing food

As we head into what could become an epochal drought, despite recent welcome rains, vegetable gardeners are feeling the uncertainty. Will water restrictions snuff out the salad garden, bash beans and thwart tomato dreams? We do know that it is typical for Central California to have great variations in annual […]


‘Wattles’ – Thinking Outside the Box

by Ron Limoges, ABG Board Member “Wattles” were featured at the American Community Gardening Association’s display at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show held in San Mateo from March 19th through 23rd. Wattles are made with rice straw bound into a tube with twine. Most of us are familiar […]