Water management


Resources for Mid-Spring Garden in Alameda

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 […]

Spring Shindig ABG Plant Sale

Installing drip irrigation

Irrigation Tips from Alameda County Master Gardeners

On July 22, 2023 ABG members and other participants attended a demonstration and talk on irrigation by two Alameda County Master Gardeners, who focused on saving water and still meet the needs of plants! For an information sheet on what was discussed at this demonstration click here. Our speakers provided […]


Early Spring Resource Roundup

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 […]

ABG Annual Plant Sale

Installing drip irrigation

DIY Drip Irrigation System

An Interview with Tom Bressan, Founder of the Urban Farmer Store by Margie Siegal Setting up a drip irrigation system for your vegetable garden is an excellent DIY project. It takes a minimum of tools, information is available, the components are not very expensive and there is even an item […]


Saving Your Trees in a Time of Drought

by Birgitt Evans, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member Trees are the largest living organisms in the landscape and the most important. Trees take carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in their roots and tissues, they cool the ground and reduce the heat island effect, they slow, sink […]

watering trees in drought

rainwater catchment

Greywater, Rainwater Catchment & Groundwater Systems Workshop

with Mano Tondre Owner and Designer, DIG Cooperative Tuesday, August 17, 2021 on Zoom Water conservation and water stewardship are vital now in our second year of severe drought. It is time to look for other sources of water to keep our gardens alive. Join us and learn about harvesting […]


Eight Ways to Save Water & Have a Fabulous Garden in a Drought

by Birgitt Evans, ABG Board member and Master Gardener You may not realize that California is in the second year of a fairly severe drought, well, because no one is talking about it. As of this writing, we have received 7.6 inches of rain, a fraction of the 20 inches […]

small water tank

irrigation

Irrigation Systems

by Margie Siegal If you travel on Interstate 5 through the Central Valley, you will see signs along the highway “IS GROWING FOOD WASTING WATER?” The answer is – it can be! If a farmer does not make the best use of the water that is available, the farmer is […]


Save Water With an Irrigation System

Alameda Sun, Thursday, June 11, 2020 by Birgitt Evans As if there isn’t enough to worry about in 2020, the Bay Area is in the grip of another drought year, having received only 40 percent of the average annual rainfall. Wait! Don’t run away. There is actually something gardeners can […]

Irrigation systems

keeping garden veggies healthy

The Starts or Seeds are Planted. Now What?

by Linda Carloni, ABG Board member and Master Gardener Make Sure Your Plants are Getting Enough Water As your plants get larger and the weather gets warmer, keep an eagle eye on the water needs of your veggie plants. While you still have seeds sprouting or very small seedlings, the […]


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 […]

Backyard Permaculture Guild

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 […]


Waterwise Irrigation

with Chad Martens, Irrigation Equipment Company Monday, April 14, 2014 6:30 – 7:30 PM Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda Despite our welcome recent rains, we’re still in a drought, and we’re all concerned with how to continue to grow food, while using a minimum of water.  At our […]