Don’t Waste Leaves This Fall
Alameda Sun, Thursday, October 8, 2020 by Alison Limoges, ABG Board member and Master Gardener It’s officially autumn now and while some people persist in blowing away the falling leaves, it’s so much healthier to use, not remove, them. In addition to the annoying and unhealthy noise, dust, and air pollution created by leaf blowers,...Continue reading→
Growing Just the Right Amount
by Birgitt Evans, ABG Board member and Master Gardener When my future husband and I rented a house in Alameda 30 years ago, I suddenly had more sunny land than I had ever imagined. And I went hog wild, planting every inch of it with dozens of tomato and cucumber plants and six colors of...Continue reading→
Carbon Farming at Home
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...Continue reading→
Starting Vegetables & Herbs From Seeds
by Birgitt Evans By now you have heard about our Free Seed Library and possibly availed yourself of some of the more than 1,100 packets of seeds that we have distributed. Now that you have seeds though, what do you do with them? You have two choices. You can plant them outside, directly in the...Continue reading→
Growing Seeds Outside
by Linda Carloni You have seeds from our Free Seed Library, the nursery, a catalog or a website. Now it’s time to plant seeds for your fall and winter garden. Birgitt Evans (article author and star of our seed planting video) and Kristen Smeal (videographer) cover planting seeds in containers really well. Here is some...Continue reading→
Endbeginning – The Garden in the Dog Days of Summer
by Birgitt Evans, Master Gardener It’s dry out there in the garden now. And hot. The heat lovers like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basil, corn and melons are loving it. As long as they get enough water, they will shine, producing generous crops. This time of bounty is an opportunity to do some great cooking for...Continue reading→
Let’s Talk (More) about Pests
by Linda Carloni Harvesting and planting may be more glamorous, but pest management is just as crucial to your garden, be it summer or fall. Ideas for managing some issues your garden may be experiencing now: Tomatoes – hornworms One of the most frustrating tomato pests is the hornworm. The hornworm moths lay single eggs...Continue reading→
Worm Composting with Children
by Sarah Miller, Master Gardener The process of worm composting (or vermiculture) can be a mutually beneficial undertaking. Your child learns about worm biology, decomposition and waste reduction, and the worms create black gold for your garden, also known as worm castings or worm poop. To get started you’ll need a few things, many of...Continue reading→
Free Seed Library Comes to the Island City
Alameda Sun, Thursday, August 13, 2020 by Birgitt Evans Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) was founded 10 years ago by Amanda MacLean Bruemmer and Janice Edwards in response to the economic meltdown as a way to build community, learn about growing food and give back to those in the community in need. Food security in a...Continue reading→
What to Do With All the Zucchini
by Margie Siegal Zucchini plants are prolific and very forgiving. Planted in a sunny spot, given a reasonable amount of water and some fertilizer now and again, zucchini plants will grow and produce big bright yellow flowers. The flowers attract a wide variety of pollinating insects. Once pollinated, the flowers turn into zucchini. Lots and...Continue reading→