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 it is too wet; let...Continue reading→
No One in Alameda Should Have to Buy Lemons in the Winter
By Jillian Saxty, ABG Project Pick Coordinator I have been running ABG’s Project Pick, with the help of many wonderful volunteers and ABG members, for over a decade and it still amazes me just how many fruit trees we have in Alameda, especially lemon trees. During the winter months, January through March, we have so...Continue reading→
Tips for Growing Tomatoes in Alameda
Alameda Sun, Thursday, March 9, 2023 by Holly Johnson Tomatoes are nearly everyone’s favorite food to grow for themselves. Here are some tips for successful tomatoes in Alameda, collected from Alameda Backyard Growers’ resources, local gardening experts, and notes from a past presentation by Evan Krokowski, the former farm coordinator for Farm2Market. Preparing the Soil...Continue reading→
Why Pruning Fruit Trees is Essential and Some Tips on How to Do It
Alameda Sun, Friday, September 16, 2022 by Holly Johnson Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) held their August educational program on site at Farm2Market, the social enterprise farm division of Alameda Point Collaborative (APC). The session, part of the group’s monthly education series, gave three dozen attendees a hands-on learning experience as well as an introduction to...Continue reading→
Waste Not Want Not: New Recycling Rules Address Climate Change and Food Insecurity
Alameda Sun – Thursday, December 8, 2022 by Holly Johnson When Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), which requires homes and businesses to separate food waste from trash, became law on the first of this year, Alamedans might not have noticed. The city’s waste management system has included curbside food waste composting for years. However, the...Continue reading→
Help Wipe Out Citrus Disease
Alameda Sun, Wednesday, February 8, 2023 by Linda Carloni, Alameda Backyard Growers Alameda’s front and back yards contain many citrus trees. Selected lemon and mandarin orange varieties are particularly common here. Citrus trees are easy to care for, but they can be prone to insect damage on the leaves from aphids, leafminers, and thrips, which...Continue reading→
Winter Dormant Pruning – The Time is Now!
by Marla Koss By the time this newsletter reaches your inbox, Alameda will have accumulated over 600 chill hours* since November 1. This means all the following deciduous fruit trees should have their dormant (winter) pruning done by the next week or two (or ideally, already have had it), depending on variety (presented here roughly...Continue reading→
Oak Root Fungus
by Margie Siegal I came back from a short trip and did a tour around the back yard. The Gala apple tree was drooping. I knew what it was – oak root fungus. I started soaking the tree with fungicide and clearing out the ground around the roots, but it didn’t work. A few weeks...Continue reading→
Early Winter Resource Roundup
by Linda Carloni, Master Gardener and ABG Board Member The calendar is turned, and we’ve started turning the pages in our seed catalogs (or clicking online). January can be a busy month for the gardener. Two major tasks for food gardens are planning the spring and summer garden and selecting and planting bare root fruit...Continue reading→
Planning for the Year on Your Urban Farm
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 of Hopi flour corn and...Continue reading→