Community Gardens Blog
Archive for category Community Gardens
Starting new school gardens
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, School Gardens on August 1, 2010
Camarillo Community Garden members, staff and parent from La Mariposa School, and the Ventura County Master Gardeners led a huge work party / educational event Saturday July 31st. The school provided materials and eager students to build a dozen new 8′ x 4′ x 1′ raised garden beds. The master Gardeners led the educational portion of the day while we provided guidance to build the beds. A special thanks to Karl for his never-ending enthusiasm and sense of civic duty.
The kids at the school turned out in force. Some of them worked all day and out-lasted their dads. It was a great experience for them to do so much of the work, from digging up sprinkler heads and filling the holes back in, to building the boxes and filling them.
Check out the video of the day’s doings…
Camarillo Community Garden In the News
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, Gardening on July 9, 2010
This last week was amazing. We had a very nice piece written about us in the Ventura County Star. Not only were we in the first section on page A-3, but we also got a headline blurb on the Masthead directing people to the article. That is Star treatment! If you missed the article in the paper, you can read the article here: An Idea to Grow On
This was a great article showcasing a number of the gardeners who were interviewed on site. It also kicked off the rest of the week. It led immediately to a surprise call from Ami from KCAL News asking for permission to visit us at the garden. When I arrived, there was a satellite trunk parked in front of the garden, and a reporter and cameraman/video editor working the crowd. They went live at 12:30 and gave us a wonderful segment seen all over California! If you missed the broadcasts (we were on at noon, 2:00 and 4:00) you can see it on-line here: Our Field of Dreams.
The next day I was asked to go on the radio with “Two Moms and a Mic” on KKZZ Radio 1400. Sandy and Kim (the 2 Moms) are rated as #1 in California for “Positive Talk Radio” – a very refreshing change from the negative, inflammatory ‘news’ programs on TV and radio. The ladies were delightful, and interested enough to walk the garden prior to the show. They gave me a chance to talk about our garden, the new garden, and several programs relating to school and community gardens.
In a moment of Kismet, Sandy’s kids attend La Mariposa School here in Camarillo, the same site where the Master Gardeners will be holding a school and community garden building class at the end of July (you can read more about this program on sustainabe-landscaping.net.
Ans one more article featuring us is now on the news stands (that is such an antiquated term) in “805 Living” Magazine. I have not seen it yet (going to get a copy today – go get yours!), but I did a peek at an early draft of the article and it looks like we are the lead off to Billy Goodnick’s article. Check it out!
This exposure has been a boon – we have had a constant stream of inquiries, sign-ups for information and a BUNCH of new gardeners are now on our waiting list. This is good publicity (and much easier to take than Lindsey Lohan’s jail time!).
Free Training for Volunteers
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, Gardening on June 16, 2010
School / Community Garden Training
Presented by the Ventura County Master Gardeners
The “Community and School Gardening Class” is a new, hands-on training program to train volunteers who are willing to create more community and school gardens. This free course is provided by the Ventura County Master Gardeners. The course will train YOU and other volunteers and give you all the basic knowledge required to successfully start a new community or school garden.
The programs will be given in a live situation – you will work with the Master Gardeners and create new garden plots at La Mariposa School. At the end of the day, there should be a cadre of trained volunteers who will continue to build more gardens in more schools and neighborhoods. This school was chosen because of it’s HUGE commitment to teaching about food, and for their dedication of food plots to aid the hungry.
Our first training class will be held on July 31st, starting at 9:30 at La Mariposa School in Camarillo, 4800 Corte Olivas, Camarillo; a map to the training site is below.
Watch this video to learn more about the training. Then enter your name and e-mail in the box at the Sustainable-Landscaping.net to join the training session. Make sure to enter your e-mail correctly as reminders and information regarding the course will be sent there.
Go to Sustainable-Landscaping.net to sign-up for this free, ‘hands-on’ course. Information, schedules, maps and news will be sent to this address. Until then, here is the map to the garden training site! Be sure to add your name to the list!
You can do this! Sign up here for this free class!
4800 Corte Olivas
Matilija Poppy Festival
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, Gardening on April 12, 2010
Sandy from the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden has sent out an invitation to the Matilija Poppy Festival on May 2, 2010. The Conejo Valley Botanic Gardens are 33 acres of unique terrain in Thousand Oaks offering panoramic views of the Conejo Valley and abundant opportunities for education, conservation and recreation.
While a significant portion of the Garden’s acreage is reserved to provide a natural habitat for birds and small animals, the developed area of the Garden includes displays of water-conserving plants from California, the Mediterranean, and Australia as well as several specialty gardens.
The event will provide activities for children, garden tours, and introduction to the ‘California All-Stars’, a selection of worthy but under-utilized native plants – all star performers.
This event will be held at the gardens. For information on the event, the garden, and directions, please visit the Conejo Valley Botanic Gardens website.
Here is the event flier (click for a full size pdf copy):
Antonio Garden Photos on-line
Posted by mike in Community Gardens on November 8, 2009
We have been taking photos of construction of the Antonio Garden. The photo gallery pages on my gardening coaches website does a better job of presenting pictures, so check out the galleries of construction photos…
If you want to know more about why we are going to all this trouble, read the special, free Raised Bed Garden Report…
Don and Jacky Wallace’s photos from day 1
Helen Keane photos from Day 1
October 30th workday photos by Don Wallace
Thanks to Agromin for the top soil and compost!
Somebody hose me down! I can’t stop the videos (better than voices, I guess)… Here’s a biggie – and everybody is in it. Ready for our close-ups…
YouTube seems to hate the hi-res version, so I put it here for you to view or download (after all, you are the star!)
Click here to view or download the hi-res video
And some slideshow videos - ‘The Garden’…
and ‘Compost Happens‘ featuring the ladies of the garden…
‘Steaming Compost’…
and a Thank You to Agromin!
Antonio Garden Water System Work Day
Posted by mike in Community Gardens on October 18, 2009
We had a few volunteers show up today to put in the water system for the Antonio Garden today in spite of the heat and the weekend day-off. We got as much done as we could. We need to wait for installation of an isolation device to protect the community drinking water supply from any possible contamination.
As soon as the device is installed, we finish the hook up, flush it out and garden.
See the photos and read the article in the website’s ‘News Page’
Antonio Garden Construction Begins!
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, Gardening on September 17, 2009
FINALLY!
Construction began to day with setting the poles for the perimeter fence.
It feels good to be underway after so long…
A home-grown food distribution network
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, Fresh Organic Produce, Gardening on August 26, 2009
Nonprofit Delivers Local Produce to Schools, Restaurants Around Charlottesville – washingtonpost.com.
Here’s an interesting approach to food distribution – community gardens and other small producers to band together and become a force… Whether we gather it all together for sale or charity, there will be a lot of excess coming from our gardens.
Dick Proutt is a small farmer, read the article to see how he and the others like him are the answer to feeding a county’s hungry multitude. How do you think we could be benefit to the community?
Cool Video / Community Garden Ideas
Posted by mike in Community Gardens, Gardening on August 22, 2009
This is a really well done video from stills, but with lots of ideas to think about. It gave me some ideas!
NOTE: If you can’t see the embedded video, try the direct link to the video on YouTube Here.
And some other websites to look at -
The Arizona Master Gardener Manual on Intensive Gardening methods examines several ways to grow in small areas
Urban Agriculture: A Guide to Container Gardens – with some interesting, low-tech raised bed solutions
Victory Gardens Are Growing Anew
Posted by mike in Community Gardens on August 20, 2009
Victory Gardens Are Growing Anew
via Americans Turn to Vegetable Gardening to Save on Food Costs – AARP Bulletin Today.
It seems the Camarillo Community Gardeners are not the only ‘newbies’ to take up gardening recently.
“I’ve never dug a hole in my life,” Helen Mayberry confessed. Frankly, I never really had my hand in dirt.” But that didn’t stop Helen and her friends from planting their first Victory Garden in a rented plot.
The numbers are impressive. This year, some 43 million U.S. households will grow vegetables, fruit or herbs—an increase of 7 million, or 19 percent from 2008, according to a study released in March by the National Gardening Association. And an estimated 21 percent of food gardeners will be first-timers like Mayberry.
AARP says you get $25 of produce from $1 worth of seed… What do you think? Can you even find a $1 packet of seeds?
You c an read the whole article here, and leave your comments below…
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Community Gardens category.
Make A Movie
My WindPowered Webhost
Gardening Coaches Website
Recent Coments