Growing organic produce is an enriching and dynamic process offering innumerable benefits to individuals and the community. Oakland’s Office of Parks and Recreation is underscoring these benefits with a new demonstration program at its Lakeside Park Demonstration Garden located in the Gardens at Lake Merritt.

Community organizations bring expertise to these demonstration plots with missions including: teaching self reliance; combating issues of hunger and violence; and growing and making herbal remedies. Special emphasis is  placed on optimizing a garden’s potential through plant selection and growing techniques.

Hundreds of volunteers nurture the plots under expert guidance with each organization featuring free monthly demonstrations, workshops, and volunteer opportunities to design, plant, and harvest from these edible gardens. There is no fee to join these community organizations to work together and harvest together.

For more information on the EdibleGardens, or one of the fifteen other garden locations provided by City of Oakland, please contact Community Gardening Coordinator Carla Jasso at communitygardens1870(at)gmail(dot)com or visit http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/opr/s/cgardening/index.htm

Kudos to the following organizations for sharing their knowledge and commitment with the community

ALAMEDA COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS: Committed to growing plants that thrive in Alameda County. Their workdays are every second and fourth Saturday from 11am to 1pm and every Wednesday from 11am to 1pm where they are available to answer garden related questions. On the last Saturday of the month from 12 to 1pm you can expect some scintillating lectures on various gardening topics. For a complete schedule visit their website at: http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/Demonstration_Gardens/Lakeside_Trials_Garden/

MERRITT COLLEGE: Grows food for community food banks and offers free classes in urban community gardening every Wednesday from 9:30am to noon. http://merrittlandhort.com/urban-community-gardening

VICTORY GARDEN FOUNDATION’S PEOPLE’S VICTORY GARDENS: These gardens meet the need for communities to be more self reliant and learn to garden with a purpose. There are three (3) garden plots: 1) Small Spaces Garden where you learn how to grow edibles in a variety of small spaces for little to no cost; 2) Food Pantry Garden where it’s a different garden style: Square Foot Gardening and the volunteers harvest and send their abundance to an Oakland food pantry; and 3) Edible Landscaping Garden where you learn to design a sustainable food forest integrating edibles into an existing ornamental garden space.. Mentored work days and education  sessions  are every first and third Saturday from 9 am  to 12 pm and every second and fourth Wednesday from 1pm to 2:30pm.Visit their website for topics and schedule changes: http://www.peoplesvictorygarden.org/apps/calendar

TODDLER GARDEN:  Garden Demo schedule for 2014:

April 26 — Seeds
May 24 — Using Our Senses in the Garden
June 28 — Ladybugs
July 26 — Colors of the Garden
August 23 — Worms
September 27 — Pollinators
October 18 — Pumpkins GARDEN CLOSED THIS DATE, DEMO WILL TAKE PLACE OUTSIDE THE FENCE
November 22 — Winter Vegetables

All activities are scheduled for 10:00-10:30 a.m., and are designed for kids ages four and under. For more information, to be added to the email distribution list, or to apply for a plot, please contact ToddlerGarden@hotmail.com.

ST PAUL’S SCHOOL: Middle school students growing produce for low income seniors and learning to care for the earth as part of the school’s service learning curriculum. Their workdays are every Tuesday and Friday from 2:10pm to 3:15pm.  During the summer months, youth enrolled in programs with the City’s Office of Parks and Recreation tend this budding garden space.

PLANTING JUSTICE: Dedicated to economic and food justice through support of sustainable local food systems. Their workday is the second Sunday of the month. Check out their website for more information: http://www.plantingjustice.org/

FURIOUS DANCING GARDEN: The New Bill Barham & Co. Multicultural Gardeners and Poets Collective is putting in motion the literary soul of planting, nurturing and ever-changing garden landscape conversation. They are preparing to launch their season of workdays and demos, which will consist of literary events in the garden, beginning in April 2013.  Contact Bill if interested in helping with his garden work by email at williamebarham@sbcglobal.net.

COMMUNITIES ROOTING TOGETHER: Bringing the Cambodian Women’s Group together to plant food crops from their native home. Workdays are every Friday from 10am to 12noon and demos are the first Thursday of the month from 10am-12pm.  Contact Zack Reidman for involvement: zackreidman@gmail.com

CHEF ROBERT DORSEY III: Cultivating gardens with the youth ofOakland’s “Junior Chef Society” as a peaceful solution to combat issues of hunger and violence inOakland communities. Workdays are every second and fourth Saturday from 11am to 1pm.  Contact Chef Dorsey for more information at rd3@chefrobertdorsey.com

HOPE COTTAGE: Sets of seniors with their grandchildren steward this garden plot adjacent to the South entrance of the Gardens at Lake Merritt.  Their plot mixes flowers, herbs, and vegetables to present an attractive display to all who enter – regulars and first timers alike!  Contact Sharon for more details on volunteer participation: sharonbrostrom4@yahoo.com.

Gardening Tips provided by the Alameda County Master Gardeners

Fall moving into Winter: These months complete the summer harvest but are the best time to get the garden ready for spring.

October

• The summer harvest continues but the end is in sight. As you harvest, clean up all debris; it hides bugs and diseases.
• Continue to care for cool season vegetables and flowers planted in September.
• Cole crops, lettuce, green onions, potatoes, peas, etc. can still be planted but will probably not fruit until the spring.
• Ditto for cool season annuals unless already blooming (try 4-inch pots).
• Spring bulbs (daffodils, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, etc.) can be planted this month and next. Tulips must first be chilled before planting.
• Plant garlic and shallots after October 15 to harvest next summer.
• Plant cover crops (also called green manure or compost crops) such as fava beans
• As you pull up old crops and rake up leaves, compost, compost, compost. You’ll need the finished compost in the spring.
• Fall is a great planting time for perennials and California Natives in our climate. Cut back and divide leggy perennials or plant new ones. Plant shrubs and trees.
• As plants slow down, stop fertilizing. Water as necessary and consider turning off irrigation systems.

November

• All of the October tasks can be done in November. Generally, it is better to plant earlier rather than later. It is best for plants to establish a good root system before the weather turns cold and wet.
• Continue to add plant residues and weeds to your compost. Turn your compost pile to keep it aerated.  Cover the pile before heavy rains – you want it to be as wet as a wrung-out sponge.
• As plants slow down, stop fertilizing. Water if necessary.
• Spray dormant, deciduous fruit trees, roses and berry bushes with a dormant oil spray.

For more tips and information on Eastbay gardening go to http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/

Digging Deeper: Revitalizing the Urban Garden

The ACMG 10th Annual Fall Seminar on Bay Area Gardening:

• Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 8:30am to 3pm in the Garden Center at Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland
• Cost for all day seminar: $45
• Lunch optional (provided by The Mixing Bowl, Oakland): $10.50 

Alameda County Master Gardeners 10^th Annual Bay Area Gardening Seminar 2012 promises a harvest of wisdom on design, maintenance and gardener well-being!

In the twelve topics presented by outstanding experts, urban gardeners can explore the abundant possibilities in a residential city garden with Leslie Bennett & Stefani Bittner’s beautiful edible gardens, Fred Bove and his SF rooftop container garden and Phil Van Soelen’s native plants.

Greywater guerilla Christina Bertea offers waterwise suggestions, SF Chronicle columnist Pam Peirce addresses pest management and Jennifer Radtke gives all the buzz about urban honeybees.  Blacksmith Grant Marcoux maintains the edges of our tools, Physical Therapist Gail Durkin shows us sensible use of our bodies in garden labors, and University of Pacific Professor Mark Brunell identifies common Bay area plants and what their Latin names tell us.  Finally the Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County provide kitchen tips on dehydrating, condiments and all things

For workshop details and to register for this popular event, go to http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/Fall_Seminar/

The Edible Garden’s July Open House  celebrated the summer harvest with demonstrations by many of the 12 non-profits stewarding educational plots. Participants were offered tastes from the gardens including herbal teas and homemade Cambodian dishes, salsa and pesto. People’s Victory Garden shared an abundance of freshly picked chard and summer squash with visitors.

Many participants were delighted by the  in-the-garden cooking demonstrations, titled “Summer Sauce Bar,” by the Junior Chef Society (JCS). Flavors were so refreshing, many participants asked Chef Robert Dorsey III, founder of JCS,  to share his recipes.

Watermelon Salsa from the JCS “Summer Sauce Bar”

6C cubed seedless watermelon* (small cubes)

½C finely diced red onion

½ Jalapeno finely diced with seed

½C fresh lime juice

¼C fresh orange juice

1tsp navel orange zest

2tsp kosher salt

1tsp fresh black pepper

2Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2Tbsp sweet basil chiffonade (finely slivered)

1. Place lime juice, red onion, salt, jalapeno, orange zest and juice into a medium mixing bowl. Allow this to stand for 10-12 minutes until the red onion begins to get a little rosy. They’re beginning to pickle!
2. Add the cubed watermelon, fresh pepper, olive oil and basil.
3. Serve immediately!

Salsa will keep fresh up to 12 hours. Cover well and refrigerate.

*pick out a sweet baby melon they’re great this summer!

Basil Pesto from the JCS “Summer Sauce Bar”

1 large bunch sweet basil

½C extra virgin olive oil

4-5 cloves of fresh garlic

1½tsp kosher salt

2tsp fresh cracked pepper

1tsp lemon zest

½C Parmesan cheese (optional)

¼C Toasted chopped walnut (optional)

Place garlic, and salt into blender chop until fine

Add olive oil, basil (picked leaves), Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and blend until fine 30-60 seconds

If desired add walnuts and pulse until coarse consistency.

Serve immediately with fresh summer vegetables, pasta, baguette, grilled fish, steak or poultry. The JCS slathered this pesto on corn cobs. You can’t go wrong with fresh pesto!

The  Community Edible Garden is dedicated to teaching self reliance and optimizing a garden’s potential through plant selection and growing techniques.

Thank you JCS and Chef Dorsey for sharing your recipies. For information on the Junior Chef Society and Chef Dorsey: www.juniorchefsociety.org  www.chefrobertdorsey.com

Although it is cold outside, the early months of the year are important for getting your garden off to a good start. The following gardening tips are provided by the Alameda County Master Gardeners. http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/ Stop by the Master Gardeners’ Trials Gardens located in the Edible Garden. 

January

• Plan your summer garden. For vegetable variety recommendations for areas near coastal California, consider the recommendations from our test garden. Another useful resource for gardeners whose plots are influenced by the San Francisco Bay’s maritime weather is Plant Recommendations West of the East Bay Hills.
• Buy seeds.
• Plant bare root fruit and shade trees, roses, shrubs and vines. For information of fruit tree varieties, check out UC Davis’ Home Orchard site.
• Plant bare root artichokes, asparagus, blackberries, grapes, raspberries, rhubarb and strawberries.
• Start seeds (indoors) of cool season leafy vegetables (lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, etc), Brassica family crops (broccoli, spring cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) and leeks.
• Prune dormant deciduous plants such as flowering vines, fruit and shade trees, grapes, roses
  and hydrangeas.
• Prune salvias, penstemons, butterfly bush, California fuchsia and other summer-blooming perennial shrubs

Learn about teas and salves made from herbs commonly found in a home garden.  Herbs have long been used to ease a sore throat, relieve muscle and bone aches, and to provide energy. Garden and herbal specialists, Sharon Bronstrom and Tia Ballantine, will discuss the health properties of a variety of plants, demonstrating proper herbal preparation and offering samples of these herbal solutions.  Don’t miss this special demonstration.

The Alameda County Master Gardeners will hold their 9th  annual “Practical Gardening: Sustainability From the Ground Up” seminar  Saturday, October 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Lakeside Park Garden Center and the Gardens at Lake Merritt.

This very popular Fall/Winter Seminar moves this year to the Garden Center from Merritt College to accommodate a greater number of seminar participants. In addition, the Garden Center is adjacent to the Master Gardener Trials Gardens, allowing hands-on demonstrations. The Garden Center’s commercial kitchen also will be utilized to offer jam,  pickling and canning workshops.

” This new venue promises even more to eagerly awaiting Bay area gardeners – more space, more topics, more on site information and materials.”  

Participants will each attend three seminars/workshops presented by specialists in their areas of focus. This year we have another outstanding lineup of speakers for you.  Returning experts include Susan Handjian (Maintaining Your Garden), Wendy Johnson (and colleague Henry Wallace, Designing a Sustainable Garden), Rosemary Loveall Sale (Herbs), Pam Peirce (Pests in the Vegetable Garden IPM), and John Valenzuela (Fruit Stories).

 New speakers include our own Gail Durkin, ’06, with Body Mechanics, as well as Rachel Kaplan (Urban Homesteading), Grant Marcoux (Tools), and Rebecca Newburn (Seed Saving).  The kitchen at the Garden Center at Lake Merritt allows us to offer food preservation workshops in Jam Making, Pickle Making, and Mustards & Condiments lead by El Dorado Master Canners.  Certain to be popular and with kitchen space limitations, we may have to limit participation to only one of these workshops per attendee and on a first come basis.

Further details will be available as the time draws near.  For now, save the date on your calendar and don’t forget to sign up early for first-come selection of classes.

“Practical Gardening: Sustainability From the Ground Up”, ACMG 9^th Annual Fall/Winter Gardening Seminar

Date: Saturday, October 29, 2011

Time: 8:30am to 3:00pm

Location:The Garden Center at Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland

Cost:$45 for the day including mid-morning coffee and refreshments. Bring your own lunch or pre-order a box lunch when you sign up.

Signups begin AUGUST 31, 2011 at www.acmg.ucdavis.edu  (Right here!) or sign up to be notified when registration is open click here.

Join the Alameda County Master Gardeners for a series of free gardening talks at the Lake Merritt Trials Garden in the Gardens at Lake Merritt.

The 15-30 minute talks on a variety of timely gardening topics will begin at noon on the fourth Saturday of each month, March through October.  The first talk will take place Saturday, March 26.

In addition, Master Gardeners will be available from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month to answer questions and supply resources for any home gardening questions and issues that you may have.

PLEASE JOIN US AT NOON ON THE FOLLOWING DATES:

March 26, “COMPOSTING”, Sam Foushee, Master Gardener

April 23, “PLANNING AND PLANTING A SUMMER VEGETABLE GARDEN”, Birgitt Evans, Master Gardener

May 28, “GROWING FOOD IN CONTAINERS”, David Blood, Master Gardener

June 25, “TIPS FOR GROWING TOMATOES SUCCESSFULLY”, speaker TBA

July 23, “PLANTING FOR NATIVE BEES”, Celeste Ets-Hokin, native bee expert

August 27, “PLANNING AND PLANTING A WINTER VEGETABLE GARDEN”, speaker TBA

September 24, “PREPARING FOR WINTER: PLANTING COVER CROPS, ETC.”, Joan Herbertson, Master Gardener

October 22, “CHOOSING AND PLANTING GOOD LANDSCAPE PLANTS (FEATURING PLANTS FROM OUR BROCHURE OUTSTANDING PLANTS FOR ALAMEDA COUNTY)”, Meredith Kaplan, Master Gardener

Directions: The Master Gardener Trials Garden is located in the Gardens at Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Ave, Oakland. For more information about this project, visit the Alameda County Master Gardeners Website at at http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/Demonstration_Gardens/Lakeside_Trials_Garden/