The Real Dirt

2012-05-16T11:22:00.004-07:00

Gardens Project T-shirts are BACK!

We have a women's cut t-shirt and the same unisex style as last time.

T-shirts come in 3 colors: Purple, Green, and Blue
Sizes:
Unisex (Adult): S, M, L, XL, XXL
Womens: M, L, XL
Youth: S, L

T-shirts cost $20-$25 each, the profits go to building more community gardens in Mendocino County!

Give us a call at 467-3212 to buy your t-shirt and show your support for the Gardens Project!

MCOE Youth Gardener's Can Help YOU this Summer for FREE

2012-05-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hey All, I have a fantastic work crew this summer who are looking to get down and dirty in local community and school gardens. We will have between 10 - 18 students Monday - Thursday June 20th - July 26th from 9am - 10:30am. We will be able to travel to inland areas only. We will provide the labor, supervision, transportation, and we'll bring our own tools. You provide the materials and a plan! If you would like us to make your garden a weekly stop then please let us know. Dates and availability are filling up fast, so reserve your date and time TODAY! Thank you for giving our youth an opportunity to serve their community. Cheers, Jonna Weidaw New Beginnings School Program MCOE Youth Garden 463 - 4808

Attention Farmers: Winter Vegetable Production Workshops!

2012-05-10T13:49:00.001-07:00

Grow When Competition is Low and Prices are High!

This workshop will cover what to plant, when to plant it, low-cost, easy to construct crop protection (floating row covers, low tunnels, and more), and how to market your winter crops! John Richardson of Noyo Hill Farm will present on winter vegetable production techniques and Susan Lightfoot of the Farm to Fork Project will present on marketing your winter crops to local restaurants. Join us to learn more about extending your season and expanding your income!

Two locations and dates are offered:

Saturday, June 2nd from 9am to 3pm at Noyo Hill Farm (403 N. Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg)

or

Sunday, June 17th from 9am to 3pm at Green Uprising Farm (2301 East Hill Road, Willits)

PRICE: $35 (please bring a bag lunch) 

RSVP: Please send a check to:

John Richardson

Noyo Hill Farm

403 N. Harbor Drive

Fort Bragg, CA 95437

(707)357-2295

Please be sure to note which workshop you will be attending on your check (June 2- Coastal or June 17- Inland).

Sharing the Bounty

2012-05-10T11:40:00.001-07:00

This may have been the most successful Sharing the Bounty yet.
Patrona was packed with community gardeners, farmers, land owners, donors and people ready to get involved in the local food system.

The evening started out with music by Marcos Peredia, creating a relaxed community atmosphere for people to gather around the appetizers of Sea Palm with Red Chili, French Deviled Eggs and Stinging Nettle Croquette, as well as tantilizing wines from Husch Vineyards, Campovida and Nelson Family Vineyards.

As people settled into their seats, they were greeted by a slideshow with pictures from the community gardens and a salad of Mixed greens, fava leaves, arugula, apples, sun chokes, ramps, beets, radishes and lemon dressing, with Schat's rolls made with local Red Fife flour, accompanied by a Truett Hurst from Dark Horse Vineyards and Chenin Blanc from Husch.

Miles Gordon gave everyone an overview of what the Gardens Project does and an introduction to the local food system as people finished their salads. We have 11 new community gardens and 8 new school gardens, creating a countywide network of 32 community and 35 school gardens and this number is growing all the time with support from community members like those at Sharing the Bounty!

This talk was followed by the main course: a choice of Spiced Lamb Shoulder or Spring Greens Gratin and Lentils, both on a Sonora Cracker and topped with delicious Goat Cheese Sauce.

The goat cheese sauce was so good most people forgot about dessert until it arrived, a beautiful Pomelo Pie with Honey Walnut Crust, topped with whipped cream, that was tart and flavorful.

Thank you to everyone who attended for your support, and to the community and school gardens, farmers, food producers, foragers and winemakers who provided the food and wine for this meal!

You made this event a great success and we appreciate your involvement in creating a thriving local food system!
Cleveland Lane Community Garden
MCOE Youth Garden
Pomolita School Garden
Ecology Action
Fairall's Farm
Filigreen Farm
Green Uprising at Blackberry Bend
Love Farms
Lover's Lane Farm
Magruder Ranch
Mendocino Grain Project
Mendocino Organics
Ocean Harvest Se Vegetable Co.
Owen Family Farm
Peggy Backup's Garden
Redtail Ranch
Schat's Bakery
Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese & Summer Breeze Ranch
Smart's Mountain Farm
Stella Cadente Olive Oil Company
Dave's Bike Shop
Campovida
Husch Vineyards
Nelson Family Vineyards
Dark Horse Vineyards

You can see more photos here

Gardening Workshops are a Success!

2012-05-07T11:43:00.004-07:00

The first three gardening workshops of the year got Mendocino residents out gardening!

We kicked off the workshops on Earth Day, April 22nd, with a cob building party at the Talmage Preschool Garden at MCOE.
Cob is a natural building material made of clay, sand and straw and we used it to build counters around an already existing outdoor oven. The preschool will use this outdoor kitchen to bake bread and chop up veggies and fruits from the garden for snacks.

After the cob party, Ron Woolsey, of Living Sculpture Studios, led a "Planning a Summer Garden Workshop" at the preschool garden.
For more information about Ron's workshop, check out this article from the Ukiah Daily Journal!
Ron will be teaching more gardening workshops soon: "Weeds, Mulch & Compost" in June and "Hoop Houses & Row Covers" in October, so keep your eyes open for details coming soon on those workshops!

This was followed by a "Seed Starting Workshop" by Nona Carpenter and Louisa Aronow, of the Master Gardeners at the Grace Lutheran Church Community Garden.
Louisa will be teaching a "Planning a Fall Garden" workshop in July, so look for details on that as well.

On 5 de Mayo, Peter Reynolds, of Down to Earth Landscaping and a Plowshares garden volunteer, taught a Drip Irrigation workshops at the Plowshares Garden. The Plowshares garden provides fresh vegetables for the Plowshares Peace & Justice Center kitchen, which serves several hundred people a day. Peter installed the fantastic drip irrigation system for this garden, and demonstrated how to install a system like that at the workshop.

All of these workshops were a great success and we look forward to the next 10 workshops of the year! Details coming soon.

You can see more photos from our workshops here

2012-04-25T12:53:00.003-07:00

THANK YOU
for the

Plant Starts!

We'd like to extend a huge thank you to Lovin' Blooms Organic Nursery in Philo and C & A Organic Farm in Calpella for their generous donations of plant starts!

Thanks to Lovin' Blooms and C & A Organics, the Gardens Project is able to provide flowers, salad greens, collards, sorrel, tomatoes, and other delicious plants to our local community and school gardens!!

To learn more about Lovin' Blooms Organic Nursery, call them at 895-2358.

To learn more about C & A Organic Farm, call them at 485-1142 or send an email to caorganicfarm@yahoo.com.

Spring Plant Sale!

2012-04-17T13:59:00.008-07:00

Spring Plant Sale at Mendocino College!
Support the Ag Department
Friday May 4th from 9-5pm & Saturday May 5th from 9-3pm

Sharing the Bounty

2012-04-09T16:15:00.001-07:00

3rd Annual

Sharing The Bounty

a fundraiser for The Gardens Project of NCO

Creating access to local produce
through community supported gardens

Sunday, May 6th 6-9 pm

Patrona Restaurant and Lounge

130 W. Standley Ukiah, CA

Tickets are available for $75
Full course meal and wine

Limited seating available. Reserve your ticket by phone at 467-3212

See our Events page for more information.

Seed Exchange

2012-04-09T12:44:00.001-07:00

Saturday, April 21 9:30 am to Noon

The Ukiah Saturday Farmers’ Market: Alex Thomas Plaza/School Street

The Food & Seed Working Group of Transition Ukiah Valley is sponsoring an Earth Day Seed Exchange at the Saturday, April 21 Ukiah Farmers' Market, Alex Thomas Plaza and School Street, 9:30 am to noon.

Bring your dried seeds in labeled envelopes; planting directions, growing conditions, and ease of growing would be helpful. Vegetables, flowers, natives, and herbs are welcome: share your bounty and pick up some new varieties. For those who cannot attend Saturday, but wish to contribute, please leave your seeds at Mulligan Books, 208 S. State Street, beforehand.

For more information visit our Events page or contact Contact: 707-485-0917 www.transitionukiahvalley.org

The California Right To Know Genetically Engineered Food Act

2012-04-09T12:41:00.002-07:00

The purpose of this measure is to create and enforce the fundamental right of the people of California to be fully informed about whether the food they purchase and eat is genetically engineered and not misbranded as natural so that they can choose for themselves whether to purchase and eat such foods. It shall be liberally construed to fulfill this purpose.

Government scientists have stated that the artificial insertion of DNA into plants, a technique unique to genetic engineering, can cause a variety of significant problems with plant foods. Such genetic engineering can increase the levels of known toxicants in foods and introduce new toxicants and health concerns.

Without disclosure, consumers of genetically engineered food can unknowingly violate their own dietary and religious restrictions.

All those who sign the petitions to Label GMOs must be registered voters in California. One can register to vote and immediately sign the petition. 550,000 signatures are needed statewide to qualify as an Initiative. Please sign a petition in Ukiah at Mulligan Books and Seeds (208 S. State St), Three Sisters (112 S. School St), or usually on weekends from noon to 5 in front of the Ukiah Coop (721 S. State St.).

You can find more information on our How To Eat Healthy Page.

Upcoming Gardening Workshops!

2012-04-09T09:54:00.004-07:00

The Gardens Project Annual Gardening Workshops have begun!
Upcoming Workshops:

Sunday April 22nd: EARTH DAY!!!
12-1pm at Talmage Preschool Garden with Ron Woolsey: Planning a Summer Garden

Ron Woolsey, of Living Sculpture Studios in Willits, will be teaching an hour long workshop on Planning a Summer Garden. He will include techniques for all sizes and types of gardens, including his unique "Wedding Cake" garden for small spaces. Admission is free. Dress for gardening, rain or shine.

Sunday April 22nd: EARTH DAY!!!
1:30-2:30pm at Grace Lutheran Church Community Garden with Nona Carpenter & Louisa Aronow: Starting Seeds and Preparing a

Louisa Aronow and Nona Carpenter of the Mendocino County Master Gardeners program will be teaching an hour long workshop on Starting Seeds and Preparing a Garden. They will specifically discuss starting seeds in the ground, as now is the time to sow your garden! Admission is free. Dress for gardening. We will be outside in the sun or inside in the rain.

Saturday, May 5th:
1:30-3:30pm at Plowshares Garden with Peter Reynolds: Drip Irrigation Workshop

Peter Reynolds, a Plowshares volunteer and owner of Down to Earth Landscaping in Redwood Valley, CA, will be teaching a two hour long workshop on Drip Irrigation. Learn about drip irrigation and help out the Plowshares Peace & Justice Center at the same time! Admission is free. Dress for gardening, rain or shine.

For more information on these and other gardening workshops, visit our Events Page.

Garden Leaders On the Rise! Pt. II

2012-03-22T16:25:00.007-07:00

Twenty-four Garden Leaders from throughout the Ukiah and Anderson Valleys consumed pozole, created visions of community-rich gardens, and created plans for a year of garden events last week.

In the second gathering of the Garden Leadership Training series, Building Community and Communication, gardeners from the Washington Avenue Community Garden and the Cleveland Lane Community Garden prepared a delicious pozole for all - followed by a lively discussion on building happy, healthy communities. Above, gardeners create vision of their gardens filled with playgrounds, social areas, and vibrant community spaces. See all the photos of the day!

To learn more about the Garden Leadership Training, read Garden Leaders On the Rise, Pt. I. Next session - Effective Leadership - with gardeners taking on the task of conflict resolution, planning and running effective meetings and making decisions.

Farmers' Markets are More Affordable than You Think!

2012-03-15T16:31:00.007-07:00

A 2011 study in Vermont found that for most organic items, it was cheaper to purchase them at a Farmers' Market than at a grocery store or co-op!

For 13 out of 14 organic items surveyed, the cheapest price was at a farmers' market!!

According to the study, even when comparing NON organic items, farmers' markets were sometimes cheaper than grocery stores (depending on the item).

To view the report, click here!

The Ukiah Farmers' Market is every Saturday at the Alex Thomas Plaza, on the corner of School and Clay St.

If you are using food stamps, the farmers' market is even more affordable for a limited time while we are offering the Food Stamp Double Match Program! Each week, the market will match up to $15 of EBT money at the Ukiah and Willits Farmers' Markets.

Try some delicious, local food at your nearest farmers' market this week and know that not only are you getting high quality, nutritious food, but you're also supporting your local farmers and the local economy.

Check out the McGrow page to learn more about what we are doing to help promote farmers' markets in Mendocino County.

To find out more about the farmers' markets in Mendocino County, click here!

Double Match Program is BACK!

2012-02-27T12:14:00.003-08:00

Starting March 1 CalFresh participants can double their food stamp benefits at the farmers' market!

Up to $15 of EBT/food stamp benefits will be matched, giving CalFresh individuals and families a total of $30 to spend at the market. To redeem the match, CalFresh users should go to the Farmers' Market table. The match program will continue until the money runs out.

The match program will be offered at the Ukiah, Willits, and Laytonville farmers' markets! Click here for more information about Mendocino County's farmers' markets

The Ukiah Farmers' Market is every Saturday at the Alex Thomas Plaza (school & clay st.) from 8:30am-Noon.

For more information about CalFresh or the Double Match Program contact Belinda Judelman at Bjudelman@ncoinc.org

This program is made possible by funding from United Way of Wine Country. If you'd like to support this program contact Belinda to find out how!

Farm2Fork: new grant, new coordinator!

2012-02-20T10:11:00.001-08:00

In case you haven’t noticed, Mendocino County is quietly transforming into a rather happening player in the “Real Food Revolution” that is gaining momentum across the nation! For the past 10+ years, a wide range of activated citizens from the Coast to Covelo and every nook in between have been steadily building a healthy local food system, by strengthening our farmers markets, growing gardens at schools across the county, educating a new generation of farmers to feed our community, and strategizing towards a shared vision for a more sustainable and delicious future.

Thanks to these efforts, production is steadily increasing and community support of and demand for local food is at an all time high, but we still have much work to do before our daily meals, throughout the seasons, feature the bounty of the county. The time is ripe to take the next step and engage the large food purchasers in our community--the schools, hospitals, restaurants and markets—in this movement. If we can capture their significant purchasing power, we will infuse the local food economy with dollars grown and raised right here in Mendocino County, ensure food security for our community, and improve the quality of food served to our children, patients, customers and ourselves. This is where the Farm2Fork project comes in.

Farm2Fork is a new initiative of North Coast Opportunities/Community Action aiming to ramp up institutional purchasing of local food in Mendocino County. Launched at the beginning of February, Farm2Fork is coordinated by Susan Lightfoot, who will be facilitating connections between local farmers and the schools, hospitals, restaurants and stores that purchase significant volumes of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), this 2-year Specialty Crops Grant aims to increase the capacity of both local farmers and Food Service professionals to get fresh, healthy food from the field to the plate.

While the grant focuses primarily on creating Farm to School partnerships across the county, providing resources for training and equipment for schools to meet this goal, Farm2Fork will also work with restauranteurs, chefs, and produce managers who are interested in offering more locally-produced food on their menus and shelves. Susan is eager to connect with interested community members, farmers, food purchasers, chefs and distributors across the county to identify opportunities, trouble-shoot challenges, and synergize efforts towards a thriving local food system in Mendocino County. For more information, please contact her at (707)467-3238 or email slightfoot@ncoinc.org.

About Susan Lightfoot: Lightfoot is the Co-Founder and former Executive Director of the Noyo Food Forest and was instrumental in setting up the organization’s lauded Farm to School partnership with Fort Bragg Unified School District. She has been working in the grassroots on local food issues in Mendocino County since 2004 and is beyond excited about moving from the Coast to Ukiah to take on this new position as Farm2Fork Coordinator at NCO Community Action. An avid surfer and dancer, Susan truly loves working and connecting with all kinds of people and looks forward to making new friends on this side of the hill.

Medicinal Herb Gardening in Mendocino County

2012-02-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

Now is the time to start growing your medicinal herb garden!
Check out our new resource under the "Herb Gardens" section on our "How to: Grow Food" page, all about herbs that grow well in this area of California, including their care instructions and companion plants!

Garden Leaders On the Rise!

2012-02-08T13:37:00.001-08:00

The Gardens Project of NCO has begun an intensive Gardener Leadership Program to train community gardeners to share, organize, lead, and continue to build the movement for expanding and sustaining spaces for community and school gardens.

The Leadership Program (we're still searching for a catchy name if you've got one), began in January and brings together 24 gardeners from 11 different community and school gardens in the greater Ukiah area and Anderson Valley. We will meet every six weeks through November to teach each other greater skills in: Building Community and Communication, Effective Leadership, Accessing Resources and Hosting Work Parties, Marketing Opportunities, and Garden Advocacy.

By the end of the year long training, the participants will comprise our new Leadership Council that will continue to meet, share, plan, and advise The Gardens Project. In year two, the training will move to gardens in Northern Mendocino County (Willits, Covelo, Laytonville, Legget), and then year three on the Coast (Point Arena to Fort Bragg).

The Leadership Program is a component of NCO Community Action successfully receiving a USDA Community Food Projects grant to train community leaders in food production and work to alleviate poverty through re-building our local food system.

The gardens represented at this year's training are: Washington Community Garden, Grace Lutheran Community Garden, Anderson Valley High School Garden, Jack Simpson Senior Garden, Cleveland Lane Community Garden, Orchard Apartments Garden, Plowshares Garden, Oak Manor Elementary School Garden, Yokayo Elementary School Garden, Northern Circle Indian Housing Garden, and the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas Community Farm and newly developing school gardens. For more info, contact The Gardens Project.

Start Your Garden Indoors

2012-01-31T13:39:00.001-08:00

Wintertime is a great time to start your plants indoors to extend your growing season and beat wintertime blues!

Mother Earth News just published a great story on how to start seeds indoors, the link to the article is on our "How To: Grow Food" page. Check it out for more information on seed starting!

Some great tips from the article:
Don't start beans, peas or root crops indoors, they don't transplant well.
Use 1/3 coir 1/3 compost and 1/3 soil.
Moisten the mix before sowing your seeds, plant 2-3 seeds per cell/pot.
Cover with a plastic dome or plastic wrap until seeds sprout. After that, water only when soil is almost dry.
After 4-6 weeks, move them outside on a porch or protected area during the day, inside at night for one week, then transplant into your garden!

Plowshares Current Happenings

2012-01-31T10:21:00.001-08:00

The Plowshares Garden has been busy!
Read below and visit their webpage to learn more about what's been going on in the Plowshares garden, and get some new ideas for your garden too!

Garden Leadership Training:
The Garden Project http://www.gardensproject.org/ has begun a year long training of garden coordinators, and Plowshares is well represented. Five of us attended the first meeting and were warmly welcomed by representatives from many gardens in the area. Together we will learn leadership, outreach, coordinating work days, honoring volunteers, building community, accessing resources, and increasing food production! The goal is that through our efforts and networking we will help to build a safety net of food security for our community.

Donations:
Julie Price of Solid Waste Systems just sent us 20 yards of rich, black compost made from leaves and green waste from all the homes around Ukiah. It's symbolic of Plowshares being nurtured so richly by the whole community.
Last week North American Organics donated five yards of compost also, beautiful, rich compost! The fig trees from Mendocino College are settling into their new home. The starts from Lovin' Blooms are growing steadily. And Rainbow Ag brings us straw and hay as mulch. The community supports our work!

Kitchen survey:
Our friends at the garden of the City of 1000 Buddhas expressed garden leadership well, with "THE KITCHEN IS BOSS". We have asked our kitchen what we should grow and there seems to be general agreement that salad ingredients are top priority, onions and garlic and cooking herbs are very high priority, and, listed in order by number of votes received are: zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, beets, squash, chard, broccoli, cucumbers, kale, bok choy, leeks, and collards.
We're bound to grow!

Invasive vs. Native Plants

2012-01-25T10:13:00.000-08:00

Invasive plants are plants that evolved in one part of the world, that humans moved to another region. They can crowd out native vegetation and the wildlife that feeds on it because they no longer are controlled by their natural predators. Learn more by visiting the new section on Invasive Plants in the How To: Grow Food section of our website!

Building a Cob Kitchen

2012-01-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, several Healthcorps and Rural Health Scholars began building a cob kitchen at the Talmage Preschool garden.
Cob is a natural building material, consisting of clay, sand and straw, which, when given a good roof and foundation, can last... a really long time. It's a sustainable method of building, involving the use of local materials, like the clay/soil on site, and found materials like rocks, bottles and old concrete blocks.
The volunteers began constructing a foundation for the counters, which will attach to the existing cob oven, under the existing roof structure.
The counters will surround the oven, creating a complete kitchen that the preschool will use for outdoor cooking. The inside of the counters and oven will be gated to limit preschooler access, and there will be an attached smaller counter on the outside for preschoolers to use to help cook!
MCOE Youth will be finishing the project along with Gardens Project Healthcorps, Katrina Hanson.
We'll keep you posted with more updates as the kitchen evolves.

BEANS Cooking Club Begins at Nokomis Elementary School in Ukiah

2012-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

Adriana and Montana, BEANS teen peer educators, were greeted with smiles and hugs when they arrived at Nokomis Elementary’s after-school program last Wednesday. The 3rd and 4th graders who are part of the six-week long “BEANS Cooking Club” couldn’t wait to find out what the recipe of the day would be. It was “Apple Smiles”… a sticky, crunchy, crisp apple snack! The students eagerly answered questions about food groups, healthy snacking ideas, and trying new foods… then they each practiced reading and following the recipe. Happy chatter filled the classroom as students tasted their snacks and shared ideas for additional toppings.

After finishing and clearing plates, Adriana and Montana got the kids up and moving for a raucous game of “What’s on My Plate?” where students work in small groups to name examples of foods from a particular food group as quickly as they can, do jumping jacks until all of the other groups complete their task, then run to the next station to work on naming foods from another food group.

As the students returned to their seats, the BEANS teen peer educators asked, “What is one thing you learned today?” Hands shot up and kids said, “I learned how to taste new things,” “I learned about food on MyPlate,” “I tried a new snack and am going to take the recipe home,” “Is there more?”

Adriana and Montana assured the kids that they would be back next Wednesday… “You’ll be helping us cook One Pot Vegetarian Stew!”

Spring Agriculture Classes at Mendocino College

2012-01-17T11:08:00.001-08:00

Mendocino College has several options of hands-on agriculture classes for Spring 2012.
If you're interested in learning more about plant propagation, soils, nursery production or plant ID, check out their class listings!

Mendocino College Agriculture Classes--Spring 2012
New accessible class times!
Enjoy hands-on learning in our beautiful botanical gardens and nursery

Plant Propagation
AGR 102 Sect 5492
3 Units
Plant propagation will explore both the science and art of plant propagation.
Students will gain experience with many different techniques and methods of sexual and asexual plant propagation such as, seeding, layering, breeding, cuttings, grafting, budding, tissue culture and sporulation.
T& Th 6:00 - 8:20pm

Soils & Fertility Management
AGR 108 Sect 4023
3 Units
Learn what your soil consists of and how to assess and improve your soil for agricultural and natural resource uses. This applied soil science class, includes formation of soils, chemical and biological properties, plant nutrition soil and fertilization management and erosion mitigation.
T & Th 9:30pm – 11:50pm

Nursery Production and Management
AGR 144 Sect 4021
2 Units
This hands-on class will teach you the entire process of of developing and operating a nursery in the north coast . This course will focus Commercial nursery operations; propagation of plants, soil preparation, transplanting and potting, greenhouse field management, disease and insect control, and irrigation and fertilizer
applications.
M 1:00pm – 6:05pm

Spring Plant ID
AGR 241 Sect 5528
3 Units
Whether plants are your passion or profession you can learn how to identify and appreciate plants in this fun hands-on interactive class. This course will focus on attractive and useful spring plants and give you the skills needed to confidently identify the plants in your surroundings.
M & W 9:30am – 11:50am

Classes start January 23, 2012

http://www.mendocino.edu/tc/pg/6145/programs.html

Can you eat healthy on a Food Stamp budget??

2012-01-13T13:10:00.001-08:00

Come see the movie Food Stamped and find out!

In honor of MLK Day, FIRST 5's Americorps*VISTAs will be showing the movie Food Stamped on Monday, February 16 at I-cup coffee house (720 N. State St.) in Ukiah.

Movie begins at 5:30pm
At 6:35pm there will be a discussion about hunger in Mendocino County led by Jacque Williams, Director of the Ukiah Food Bank.

Admission is FREE but we encourage the purchase of food or drinks.

Tell your friends and we hope to see you there!

Indoor container gardening

2012-01-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

You might think there's no gardening you can do in January, but think again!
Now is the time to start your herbs and other plants inside for those of you who garden indoors or in a greenhouse. This site has plenty of useful information about container gardening.
Remember, most potting mix is too strong for most plants and doesn't drain well.
It's important to use a mix of 1 part potting mix to 1 part volcanic rock, like pumice (don't use vermiculite!)
Start your seeds in a flat or 1-2" pots, then each time your plants start to outgrow their containers, transplant them to a pot 2-4 time the original size. For example, if you start seeds in a flat, transplant the seedlings to a 2" pot, then transplant the established plant to a 1 gallon pot, and as it grows move up to a 5 gallon and then 15 gallon pot.
Also, check out this site for tips about small container planting using a vertical shoe rack!
If you think you don't have enough time or space for vegetable gardening indoors, try an herb garden!
This site has information about starting a basic beginner's herb garden. Just use the container gardening information above for your herb garden. This site has information specifically about growing herbs indoors.
Enjoy your mini gardens!

Remember to check our "How To" page for more gardening tips!

The Real Dirt

MCOE Youth Gardener's Can Help YOU this Summer for FREE

Attention Farmers: Winter Vegetable Production Workshops!

Grow When Competition is Low and Prices are High!

Two locations and dates are offered:

Saturday, June 2nd from 9am to 3pm at Noyo Hill Farm (403 N. Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg)

or

Sunday, June 17th from 9am to 3pm at Green Uprising Farm (2301 East Hill Road, Willits)

PRICE: $35 (please bring a bag lunch)

RSVP: Please send a check to:

John Richardson

Noyo Hill Farm

403 N. Harbor Drive

Fort Bragg, CA 95437

(707)357-2295

Sponsored by North Coast Opportunities – Community Action

Sharing the Bounty

Gardening Workshops are a Success!

Spring Plant Sale!

Sharing the Bounty

Seed Exchange

The California Right To Know Genetically Engineered Food Act

Upcoming Gardening Workshops!

Garden Leaders On the Rise! Pt. II

Farmers' Markets are More Affordable than You Think!

Double Match Program is BACK!

Farm2Fork: new grant, new coordinator!

Medicinal Herb Gardening in Mendocino County

Garden Leaders On the Rise!

Start Your Garden Indoors

Plowshares Current Happenings

Invasive vs. Native Plants

Building a Cob Kitchen

BEANS Cooking Club Begins at Nokomis Elementary School in Ukiah

Spring Agriculture Classes at Mendocino College

Can you eat healthy on a Food Stamp budget??

Indoor container gardening

PRICE: $35 (please bring a bag lunch) 