Mud

Glory.....

Next Official Workday at the Garden, Saturday, April 6th

After Jenn and Mike hosted a productive workday last week, we're hoping to keep the momentum going this Saturday at the Center Avenue Community Garden.

Karen and I, along with the kids, will be arriving around 10am to help facilitate the garden projects below, and Brenna has plans to organize a  Lemonade Stand nearby to support the garden! Keep an eye out for a few balloons and signs down near the Northeast corner of Center Avenue.

If you have an artistic touch (or not), we are planning to bring some paint and posts to add to our garden sign collection. We'll figure out which names we still need, and you can relax in the lounge and do some painting.

We will bring water, and a few print-outs of the amazing Kale Salad we've been whipping up lately.  Feel free to harvest some of the abundance of kale, and take a copy of the recipe home to test out!

Here are a few projects that you can help with on Saturday:

- Spread Compost around various beds in the garden.
- Transplant Raspberries to the new Fruit Hedge near the western parking lot (see picture below).
- Thin out Borage, Calendula, and Kale in various beds (see the pictures below as a reference).
- Help with the digging of the Hugelkultur bed that got started last week.
- Thin and transplant Red Leaf Lettuce from the medicinal herb spiral.
- Spread wood chips around the upper garden area.
- Paint new garden signs (paint and signs will be provided).

We plan to transplant raspberries into the fruit hedge above, which was put together last Saturday by Jenn, Mike and Company.

We will also be thinning out the borage (purple plant above) and calendula (yellow plant) here....

...and here.

Karen's Home-made Kite

Karen whipped up a home-made kite for the kids, which included:

- 1 piece of construction paper, green
- 2 crayons for coloring
- 3 sticks from the backyard
- gift string

The kids tested it out yesterday, and again today at Nancy Boyd Park in Martinez.

The kite.

Colin and Brenna coming up with a flight plan.

Take-off!!!!!!

Easter Afternoon Rainbow

Work Day this Saturday, March 30th at the CACG

The weather should be great for getting out in the sunshine at the Center Avenue Community Garden.

Two of the garden's most dedicated volunteers, Jenn and Mike, will be arriving around 10am to help lead some garden projects, and say hello to any new guest or first-timers!

They plan to bring some water, bird books to peruse, as well as harvested kale to munch on.

Here are a few projects that you can help with on Saturday:

- Spread Compost around various beds in the garden.
- Thin out Borage, Calendula, and Kale in various beds (see the pictures below as a reference).
- Help finish the new Hugelkultur bed that got started this week.
- Thin and transplant Red Leaf Lettuce from the medicinal herb spiral.
- Spread wood chips around the upper garden area.

The yellow flowers here are called Calendula, and we can begin 'thinning out' these beds, adding compost, and preparing the beds for the next crop.

Here's more calendula, and borage, the purple plant in the back, that can be thinned out on Saturday.

As you can see, the Calendula has taken over some of the beds!

Lunch and Learn at the Garden

A lunchtime of learning in five easy steps at the Center Avenue Community Garden:

1) Add peanut butter to piece of sourdough bread.

2) Repeat with jelly, and close.

3) Pack strawberries, apple sauce, and water with the PB&J.

4) Layout blanket or quilt in the kid's area.

5) Search for worms and rollie-pollies in the herb spiral. 

Don't hesitate to spend time at the garden. It's a great spot for lunch on the fly!

Taking it easy in the kid's area.

Searching for worms and rollie-pollies.  

Helping Hands from Oregon

Brenna and Colin's cousin Katie was in town on break from her freshman year at Oregon State University, and spent a couple of hours at the CACG helping Colin weed, harvest, and plant a variety of vegetables.

Feel free to bring family and friends to the garden!  It's a great way for others to get to know this gem in our community.

Here are some pictures of their work:

Katie and Colin added some more Sweet Peas to the Understanding garden bed.

After Katie gently placed them in the ground here.

And here....

.....Colin gave them a quick soak.

They also spread seeds into a few beds, including turnip, mustard, carrot, and beet.