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.

Kale Transplant Update

If you've been by the CACG recently, I'm sure you noticed the abundance of kale (Dino and Red Russian) that has exploded in numerous beds.

Back in December, Colin helped transplant of few 'volunteer' kale into the Renewal Bed, and he's happy to report that they are doing quite well, along with the neighboring red leaf lettuce.

Here are pictures from December, and how they look today:

'Volunteer' Kale on December 8th

Colin moves it to the Renewal garden bed.

March 20th

'Adventure Stop' in the North Bay

After writing about our trek last year to China Camp Beach in the North Bay, I thought I'd keep the 415 flavor going with an update on our most recent 'Adventure Stop'.

We ventured out for a short run in another underrated spot, starting at Blackie's Pasture and the Tiburon Mud Flats, and running along the Tiburon-Peninsula Railroad Trail.

This was a spot that my track coach at San Rafael High School, Ron Newstat, used to take us for training runs. I still have fond memories of those Spring afternoons (days like this one, actually), and I'm happy that my kids can enjoy the location as well.

Here are some of the highlights of our run:

Brenna and Colin took a slight detour off the paved trail, and powered up this hill with the Bay swaying below (wishing Chuck Clark was in attendance today to watch the kids crush this incline.)

The sweeping views from the top provided an instant Geography lesson.  Locations in sight included Mount Tamalpais (seen here), Sausalito, Belvedere, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sutro Tower in San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and Treasure Island.

Racing downhill, with Colin hot on Brenna's heels.  The Bay Bridge is in the distant valley to the right.

Two of the City's most prominent landmarks in the distance - the Sutro Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Just before our turnaround point is one of the nicest, softest, most well-kept sidewalks for running you're going to find anywhere on the planet, with views of the Bay. Thank you, City of Belvedere Public Works Department.

Heading back along the paved trail towards the car and Blackie's Pasture, with Mount Tam in the distance.

The Mud Flats

The kids catch a ride on the statue of Blackie, who lived in the pasture for many years.

What's New in the Garden

The CACG is looking very sharp right now as we gear up for the Spring and Summer.  There has been a lot of activity lately, including a variety of additions to various areas of the garden.

The Fruit trees that were planted a few weeks back are beginning to sprout leaves.  Here are a few of the most notable:

Granny Smith Apple

Gala Apple

Mulberry

Santa Rosa Plum-Prune

Jennifer and others cleaned up and planted in the Culinary herb spiral near the front archway, and planted Sweet Basil, Lemon Verbena, Stevia, Red Onion, and Roux.

And Ben donated this cool-looking Avocado tree, that has yet to be planted.

St. Patrick's Day Planting at the CACG

Karen and I headed down to the garden on St. Patrick's Day to plant the famous Sweet Peas that were originally seeded by Brenna's pre-school class, and which have been gradually growing in the garden's greenhouse (how 'bout that for an alliteration!).

We transplanted them from a few large pots with care into the 'Love' garden bed.  They found a home next to some recently planted romaine lettuce.  Here are a few pics:

Karen found this sign in the shed. Perfect!

The newly planted romaine lettuce is to the left. The large pots contain the sweet peas ready for transplant.

After planting, we tied the peas to some stakes to help them grow nice and tall.

Karen sporting her St. Patrick's Day colors.

We're planning to add some more lettuce to the rest of this bed.

Karen enjoying a treat after some hard work!

 And in honor of St. Patrick's Day, here's a picture just sent to me from our cousin Thomas McDonagh, who lives in Cork, Ireland. This is a picture of my great-grandparents, Festy and Honor McDonagh, who raised 11 children on the west coast of Ireland, a stones-throw from the Atlantic Ocean in Clifden.

Festy and Honor McDonagh

Another Local Garden: Downtown Benicia

On a recent trip to Benicia's downtown City Park and playground, we stumbled upon a community garden on 1st Street.

Looks pretty cool!

Update on Brenna's Class Sweet Peas

Karen helped Brenna and her classmates plant these Sweet Pea seeds in November, and now they are producing some crunchy treats!

Here's a few pictures of the progress:

These were started as seeds in November

Karen, Brenna and Colin transplanted to bigger pots in Mid-December.

Crunchy Sweet Peas on March 13th

March Colors in the Garden