December was a very busy month for the Aptos Community Garden. The Rotary Clubs of Santa Cruz, Sunrise and Aptos/Capitola put in numerous days volunteering as they erected the remaining fence that will protect the garden proper.
The Aptos Community Garden Board met for the first time on Dec.16, 2009. Board members include: Trent and Linda McNair, Rose Marie McNair, Pastor Dale Sollom-Brotherton, Gene Sanden, Michael Olson, Treesa Rodgerson, and Melanie Larson. We went over our mission statement and the Terms of Agreement and Waiver forms prepared pro bono by the law firm: Hoge, Fenton, Jones, & Appel, Inc., Attorneys at Law. We also discussed grant writing, the opening day ceremonies (save April 22, 2010: The 40th anniversay of Earth Day!), organic garden guidelines, and other issues pertaining to getting the garden ready for the public. We are very thankful to all of these individuals for agreeing to be on the Board and volunteering their time.
$27,800 donated
We have received more than $27,800.00 in donations for materials, labor, and services from the local businesses listed below. The council was pleased to learn that four plots have been requested with no publicity. If you are interested in getting a plot, be sure to sign up with Pastor Dale. Registration forms will be available Jan. 4, 2010 at Christ Lutheran Church, Aptos.
Once again, we thank these very generous businesses for their donations:
Earth Works, Jeff Talmadge Construction, Rotary Clubs of Santa Cruz, Sunrise and Aptos/Capitola, Surf City Growers, Lakeside Organic Gardens, Las Animas Concrete, Monument Lumber, Sand Channel Greens, Santa Cruz Concrete Pumping, Warren Gilbert, Architect, Ecology by Design, Dirt Works Earth Engineering, and Hoge, Fenton, Jones, and Appel, Inc.
More updates coming in January!
November brought a lot of progress to the Aptos Community Garden! We have a lot of deer and other critters roaming around our neighborhood, so getting the fence up was a priority. The united power of local companies and volunteers came into play.
Earth Works graded the land before Dirt Works Tractor Services dug the holes. Local company, Monument Lumber, provided the posts and rails and Lakeside Organic Gardens donated half of the fencing material. Las Animas donated the concrete and Santa Cruz Concrete Pumping did the pour. The land was ready for some hard labor.
Our friend, Jeff Talmadge, and owner of Talmadge Construction, is also the Community Service Chair of the local Rotary Club. He asked for volunteers to help put up the fence, and the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz Sunrise and Capitola-Aptos answered the call. For three weekends, these members, along with Aptos High School’s Interact Club and church members Gene Sanden, Orv Holmoe and Pastor Dale took part in the building of 1000′ long fence, including 4 man-gates and a vehicle gate! Check out the size of this thing here on YouTube!
Takeaway: It truly takes a village. If you ask, people and organizations are willing to help! A heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to all of the businesses and volunteers who made donations of their time, money and/or materials.
We love our chickens!
How did we get involved with our community garden? We met Jeff and Adele Talmadge, owners of Talmadge Construction, at our city’s annual Shortest Parade in the World and Pancake Breakfast on the 4th of July this year. We were introduced by our dear friends, Kim and Pete Mansfield. Kim used to watch their son when he was little, and she mentioned that they are a family of black belts. We told them about enrolling our six year old, and how Trent was considering joining the Dojo. They gave us great advice about the journey of martial arts, and as we continued to get to know one another, they found out about the organic nursery.
Jeff said he was a member of the local CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, and was thinking about donating some of his land to create a community garden for the kids. We went crazy about the idea, and we’ve been friends since. It so happens that Jeff and Adele live around the corner from us.
I have to stop the story for a minute to provide a quick brief about this amazing organization: “CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. They stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence—the one adult who cares only for them.” If you have the time to sponsor one of these kids in your area, please go to CASA’s website to find a local chapter to volunteer.
We kept in touch with the Talmadges throughout the summer and then were introduced to Melanie Larson, another CASA member, who approached her church about the idea of utilizing unused land in front of it for a community garden. It would be offered to local families who didn’t have the ability to grow their own food or simply couldn’t afford the cost of fresh produce. CASA kids could also help these families and learn about agriculture, life skills that could be utilized in their future.
We were thrilled to be part of it for all of those reasons. But we also knew that we could actually help these kids and families adopt healthier eating habits, become environmental stewards and build a sense of community.
In October 2009, we met with Melanie; the new pastor, Dale Sollom-Brotherton; and fellow church member, Gene Sanden to offer our help. We’re now members of the Aptos Community Garden Board, and are proud to offer these families their vegetable and fruit starts, and our knowledge. But we’re also here to document the progress of the garden so that you will be inspired to start your own.
On that note, here are the first photos of the area that will be known as the Aptos Community Garden. The big takeaways from this post: an area that was not being utilized will now be able to feed over 80 households and all it takes is the inspiration from one person to make it happen.
- Food What?! Youth Dig In
A big reason why more of us don’t buy organic food is because of the price. Of course, growing your own sustainable garden is an inexpensive option. The National Gardening Association’s recent study “The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America” cites that a well-maintained food garden can yield an estimated 1/2 pound of produce per square foot of garden area over the course of the growing season. At in-season market prices, this produce is worth $2.00 a pound. That means the average 600 square-foot garden that costs an average of $70 can produce an estimated 300 pounds of fresh produce worth $600!
This is great news for those of us who have yard space for a garden, but many of us don’t. And while container gardening is an option, patio space — and the amount of sun exposure it gets — might limit the bounty to just a few plants.
Thanks to the resurgence of community gardens, sustainable food is becoming accessible to those who don’t have the space to grow their own or simply can’t afford it.
We’re excited and proud to announce the ground breaking of one in our town — the Aptos Community Garden. Hosted by Christ Lutheran Church, a bunch of volunteers are donating their time and money to make it a reality. Trent and I will sit on the Board, donate the starts, and document its progress.
But we’re not doing write-ups to toot our horn. By telling the story as it unfolds, we hope it inspires every community in America to roll one out, too — at a school or somewhere in the neighborhood. Why? Other than enabling the satisfying experience of growing and harvesting fresh food, community and school gardens encourages healthier eating habits. It brings our neighborhoods together and reconnects us to the source of our food — nature itself. It also encourages environmental stewardship, self-reliance and confidence in the safety of our food. According to the American Community Garden Association, it can even reduce crime!
Homeless Garden Project Inception - May 1990
We live in Santa Cruz County; if you don’t know, we’re very big on environmental issues and natural foods. I have to point out a few great local programs that are community gardens, but not in the traditional sense. Food What? educates youth and is driven by our friends at Life Lab. The second is the Homeless Garden Project, an amazing nonprofit organization that gives purpose and financial support to those less fortunate. These are a few innovative examples of the power of community gardens; consider these aspects when building yours. How can we get our youth involved? How can we give back?
I did some research on the history of community gardens. The study I found cited their importance during and after both World Wars, providing increased food supplies which required minimal transporting. During the Great Depression, city lands were made available to the unemployed and impoverished by the Work Projects Administration (WPA); nearly 5,000 gardens on 700 acres were cultivated in New York City alone through this program. During WWII, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that national health as well as personal well-being were dependent on the consumption of fresh vegetables, which led to the Victory Gardens Program and the production of approximately 40% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the U.S. from an estimated 20 million gardens.
WHAT?! Did I read this correctly? What happened to us? Now, our food travels an average 1,500 miles. Only 1 out of five fresh fruits and vegetables are grown in the Unites States. And NO U.S. state is meeting national objectives for consumption of two fruits and three vegetables a day.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Americans are battling obesity and Type II diabetes at an alarming rate. Did you know that 1 out of 3 kids in the US are considered overweight or obese? Folks, these health risks are caused by poor dietary patterns and sedentary lifestyles. In other words, they are reversible.
Ah, yet another benefit of gardening — physical exercise. How many calories can we burn? I just went to Internet Fitness and found out that personally, I can burn 307 calories an hour doing general gardening activities!
Readers, I hope you’re motivated to get a garden going — at home, at your kids’ school, or in your community. Do it for your health and that of your family, community and planet! And if you need help, check back with us to find out how we did it here in Aptos.
Tags: food, Homeless Garden Project, Life Lab, National Gardening Association, organic, organic growing, Santa Cruz, sustainable
A Green Thumb for Everyone!
We’re so excited! Linda and I have worked so hard on our children’s book, and after months of hard work we just received our first copy. And, despite sounding vainglorious, it is really beautiful! The book was something we decided to write to supplement the Classroom Bundle and Homeschool Bundle that we have just launched. But it soon took on a life all it’s own. We imagined My First Organics seed starting kits to be a great way to educate kids and families about gardening. As our experience grew, we saw an even better way: Get the kits into the classroom and design a whole curriculum around organic, sustainable gardening. And what better way to kick off a lesson than with a beautiful storybook designed to engage and inspire children to grow food. As we did more research into the different messages about gardening, we realized that the story needed to include facts about the environment, nutrition, and community as well.
“How a Garden Saves the Earth“ is a bold endeavor, designed to encourage kids to ask “Why do we do it that way?”. Written by my wife, Linda McNair and Myself, illustrated by Jeff Petersen (The Whitby Witches, Waves), and colored by yours truly (Yes, I am an artist as well. Go figure).
Great for children up to third grade, it is dedicated to helping parents, teachers and homeschoolers educate kids about the importance of Read the rest of this entry »
2009 Holiday Gift Guide
Our product was chosen by the ladies over at Cool Mom Picks (CBS Early Show, Real Simple Magazine, Martha Stewart Radio) and featured in the “Future Tree-Huggers” category and “Gift under $20″. They run an awesome blog based in New York that is always on the lookout for the coolest indie-items. Getting a good review is no small feat, and now we are bubbling over with glee to have been selected to be in their 2009 Holiday Gift Guide! Head on over and check out the guide. You’ll find one-of-a-kind items like our My First Organics seed starting kits. Find our mention, and you just might find a nifty little promo code to get one yourself for a discount!
Smart Program, or Corporate Greed?
Smart Choices. We all need to make them every day. If I am not smart enough to look both ways before crossing a street, I could be hit by an 18-wheeler (probably loaded with processed food). Thus, I have developed the habit of looking first. I was taught this at an early age by older authority figures who thought it was a good idea to preserve my life by showing me this Smart Choice – it is a choice of course. I could choose not to look. I could just take into account that there is a slim mathematical chance that I can make it across an expressway if I just charge ahead without looking. But some advice is invaluable. Take for instance the Smart Choice Program. Corporate food giants have recently joined forces because they are afraid that all of us, the consumers, have gotten some dangerous ideas about what healthy food really is.
So, thank goodness that there is a new website out there that offers us a searchable database for making ’smart choices’ when it comes to diet. With a badge that displays their mission of ‘…building healthy habits for the long term’. Really? Take a closer look and you will think twice. The Smart Choices Program was developed by an alliance of over a dozen giant food conglomerates and some industry “experts”. They devised a new nutrition labeling program meant to help consumers make “smarter food and beverage choices.”
Critical to building disease, obesity and dependence
So, give it a shot. Try doing a search on breakfast cereal. You get results like Froot Loops®, Keebler Cookie Crunch® and Lucky Charms®.
And this label is appearing all over your local grocery as I write this. What has the FDA and USDA done about it? Nothing.
If you see this label, know it for what it is – an outright affront to your intelligence and a personal attack on you and your families health by some of the largest and greediest corporations on the planet. If you want to do something about it, head to Food Democracy Now! to sign a petition to have this travesty addressed. Without your help, labeling and deceptive marketing will continue to dominate our landscape. Help us fight back.
Tags: FDA, food, Food Democracy Now!, Labeling, USDA
Mother Nature Network’s Matt Hickman continued his popular 40 Farmers Under 40 blog post with a follow up 
recently—The Readers Choice 40 Farmers Under 40. Now it’s hard to say whether or not we were actually #39 and #40 respectively due to our popularity, our age, or just because they really wanted a strong finish! Seriously though, they are in no particular order, we just like to tease. We salute all 80 of these young Farm-preneurs in all their efforts.
Just 12 years ago a survey showed that the average age of Farmers was 54.6. The link between this statistic and our ever-shrinking local food system and small, family farm operations cannot be ignored. Perhaps this article is another inclination that the public’s view of Farmers being a second-class citizens deserving of little or no repute (or respect) is shrinking rapidly. In a world where food supply cannot keep up with population growth, this is a frightening statistic.
Hat’s off to these brave young men and women.
Tags: buy local, CSA, Farming, food, My First Organics, organic, Surf City Growers, sustainable, Young Farmers
We just had our first tomato sale this weekend. We sold about 15 lbs of tomatoes, making $45 in 4 hours. It may not seem like much, but if you consider our rural location you would agree that it’s pretty awesome. Aidan was a huge help and loved weighing them, making change and asking each person what their name was. He’s been looking forward to this years ‘Tomato Stand’ for many weeks. It’s obvious that not only are we teaching him amazing skills in how to cultivate his own sustainable food, but mathematics, science, and communication as well. Some customers used english as a second language, and we tried to give him as much of an opportunity as we could to practice his spanish as well. Good stuff!
Everthing that is left over from this batch will go to a local CSA
The tomatoes are really tasty, too. Combined with the jalapenos that I grew I made some amazing salsa and plan on making more.
So far the garden has cost us about $400 in materials and water (mostly water). We have consumed at least 400 lbs of produce between my family and our friends Michael and Lisa, who also have two young boys. If I just break even this year I’ll be very happy, especially when I think that so much healthy food was eaten by us straight out of our organic garden rather than purchased at a grocery store.
Although we grew many other things, the tomatoes were really the only ‘cash crop’ we grew. Everything else was just for our own consumption.
Another first for us was growing dried beans – a fantastic source of protein, bean soups are one of my favorites to make for the family. We have a fantastic buckeye bean that I have yet to cook, but I will post that experience and a recipe when I do.
Tags: buy local, CSA, organic growing, tomato
- Trent and Linda skate through the nursery! (Photo: Rod Brodman for Sunset Magazine)
Many customers have emailed us asking about the organic nursery, so we thought we’d write a post to update you all.
After spending two years getting our growing operation going, Santa Cruz County was invaded by the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) in 2007, parking USDA inspectors here indefinitely. There has been much debate here about the effects of the LBAM on agricultural crops. We don’t want to bore you, but if you want our opinion, it’s a bunch of bologna. If you’re interested in learning more, here are links to both sides of the story from the California Department of Agriculture, the Pesticide Action Network, and those against the overhead spraying of biochemicals to eradicate LBAM in the Central Coast.
How has this affected us? First, you need a quick science lesson.
Female moths produce pheromone scents to attract males. Apparently, additional release of pheromones into the environment confuses male moths seeking mates. By disrupting their mate-finding ability, it reduces their reproduction and thus ultimately moth population levels. The USDA has placed pheromone traps, and conducts regular inspections, at nurseries – the entities they consider to be the source of the problem.
If they find just one larvae, they shut us down, require us to spray an organic treatment throughout the lot they choose to quarantine, and cover it for 10 days. (If we were not organic, we would use a biochemical that kills everything, including beneficial insects in the air and in the soil. Not to mention the runoff that goes into our waterways.)
This is all at our cost, and there are no subsidies. Common sense tells us that placing traps that ATTRACT the LBAM to our property might cause them “run into” a female on their way to a trap and mate. But we’re just organic growers. What do we know, right?
This craziness has made it impossible for a small organic nursery like ours to conduct business with retail nurseries that require weekly deliveries. As a result, we have not been able to sell to them or to the public. So, if you’re one of our wonderful local customers who used to visit us on Saturdays, you now understand why the gates have been shut and the sign removed.
However, we have maintained our CCOF and USDA certification to grow organic plants under contract for developers, builders, landscapers, county parks and recreation, private estates and large accounts. Because this is a longer sales cycle, we can manage USDA inspections based on customer delivery dates. If this causes a light bulb to go off in your head, please send any leads our way!
My First Organics seed starting kit!
We don’t go down easy! We’re focused on helping families and schools realize the health and environmental benefits of growing their own organic produce with our My First Organics line. Don’t be shy telling folks about that too…and the 20% discount we’re offering through August 31, 2009 (at the end of the blog post).
For those of you who bought and cared for our plants on your property, thank you! Were pretty sure they are thriving in your garden to this day! If so, we’d love to hear from you! Please post a comment here!
Tags: buy local, organic growing
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