Garden Share Blog

January  7th, 2011

Happy New Year!

Projects for this winter/spring, and anyone who wants to help out or join in is welcome!:

• Get Garden Sharing going by getting Chico listed on the website Urban Garden Share in Seattle 
  
• Kambucha party!
  
• Indoor seed starting for the garden
  
• Seed sprouting in hemp bags for eating
  
• Mushroom Log
  
• Permaculture food garden display at The Worm Farm
  

Well that's enough to get started with!  But I am interested in so many things, it's just a matter of getting like minded people together and sharing the experience, teaching each other, and learning together.

Great new!  John Thorman Peters, of Bidwell Park Arts has agreed to let me display his artwork on the Chico Garden Share Project website!  I am so happy to be able to display his work, and expose more people to the beauty of Bidwell Park.  It really makes one want to get out there and go hiking!

Park preservation is a great concern of John's, which is why he has devoted himself so whole heartedly to this cause.  His work is on display at Chico Paper Company.

All photographs are available at Chico Paper Company, 345 Broadway Street , Chico, CA 95928

530-891-0900 / admin@chicopapercompany.com

Since there are so many to chose from only a selection of about 25 are displayed at the store, but any photograph you like can be made into a print in a variety of sizes & media types.

John Peters

Bidwell Park Arts

530-961-3855

December 7th, 2010

Yesterday was a great day, because I finally found the Chico Permaculture Guild website!  At last, fellow Permaculturists!

They were actually having their first meeting at the Quaker Meeting House at the same time I found their website, and I don't believe that was just "coincidence".

The Chico Permaculture  Guild has meetings the first Monday of every month, and I will be there for the February meeting when I get back from Mexico.  

November 28th, 2010

Hi!  Welcome to The Chico Garden Share Project!  I'm Julie and I'm so glad you are here!

If you are wondering, No, I don't have goats, but I sure want some now that I've seen these cuties.  I wonder if they are allowed in the city limits?  Seattle made them legal recently, and you can click on the baby pygmy goat pic here and see the article, if you like.

I hope you have a chance to check out the videos on "The Big Idea" page (I love the song on the "Grow Forth" video), and to discover all the wonderful gardening resources available to us in Chico on the "Resources" page.  Seeing all the things that are going on has really inspired me, and I can't wait to meet everyone involved when I get back in January!  

I am planning our first Chico Garden Share Project Meet-Up, if you are interested in coming by:

When:  Sunday, January 30th from 12pm -1pm

Where:  Empire Coffee, at the Amtrak station.

And I'm especially looking forward to taking these two classes below as soon as I get back!  Who says Winter is boring!  And as you can see, the classes are extremely economical.  Also, I'll be at the Journey Into Real Food class on Tuesday, January 25th - See you there!

Chico Organic Gardening Society (COGS), and Valley Oak Magazine present:

• Organic Gardening Class - At the Chico Grange on Sunday afternoons, starting January 16th, $10 at the door.
• Field trips to farms, and a tomato plant sale.  Memberships are $20 for these and other COGS privileges. 
• Check out Valley Oak Magazine for details and to see what people in Chico should be doing in their gardens right about now. 

Journey Into Real Food - The Series - Winter 2011 Educational Course

Chico Butte Valley Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter

"In response to your requests we have decided to again present our class on Nourishing Traditional Diets this winter. Adapted from our popular Nourishing our Children Classes from last Spring this course will give you the basics of real food and nourishing traditional diets using winter season dishes."

(It works out to $3 per class, plus you should buy the book "Nourishing Traditions", by Sally Fallon, which you can get at Amazon.com for less than $30 total)

When:  Tuesday, January 25th 18:00 – 19:00 
Where: Mathews Cafe - 1600 Mangrove Ave, Suite 175 - Chico, CA 95926

In March, I'm headed to Willits for a 3 day Grow BioIntensive (R) workshop - a course in sustainable Mini-Farming.  Ecology Action is the organization behind this, and they go all around the world teaching people this technique that significantly increases yield through:

• Double-Dug, Raised Beds
• Composting
• Intensive Planting
• Companion Planting
• Carbon Farming
• Calorie Farming
• The Use of Open-Pollinated Seeds
• A Whole-System Farming Method

I can't wait to find out about these things so that I can demonstrate it to others at the future "Permaculture Learning Center" presented by the "Chico Grow Local" program and brought to us by a local agricultural foundation.  

In case you are interested in going too, start saving your $500, which includes the book and and lunches.  

Ecology action gets a deal from a local hotel, and it's $50 per night total for double occupancy. Let's say about $700 total if you go with somebody.

And you need to know the following information about your area before you get there: