- Author: Betty Homer
For those of you who have been following this blog for awhile, you know each year I blog on the Urban Farm Tours hosted by Institute of Urban Homesteading (the “Institute”) located in Oakland, California (here are links to some of my prior blog posts-- http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=15090; http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=15441; http://www.ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=14800;
http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7564;
http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10709). The Urban Farm Tours is a benefit for the Institute whose primary mission is to educate and teach the public, homesteading and otherwise lost but once treasured skills, by offering over 75 classes and events each year to the public, on a sliding-scale basis without the assistance of outside funding or grants.
The dates for the 2015 tour dates have been announced, and the locations are scattered throughout the Bay Area, mostly concentrated in the East Bay.
Tour Dates (Saturdays)
*June 6 (9 am - 3pm) in Walnut Creek and Concord
*June 13 (10 am - 4 pm) in East and West Oakland
*September 19 in Hayward (probably about the same time as above). More details to follow; please check back periodically at http://iuhoakland.com for updates.
General Overview of East Bay Tours
June 6, 9 am – 3 pm in Walnut Creek and Concord
The anticipated sites will feature examples of what you can do with a smaller suburban plot (which are always interesting to me, as working with a small space requires great ingenuity) to a sprawling permaculture paradise. All sites will feature pollinator habitat, water-wise gardening, greywater and rainwater catchment, and food production in the form of edible landscaping, bees and chickens, intergenerational gardening, and more.
You can choose to purchase tickets on-line either in advance with various goodies attached (see http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1475038), or you can pay $5.00 per person as you go, upon arrival at your chosen site(s). You should make plans to provide for your own transportation, although there may be limited carpooling available (once again, please contact the Institute directly). For more specific information, please see http://www.iuhoakland.com/uft2015wc.pdf
June 13, 10 am-4 pm in East & West Oakland
At these sites, from extra small to large, expect to see and get ideas on how people are incorporating into their urban plots, fruit and vegetable gardens, pollinator habitat, miniature orchards, chickens, bees, goats, vertical gardening (for greater productivity), greywater and rainwater catchment, and water-wise irrigation systems.
You can choose to purchase tickets either in advance with various goodies attached (see http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1475063), or you can pay $5.00 per person as you go, upon arrival at your chosen site(s). You should make plans to provide for your own transportation, although there may be limited carpooling available (once again, please contact the Institute directly). For more specific information, please see For more specific information, please see http://www.iuhoakland.com/uft2015oak.pdf
The Institute feels strongly that no one be turned away for a lack of funds. Also, there are work-trade arrangements to off-set the price of the tickets. For more information, please see http://iuhoakland.com.