- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners played a key role in establishing a vibrant garden behind a church in Livermore that has produced 8,000 pounds of vegetables for the church's food kitchen, reported two MGs in a column published in the San Jose Mercury News.
What was unused vacant land only three years ago has spurred the creation of an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Fertile GroundWorks. Fertile GroundWorks has pilot projects under way to help organizations establish and operate new community gardens. The Alameda County...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Over the past year, volunteers in the University of California Cooperative Extension Ventura County Master Gardeners program have transformed space next to the Goebel Senior Adult Center in Thousand Oaks into a living showcase of native, drought-tolerant plants and sustainable garden concepts, said an article in the Ventura County Star.
The "California True Colors Garden and Learning Center" contains a collection of 200 desert plants such as the Palo Verde tree, desert grasses and the violet-flowered foothill penstemon growing along meandering paths and dry pond bed.
"These are...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Some experts say federal farm subsidies contribute to the nation's obesity crisis, reports Marni Jameson in the Chicago Tribune. They argue that corn and wheat, the most heavily subsidized crops, are also staples in a variety of common, fattening, nutrition-deficient foods. But UC agricultural economist Julian Alston says farm subsidies are unrelated to obesity. "I get annoyed because everyone points to farm subsidies as one of the top two reasons for the obesity epidemic, but it's irrelevant," Alston said. He believes the elimination of farm subsidies would have a...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Two Alameda County Master Gardeners are working with a local church to transform a vacant lot into a bounty of fresh produce that a neighboring food kitchen serves to the needy, according to an article that ran in the Livermore Patch.
In addition, plans are in place to make the organic planting and composting operation a demonstration garden with a monthly curriculum and teaching cycles for anyone who wants to learn about gardening, the story said.
The pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church, Chuck Johnstone, suggested last year that open land behind the church could be used to grow food...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
At the end of a lengthy list of hoity-toity restaurants and upscale events published in the Los Angeles Daily News this week, the writer slipped in a road trip to the Great Park Farm and Food Lab in Orange County, where educational gardens are maintained by UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners.
After dishing about the five-spice braised pork belly with star anise served at Rama, seitan meatballs with tomato ginger curry at Mana's on Maple, and a $150 per person fundraiser at the Ritz-Carlton, food editor Natalie Haughton plugs the lab's pizza and spaghetti garden, where...
