The Edible Demo Garden at IVC Organic Farm & Garden
The 2100 sq ft Edible Demonstration Garden at Indian Valley Organic Farm and Garden (IVOFG) in Novato was designed and installed by UC Marin Master Gardeners in 2016 and is a hands-on teaching tool for UC MMG and the public. The garden showcases sustainable agricultural practices while growing over 100 varieties of vegetables, flowers, fruit and herbs using a variety of growing situations that are options for Marin gardeners.
Visit the garden Drop in any Friday of the month between 9am-11am. We will give you a tour and answer any gardening questions. Closed toe shoes or boots and long pants are recommended due to active rattle snakes.
Please note that the garden may be closed due to holidays or weather. Email for schedule confirmation.
Guided group tours Private educational tours and training are available to groups. To schedule a private tour, contact us at EdibleDemoGarden@MarinMG.org
Buy our sustainably-grown, organic produce at the Farm Stand All produce grown in the garden meets the Marin Organic Certified Agriculture (MOCA) requirements and is sold at the IVOFG farm stand or included in the farm's CSA boxes. The farm stand is open Saturdays 10am - 1pm July through October.
Growing potatoes in straw may seem like a crazy idea but the success of this method in the Edible Demonstration Garden suggests that this no-dig approach could be an option for home gardeners. It can be especially appealing when working with rocky clay soil...
With the onset of spring, the pace of activity in the Edible Demonstration Garden has picked up. Its time for planning the edibles to grow this spring and summer, preparing the garden beds, and sowing the seeds...
Blueberries are the focus of the newest demo garden project. Blueberries grow on long-lived and attractive shrubs and are both delicious and nutritious. They can be an ideal addition to an edible garden or to a home landscape if their growing conditions are met.
The addition of new fruit trees added excitement to an otherwise routine month of garden maintenance. An enthusiastic group of Master Gardeners planted six organically sourced fruit trees along the garden perimeter in line with the existing plum and pear trees...
December was a slow time in the garden. We added a few plants like leeks and arugula but our workdays were limited due to the regular rain that came through our county. No one is complaining though since our drought conditions have eased somewhat....
November and December are clean up times in the garden, as well as assessing the state of our garden after growing all of those heavy feeder summer vegetables...
In October the EDG team, with inspiration and planning by members of the MMG Native Plant Guild, added a native plant area to our edibles garden. This small garden was installed around a vernal pool that is at the back of our garden.
At the Edible Demonstration Garden this month, we have been following best practices for seeding our winter garden plants in the greenhouse. These practices were outlined in last months article. This month, we will begin moving some of these seedlings into the garden.
The end of the summer is approaching and some of our plants are producing heavy harvests, particularly our summer squash, which are growing in straw bales. (See our new YouTube video on Straw Bale Gardening.)...
What are those brown areas on the tomatoes and whats causing the plants leaves to roll up? Often the cause is physiological, which is a fancy way of saying the symptoms are caused by environmental stresses and not by pests or disease.
