Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Next Growing Food Class Is August 4th!


Growing Food in Southern California 
  with
 David King

1st Saturday of Every Month, 10AM - 12PM
 at
The Learning Garden at Venice High
Venice Blvd & Walgrove Ave, Venice, CA 90291

Grow Food classes are hands-on mini-workshop where you experience first-hand what the plants and soil are doing, and what you can do to maximize their production in the coming month.  

Emphasis on sustainable, organic practices, including: water conservation, beneficial pest management, soil maintenance, seed saving, and more.

Sample curriculum from July, 2012:
Ollas, courtesy of El Traspatio.

It is most important to have water at the roots of plants – spraying water into the air to fall on the soil, is not very efficient. A lot of that water can be blown away from your plants (on to the neighbors!) and a lot evaporates off into the air. It is not very efficient at all. But there are other ways to to water that are better. All these other ways involve putting the water close to the root zone. The two ways to do this include some of the newest technology and some of the oldest technology. 
The newest technology is drip irrigation; the oldest is called an 'olla' – pronounces OYE-ya.
 Variations of ollas are found in several different ancient cultures and there is a move to put them back into gardens today.

Individual classes are $20, or buy a package of 6 for $100 and save $20.
Classes are held at The Learning Garden, a busting, year-round educational center located on the campus of historic Venice High School, less than 2 miles from the beach. 

David King, Gardenmaster at The Learning Garden, has been growing food and teaching others how to do so in the Southern California climate for more than 20 years. He is a vocal advocate for food sustainable, organic practices in food production




The Learning Garden at Venice High School
Venice Blvd & Walgrove Ave, Venice, CA 90291
(310) - 722 - 3656

Friday, July 27, 2012

Become A Gardenmaster

Here's your chance to try your hand at being a Gardenmaster at The Learning Garden!   Starting August 9, through August 13, our usual Gardenmaster will be off to San Francisco attending the American Community Gardening Association annual convention and we'll need dedicated volunteers to handle the place while he is gone.  


You can be a Gardenmaster for as many hours as you like, but we usually break the day into several short shifts, in a pattern as follows:  


Thursday:
10 to noon
Noon to 2
2 to 5 (ok, that's not two hours)


Friday
10 to Noon
Noon to 2 (includes potluck!)
2 to 5 


Saturday
10 to Noon
Noon to 2
2 to 5


Sunday 
10 to Noon
Noon to 2 
2 to 5


Please note we'll need to do this again in September 12, 13 and 14, so if you can't do it this time, you have another chance then.  


Let us know if you are willing to be a Gardenmaster for a while!


david