Mulch Party at Kellogg Park!

Last month in September on Saturday the 26th from 9AM to 11AM, over 30 residents of Ventura came together to spread mulch at the city's latest park at Kellogg Street and Ventura Avenue.

Mulch is especially important before the rainy season to keep rainfall from evaporating too fast. With thick enough mulch (at least 3 inches) water has time to percolate down through the soil into our water table. Mulch is also important because it protects the soil food web from sun exposure. Exposed soil becomes baked and compacted into lifeless DIRT that only the hardiest weeds can grow in.

15 tons of mulch!

Thanks to our friends at RESTORE VENTURA, local landscapers and AERA Energy have been depositing mulch on site during the weeks prior, and during the event knocked piles over with tractors. The kids were STOKED on those tractors!


Thanks to the Ventura Chapter Surfrider Foundation for providing volunteers, tools, waivers, and for being passionate about Ocean-Friendly Gardens :)

Thanks to the Trust for Public Land, City of Ventura staff and local volunteers who make this possible.

Resident volunteers (not all pictured here), County Supervisor Steve Bennett, Mayor Cheryl Heitman, and me on the right. Photo from the official Kellogg Park Facebook page.

DON'T MISS NEXT WEDNESDAY Oct 14 at Bell Arts Factory!

Come show your support Wednesday night by choosing the kids' play equipment, adult exercise equipment, and request an edible forest at Kellogg Park!

Connect here with Kellogg Park on Facebook. Stay tuned for the next mulching event at the end of November!

Cheers, your dancing gardener,
Robert

Grow Your Own! A Wicking Bed Tutorial

Recently our friend Kate needed some worms for a worm farm she helped start with Todd at the Binkley Healing Center.  She messaged Ventura Cooperative on facebook, we connected, and we set up a time for her to come pick up a box of red wrigglers.  While she was with us, she talked about her project with Todd growing food on the balcony.  Sweet news!  More folks growing their own!  Even better....is the news about how they're doing it.  They built and planted three wicking beds.

Wicking beds are a great way to save water and grow your own food! Check out the video above from activists feeding their community with food and knowledge.

Kate then invited us to a presentation Todd was doing the next day for his custom designed, handmade, water saving new raised beds.  Of course I went and was pleasantly surprised to see how intensely involved Kate and Todd are with growing their own food-- with sustainable and organic means.  They did a great job documenting the process.  The presentation was informative and inspiring.  Plus I like the color purple!  (they painted the beds purple ;-)

Our friend Jim Mangis came to the meet-up as well.  Come to find out, he helped Kate and Todd get started with plants and soil from his local business Good Tilth Organic Nursery.  Jim makes his own excellent compost mix.  He spoke about soil, I got the chance to practice a 30sec pitch for our Actively Aerated Compost Tea, and Todd talked about wicking beds.  Win-win-win!

So thanks to Kate and Todd for stepping up and implementing a program to grow their own food in a way that fits their needs and lifestyle.  Anybody can do it, and at Ventura Cooperative, we're here to help you out!

Related Links:

Binkley Healing Center

Good Tilth Organic Nursery

Food is Free  

Mulch for California Drought

2013 was the driest year on record for California.  2014 is looking like it could continue to produce emergency drought conditions across the state.  As we prepare for our spring and summer gardens, water use is a major concern, and heavy mulching this year is a number one priority.

Ventura Cooperative Garden Services sources mulch locally, delivers and installs it for you as needed.  Keep the water in the soil around the roots of your plants.  By the truckload or by the bag (reclaimed and reused whenever possible.)  Get some compost or compost tea too.  Check out Vcoop's garden services menu here.