Camp Arroyo

Camp Arroyo is inactive

5535 Arroyo Road, Livermore, CA 94550

Camp Arroyo is a 138-acre park owned and maintained by the East Bay Regional Park District since 1995. It was used by the YMCA for outdoor education during the school year and by the Taylor Family Foundation during the summer for children with serious illnesses. Camp Arroyo is a pesticide free garden with an emphasis on vegetables.

Kim Billingsley wrote in late September, 2020: Camp Arroyo, and especially the garden, is a special place, nurtured by LAVGC and the Camp Arroyo staff for many years. However, the pandemic has hit Camp Arroyo's mission and the bottom line of UCCR (the company I worked for) very hard. UCCR has been unable to financially or emotionally support any program at Camp Arroyo to bring in needed cash. I made the hard choice and have tendered my resignation.

Camp Arroyo is no longer an active part of the LAVGC community outreach groups.

I have loved my time at Camp Arroyo and all the help and support my gardening friends have donated to make it all possible. I loved seeing some of you at our September, 2020 Zoom meeting and hope you are all well.

For more information about the Camp Arroyo status, please contact Jeri Stark, LAVGC President.

Directions

The address is 5535 Arroyo Road in Livermore. Once you are on Arroyo Road, continue past Wente Winery on the left. Camp Arroyo is a short distance from Wente and is located on the right hand side. The first gate is for the Taylor Family Foundation, you want the second gate and you will recognize it by the stone walls either side of the gate and of course, the sign!

Once inside Camp, you can park in the lot on the left and the garden will be across the road on the right.

Clare's Fare Garden - Feeding Community, Fueling Our Future

Work parties: Saturdays 9:00 am for 2-3 hours

Clare's Fare Garden is located on the side of St Clare's Episcopal Church, 3350 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton, CA 94588. Access to the garden is from National Park Road, off North or South Valley Trails Road, which intersects Hopyard Road.

The rain has helped us this month with the recent plantings and the first flowers are in bloom in the pollinator bed. We continue to expand the garden with generous donations from fellow gardeners and from the community. We’ve planted two more fruit trees, seven different types of mint, potatoes and rows & rows of onions. One morning we arrived to find a sturdy wooden bench, which now has a shady spot under the evergreen trees. Another anonymous donor left a fig tree.

Volunteers from St Clare’s church are putting in a circular labyrinth adjacent to the garden.  Many people passing by stop to chat. The church has been generous with coffee on cold mornings and the garden really feels part of the community. Our guests this month included Veronika Fukson, senior master gardener from Berkeley. The founder of Culinary Angels, Lisa McNaney and her husband Jim, came too, as did the City’s landscape architect, Matt Gruber.  Most of the work setting up the garden has been completed; the frequency of work parties is therefore reduced and normally takes place on Saturday mornings, 9.00 AM start for 2-3 hours.

If you would like to sign up, please contact Clare's Fare Garden: Anne Vincent and Karen Abbruscato. See the LAVGC Yearbook for their additional contact information.

You are welcome to visit at any time and join us if you can.

The garden has 4 long in-ground beds, earmarked for vegetables, a newly planted orchard of 15 trees, courtesy of generous donations from Alden Lane Nursery and Eden Garden volunteers, and a curving pollinator garden. A Hügelkultur bed completes the planting areas. All around, we are scattering native wildflowers. There is a barn owl nest box to keep rodents at bay. We also look after the church’s existing roses which border the garden.

The team at Clare’s has put in hard work over the this year and it really shows in that the layout of the garden is complete, some spring planting is showing and we put up an owl box.

Nasturtiums have been planted beneath the apple trees to deter codling moth and also to supply Culinary Angels with edible flowers.

The Hügelkultur bed is finished and planted with field peas with garlic at the bottom border. The plants are already showing. The bed itself is generating heat (83F) as the woody materials start to decompose. Later on, we plan to plant sweet potatoes in this bed, to take advantage of the heat.

Two compost bins based on “This Old House” design have been made and filled with autumn leaves, coffee grounds & horse manure. These are also generating heat, to 130F.

In the in-ground beds, asparagus, onions and shallots have been planted, but mostly the winter cover crop/ hay is still in place. Potatoes are next on the list. Two additional beds were added to the garden, one for collard greens and the other will become an herb garden.

The garden is drawing more attention including an earlier visit from Trevor Probert of Stopwaste. This organization is pulling together a network of edible gardens.

Hügelkultur (German for hill/mound cultivation) is an old technique that involves planting on top of buried decaying material such as tree trunks and branches. There are many instructional videos available online. The benefits of hügelkultur are said to include:

1. Water retention;(the wood acts as a sponge, holding and releasing moisture, so good for dryland agriculture and the water shortages we are likely to face)
2. Provides slow release of nutrients
3. Warms the root zone via decomposition
4. Returns carbon to the soil
5. Good way to solve a wood disposal problem
6. Cheaper-than-dirt way to fill a raised bed or depression
7. Self tilling because it settles over time.

Oct 30, 2020: Spreading compost

See more Clare's Fare Garden pictures from 2020-2021 including the Hügelkultur bed.

Eden Garden - an organic project

Every Friday (tentative) except 3rd Friday work party 9:00 - 12:00

3rd Saturdays (tentative). Next: Apr 17, 2021 9:00 am - Noon

1660 Freisman Road, Livermore. Pleasanton if you are using GPS! Although it is actually in Livermore!

'Eden Garden - an organic project' has 2 simple goals: to provide fresh, organic food for those in need and to give people a hands on opportunity to learn about growing their own food.

Eden Garden is located near the barn on the Crosswinds Church property in Livermore, on the frontage road just beyond the Outlet Mall. Volunteers come from the garden club, Crosswinds Church, and the community. See Directions below.

The Eden Garden is finally back to having regular work parties!  We are so happy to announce this!  Our tentative schedule is every Friday 9 AM to noon, except the 3rd Friday of the month.  The third Friday of the month is of course, the Sensory Garden work party day. Our monthly Saturday work party will be on the 3rd Saturday of the month, also 9 AM to noon.   We are using the word “tentative” because as the world opens up, the Crosswinds Campus is being used for various activities – a case in point is April 2nd when the entire campus will be used for an outdoor, walking Good Friday experience and we will not be gardening that day.  So please let us know if you like to be on the list for notifications of work parties so we can keep you up to date and informed by emailing EdenGarden@lavgc.org.  We hope to see you! Beth, Bill, Barbara and Graham

We are looking forward to the time when we can again welcome everyone who would like to volunteer – hopefully very soon! The garden is as much about community as it is about growing.

Any questions, please contact us at EdenGarden@lavgc.org Beth Clark, Bill Tallon, Barbara Stott or Graham Stott or Garden@CrosswindsChurch.org. See the LAVGC Yearbook for their additional contact information.

PS: We are looking for 4 inch square (or the slightly smaller 31/2 inch pots), if anyone has any to spare.  We have lots of seedlings this year!

We are famous!

A video has been made about the Eden Garden - an organic project. Here is a link to the video which not only features the Garden but an insight into the South Hayward Outreach Center where much of produce is delivered.

Directions

Click Map to Eden Garden to see an aerial map then follow the blue line to Eden Garden. From Dublin, take 580 east towards Livermore. Get off at El Charro/Fallon Road and turn right on to El Charro. Turn left at the Outlet Mall and then left again at the end of the Outlet Mall block. Keep to the right and turn right at the end of the road (onto the frontage road). Drive past the golf driving range to the end of Freisman Road. Freisman dead ends at the property. Turn right on to the property. Once on the property take the first left. Follow the road around, across the bridge and you will see a large metal barn. The garden is behind the barn.

From Livermore, you can take 580 west and exit at El Charro/Fallon Road or you can access the property from Jack London Blvd (via Isabel/84). Turn right at the outlet mall. Keep to the right and turn right at the end of the road (onto the frontage road). Drive past the golf driving range to the end of Freisman Road. Freisman dead ends at the property. Turn right on to the property. Once on the property take the first left. Follow the road around, across the bridge and you will see a large metal barn. The garden is behind the barn.

2020 Eden Garden - end of year newsletter Click Eden Garden - end of 2020 newsletter. 2020 Eden Garden - mid year newsletter Click Eden Garden - the year so far newsletter to learn what we have done so far in 2020. Pictures from the 2018-2019 Eden Garden Click Eden Garden in Review newsletter to learn more of our 2019 activities. Bruce Daggy and Matt Abbruscato assembling our new garden cart. See more Eden Garden photos at Eden Garden 2018 - 2019 photos. Pictures from the 2017 Eden Garden