Community Outreach
The Livermore-Amador Valley Garden Club has a number of service projects in the Tri-Valley Area.
We also support the Penny Pines program, which is a joint partnership of the National Garden Club (NGC) and the USDA Forest Service sustaining our national and urban forests through this reforestation/forest education program.
Camp Arroyo
Friday, Feb 22, 2019 9:00 am to Noon
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 is 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.
There will be planting of seedlings, weeding, deadheading, and trimming. Help for the whole time or any portion of that time is very, very, very appreciated!
Camp is a gated area and I will have the gate open from 8:45-9:45. If you are arriving after 9:45, please let me know and I'll have the gate open for you. Lunch will be available after at our camp dining hall - if you have not joined us for lunch it's always great - with options for all dietary needs.
Thanks one and all for your help and support.
Please sign up at the monthly LAVGC meeting or RSVP to Kim Billingsley - Camp Arroyo gardener. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Kim's contact information.
For more information or if you would like to be on the notification list, contact Kim Billingsley - Camp Arroyo gardener. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Kim's contact information.
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.
If you're not sure where it is, ask to ride with someone.
Eden Garden - an organic project
No workparties are currently scheduled
1660 Freisman Road, Livermore. Pleasanton if you are using GPS! Although it is actually in Livermore!
'Eden Garden - an organic project', located on the grounds of Crosswinds Church, 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.
If you are on the Eden Garden email list, you can expect to receive periodic notices of "pop-up" work parties; that is, informally-scheduled work parties when a few of us decide to go to the garden to work. We'd love to have you join us then. We will be raising some winter crops and will also be working on a few remaining tasks related to the garden expansion.
If you would like more information or want to be added to the Eden Garden email list, send a request to Barbara Stott, Karen Abbuscato or Beth Clark.
Thank you for your support of the Eden Garden - an organic project and helping us meet our goal of getting fresh, clean produce to those in need. Happy Gardening!
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
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.
Pictures from the 2017 Eden Garden
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- 2018 HARVEST
- Apples 25 lbs
- Beans 103 lbs
- Cucumber 201 lbs
- Garlic 110 lbs
- Onions 104 lbs
- Melons 20 lbs
- Peppers 28 lbs
- Persimmons 201 lbs
- Pomegranite 100 lbs
- Potatoes 69 lbs
- Summer squash 787 lbs
- Tomatoes 229 lbs
- Winter squash 228 lbs
- Watermelon 10 lbs
- GRAND TOTAL 2,215 lbs
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- 2017 HARVEST
- Beans 161 lbs
- Berries 4 lbs
- Carrots 5 lbs
- Cucumber 831 lbs
- Eggplant 79 lbs
- Fava beans 150 lbs
- Garlic 145 lbs
- Melon 31 lbs
- Onions 50 lbs
- Peppers 120 lbs
- Persimmons 9 lbs
- Pomegranite 60 lbs
- Summer squash 412 lbs
- Tomatoes 248 lbs
- Winter squash 422 lbs
- GRAND TOTAL 2,727 lbs
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- 2016 HARVEST
- Beans 30.5 lbs
- Berries 21 lbs
- Cucumber 103.25 lbs
- Garlic 45 lbs
- Leeks 8 lbs
- Melon 82 lbs
- Onions 12 lbs
- Peppers 57.5 lbs
- Potatoes 59 lbs
- Summer squash 416.5 lbs
- Tomatoes 204.75 lbs
- Winter squash 57.5 lbs
- Other (Tomatillo) 26.5 lbs
- GRAND TOTAL 1,123.5 lbs
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- 2015 HARVEST
- Apricots 2
- Blackberries 16 lbs
- Cucumber 495 lbs
- Eggplant 10 lbs
- Garlic 25 lbs
- Herbs 19 bunches
- Leeks 22 lbs
- Onions 60 lbs
- Peppers 170 lbs
- Persimmons 32 lbs
- Potatoes 71 lbs
- Summer squash 327 lbs
- Tomatoes 476 lbs
- Winter squash 366 lbs
- GRAND TOTAL 2,072 lbs
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- 2014 HARVEST
- Basil 3.5 lbs
- Blackberries 1 lbs
- Butternut squash 32 lbs
- Cucumber 3 lbs
- Eggplant 196 lbs
- Garlic 66 lbs
- Leeks 16 lbs
- Onions 277 lbs
- Peppers 205 lbs
- Potatoes 55 lbs/li>
- Summer squash 672 lbs
- Tomatoes 317 lbs
- Winter squash 153 lbs
- GRAND TOTAL 1,996.5 lbs
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- 2013 HARVEST
- Beans 78 lbs
- Cantaloupe 7 lbs
- Eggplant 16 lbs
- Garlic 25 lbs
- Kale 16 lbs
- Onions 36 lbs
- Peppers 90 lbs
- Persimmons 7 lbs
- Potatoes 159 lbs
- Squash 328 lbs
- Tomatoes 390 lbs
- GRAND TOTAL 1,152 lbs
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Sensory Garden
Third Fridays. Next: Friday, Feb 15, 2019 9:00 am to Noon
5353 Sunol Blvd., Pleasanton; Across from Raley's. Adjacent to the Pleasanton Senior Center on Sunol Blvd
As usual we will weed, trim, deadhead, prune, etc., to maintain the Sensory Garden in a presentable state for public viewing.
The Sensory Garden consists of two ground-level beds and three raised beds. Working in the ground-level beds requires kneeling and stooping while working in the raised beds requires standing, so let your preference be known.
Please bring your own hand tools (trowels, pruners, soil knives, etc.), kneeling pads and work gloves. Larger tools and supplies will be provided.
Restroom facilities are available in the Senior Center Building.
After the work party, for those interested, we adjourn to a near-by eatery for lunch and conversation.
We invite all of the club members to participate. We will be happy to show less experienced members how to do the tasks. Even if you can't spend the full three hours working in the garden, any time that you can participate is welcomed, so please come early or come late.
Please signup at the monthly LAVGC meeting or RSVP Daniel McCright. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Dan's contact information.
For more information, please contact Daniel McCright. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Dan's contact information.
Even if you cannot attend the work party, we invite you to visit the garden on any day. We try to have a large variety of plants that put on a display at different times of the year, including the short, often-dreary, days of winter. A description of the featured plants for the month of January is available on the club web site (lavgc.org).
FEATURED PLANTS for FEBRUARY
As the days become progressively longer and warmer, more plants show new growth and come into bloom.
Bulbinella (Bulbinella floribunda).
This plants sends up spikes of bright yellow flowers reliably every February. It is a native of South Africa and is closely related to Kniphofia or Poker Plant. Its life cycle is interesting.as it begins to develop foliage in the fall. This grows through the winter, climaxing with flowers in late winter. After blooming, the foliage dies back and by summer all that remains is a tuft of dried leaves to mark its space to begin again its cycle. The flowers are greatly appreciated on a dark day. In the Sensory Garden, bulbinella is interplanted with gaura that is in full growth and bloom in summer and dormant in winter. Thus, the space is a twofer for us. The clumps increase in size each year and often self-sown seeds produce new plants.
Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita).
We believe that this is the variety Howard McMinn. It was planted in the Sensory Garden about 25 years ago. It is a native shrub that bears pale pink flowers at the end of winter. It grows about 5 feet high. It shows shiny olive-green foliage and outstanding dark mahogany bark. The branching form of the shrub is often twisting and zigzagged. As a native, it needs little to no summer watering, so it is planted outside the range of the lawn sprinklers in the Sensory Garden. The flowers are followed by reddish fruits, There are many other species of manzanita that range from large shrubs to ground covers. They are perfect for our climate.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis).
This is an outstanding plant for Mediterranean landscaping and perfect for a Sensory Garden. All rosemaries are the same species, but varieties exist in different forms and flower colors. Some are spreading in form, while others grow upright. We have two varieties; the one pictured has abundant deep blue-violet flowers in late winter and spring, with occasional flowers later. It is a magnet for bees of all types. We pinch-prune it during the year to encourage growth that cascades over the wall of the raised bed in which it is planted. We also have a variety with lighter slate-blue flowers, borne over a long period in one of the ground-level beds. Rosemary leaves have a wonderful scent and impart a savory taste to meats and casserole dishes.
Pictures from 2017 and 2018 Sensory Garden work parties
Here are some photos taken at Sensory Garden work parties in the recent past. Work parties are fun for getting to know our members and the participants learn about horticultural practices as they perform the work of transplanting, weeding, dead heading, pruning, fertilizing, controlling pests and propagation of plants.
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Garden Angels
We have a group of members willing and eager to go out and help any garden club member that is not able to keep up their garden temporarily possibly because of illness, chemo, etc. We can deadhead, sweep, plant annuals, and generally tidy up the garden. Do you need this kind of help or know someone who does? If so, please use the signup sheet at the monthly club meeting or contact Peggy Despotakis.
Looking for Garden Angels. Periodically club members need some help in their gardens due to illness. If you would like to be on the Angel call list for a workparty, contact Peggy Despotakis.
Livermore 1st Street Pots
No workparties are currently scheduled
Please contact Mary Davis for more information.See the LAVGC Yearbook for additional contact information.
Penny Pines
The Penny Pines program, which is a joint partnership of the National Garden Club (NGC) and the USDA Forest Service sustaining our national and urban forests through this reforestation/forest education program.
Have you wondered what that cute green box that is passed around at the meeting and people are putting money inside is for? Each $68 that we collect is used to plant an acre of burned out national forest land. Since 1999, our club has donated money to help plant 109 acres of trees for a total donation of over $8,000.
Through the years the members of our garden club have been very generous through donations to the Penny Pines box circulated at each meeting. We have purchased 143 plantations in honor of current and former club members as well as donations to honor the first responders for 9/11 relief, as well as others in our community.
We have also participated in the Arbor Day celebration for last two years in partnership with Alden Lane, The California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers, and Davey Expert Tree Company to purchase a plantation for each of eight Pleasanton elementary schools. They are presented during an Arbor Day training session presented by club members.
At our September, 2018 meeting the club voted to donate 10 plantations to honor the first responders to the many recent fires in our beautiful state. A vote was taken to choose the two forests where we would donate 5 plantations each. By popular vote we decided to send 5 plantations to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Redding, CA and 5 to the Mendocino National Forest in Porterville, CA.
Since then the club has donated 3 plantations in memory of Pat Burnett, Donald Bird (husband of Christine Bird) and Robert W. Kuenning (husband of Maudie Kuenning). In addition we have had members order gifts for 13 additional plantations to either honor their loved ones at Christmas or to memorialize a loved one. This means that since September 1 we have donated 27 plantations which total 71 plantations since we started the program. Big congratulations to each of you who have participated with either your change or a gift of a plantation.
In addition to donations made by the club, you can make private donations as Jeri Stark did this Christmas. She felt her children have everything they need and so she gave them each a certificate honoring them in the forests near Yosemite where they have spent many years at their grandparent's home. Giving back a bit for all the years of enjoyment for the many happy and fun filled days spent in the area.
How it works:
- LAVGC can honor current or past club members, a member's life partner, or child by contributing funds to the USDA Forest Service.
- A club member may privately honor an individual by submitting a completed form along with a check for $68, payable to LAVGC.
- At each monthly meeting, the club collects change that is set aside for a time when a plantation is to be purchased to honor a club member.
- A PENNY PINES Certificate will be sent to inform the family of the location of the plantation.
- Nomination to be approved or denied by the LAVGC Executive Board within 60 days of receipt.
- The Executive Board may also direct purchase of a Penny Pines Plantation for other reasons.
- To obtain a form from the LAVGC Members Only section, signin, click 'Forms', click the 'Penny Pines' form you want.
- To obtain a form or for more information, please contact Jeri Stark. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Jeri's phone numbers.
Click to see the NGC Penny Pines information.
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