Edible Gardening

The Edible Gardening Group (EGG) is for members who are interested in learning about growing their own food. Members helping members should be a motto of this group. This group covers a wide variety of topics including composting, soil preparation, cover crops, growing various crops, and much more. Community experts and members with special skills make presentations. Members share their experiences, exchange plants, and buy supplies together. Additionally, this group goes on tours occasionally.

How to Participate in this Group

The EGG group typically meets monthly between September and June. Each month’s newsletter and the Calendar contain information about the upcoming meeting. You do not need to sign up ahead but we recommend that you sign up for this group’s email distribution list so that you get the latest details about the meetings and any cancellations.

Lead - Tina Higashi

Edible Garden Group History

EGG started before 2015. So the group is well over 10 years old. Our group leaders have included Barbara Stott, Jim O'Laughlin, Jim Farr, and Tina Higashi. Many other garden club members have offered their expertise in leading the group meetings about various topics. 

EGG meetings have typically included food sharing, with many members sharing dishes that they made with produce grown in their gardens. The LAVGC Cookbook originally started as a cookbook of the many recipes shared by the innovative cooks in the EGG group.  

At the end of each year the group leaders have conducted a short survey to determine the effectiveness of the year's workshops. During the end-of-the-year meeting the leaders solicitate ideas and needs from the group to use for planning for the next year. Many of the topics have been repeated from time to time because the EGG audience continues to grow and change. More recent EGG meetings have been held either at Clare's Fare garden in Pleasanton or at Eden Garden in Livermore, usually on a Saturday and starting around 11:30.

Past Meeting Topics

These are some of the topics that have been covered in EGG meetings and could be covered again if there is interest:

  • Planning the garden for fall, winter, spring and summer

  • Gifts from the Garden

  • EZ Preserving of our harvests

  • Kombucha and other fermented foods

  • Setting up a worm bin, vermicomposting

  • Growing more in less space

  • Container Gardening

  • Companion planting

  • Fertilize the Steve Solomon way

  • Fruit tree care and pruning, grafting

  • Soil testing

  • Composting

  • Pest Control-Alameda Co Vector Control

  • Tool sharpening

  • Five Fields Flower Farm tour, Livermore