The Oxnard Native Plant Fest was a great event with the Theodore Payne Foundation, Growing Works, Birdwatching, Lenny Kaufer’s Herb talk, the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundantion, and had lots of booths of local art, crafts, plant shops, and garden accessories. At the Oxnard Native Plant Fest, we visited the Santa Monica Mountain Fund booth. Rancho Sierra…
Pomegranate Taste Test
Organic Garden Club Members had a blast mingling during Paul Talley’s Pomegranate Taste Testing! We tried six different varieties, going from sweetest to more astringent: Sogdiana, Sirenevyi, Parfianka, Karakalinski, Syunt, Ariana. Every variety was delicious and rich in heart, brain, and digestive health properties. Many of our members are growing pomegranates in their backyards! Paul…
Farm Day 2024
On Farm Day, the Organic Garden Club members were so happy to celebrate our local farmers who grow our food! The beautiful shirts of our Organic Garden Club members were much appreciated at Farm Day and got people talking about eating and growing organic foods! It’s time to go Organic! We started the day at…
Organic Regenerative Agriculture in Camarillo
We had a fabulous Organic Garden Club meeting! Longtime local farmer, Phil McGrath, told us the history of his family and their 150 year old farms in Ventura County. They originally came from Ireland and started farming on the Oxnard Plain in 1871. They started out as sheep farmers. Phil’s great-grandfather had fourteen children. Around 1920,…
A Celebration of Heirloom Foods
Last week, September 10 – 12, 2024, was a celebration of Heirloom Foods at the National Heirloom Exposition, sponsored by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Ventura, CA. Table after table filled with gorgeous displays of hundreds of unique varieties of veggies and seeds. Showing just a few: Paul with his Greek Red Butternut Squash, petite…
Adamson’s Garden at Malibu Lagoon
Organic Garden Club members enjoyed the ambiance of Malibu Lagoon and Surfrider’s Beach on the Adamson’s garden and house tour. Cool ocean breezes charged with antioxidant electricity that increases serotonin, relieving stress, and boosting energy. Suzanne, our docent, told us fascinating botanical and human history about this property, where the Chumash people lived for thousands…
Summer Seed Party
Eighteen Organic Garden Club members enjoyed planting cool season veggie seeds in Bill Brandt’s lovely garden. We planted six 6-packs on each flat with Michael Wittman’s special Blue Sky Living Soil! We used Baker Creek Heirloom seeds and Botanical Interests Organic seeds. We soaked the planted seeds in Michael’s rich mix of Blue Sky nutrients! We…
Michael Wittman – Brix Level Workshop
At the Organic Garden Club meeting, Michael Whitman, Blue Sky Biochar, spoke about BRIX testing for our plants. BRIX measures the sugar content of the plant or tree. The higher sugar levels create better nutrition density and creates a better immunity against insects. You should test the BRIX level in the early afternoon and test…
Tour of the Japanese Gardens
Organic Garden Club members enjoyed visiting the Japanese Gardens, the Garden of Water and Fragrance, six and a half acres designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana at the Van Nuys Water Reclamation Plant. Our member, Jean Gutierrez, recalled being in his class on Japanese landscaping and architecture at UCLA in the 1970s. “Simplicity means the achievement…
California Native Plants and Pacific Coast Irises
The room was charged with happy gardeners at our Organic Garden Club meeting with Bob Sussman, owner of Matilija Nursery in Moorpark. He has been growing California native plants and Pacific Coast Irises at his nursery for years. Native plants have adapted to their environment and can tolerate drought, poor soil, and floods, and therefore…
Organic Garden Club of Ventura County 