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,…
Category: Regenerative Organic Gardening
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…
Field Day in Camarillo
Organic Garden Club members were treated to an incredible experience on Central Coast Field Day! The first stop was at at the new University of California Agricultural Research Center in Camarillo. A Cool Season Annual Cover Crop Trial was planted there January 30, with 20 plots of different cover crops repeated three times for scientific…
Albert Bates – “Permaculture, Biochar, Eco Village”
Albert Bates, a recent Santa Barbara Permaculture Eco Hero, is the founder of the Global Eco Village Network, an ongoing delegate to the United Nations Climate Conferences, lawyer, and author of more than 20 books. He left his law practice and started an Eco Village, The Farm, in Tennessee, in 1972, where he started a…
Conservation, Permeability, and Retention
Laura Bauer from the Surfrider Foundation spoke to us at our May meeting about Ocean Friendly Gardens and keeping water in our yards. The Surfrider Foundation was started by surfers who didn’t want to surf in polluted water and are committed to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans and beaches through a powerful…
The Soil Chef
Our March speaker, Cuauhtemoc Villa, told us about ancient methods of revitalizing the soil, using effective microbes to ferment organic material. He talked about bokashi composting, which is an anaerobic process that relies on inoculated bran to ferment kitchen waste into a safe soil builder and nutrient-rich tea for your plants and the soil. He…
Matt Powers: Soil Science
Sept. 30, 2020, By Debby Ellis, Recording Secretary Our Organic Garden Club of Ventura County meeting on Zoom started with a tour of Michael Wittman’s garden: He is planning to grow about 10 kinds of rare garlic. He is currently growing tomatoes and peppers, carrots, kale, marigolds, strawberries, bananas, sage, rosemary, lavender. He has a…
Backyard Crop Rotation
One of the ways that organic gardeners can create a sustainable garden at home is by seasonally rotating their crops. Crop rotation is planting something different in your backyard raised bed veggie garden every season. This cycle disrupts weed and pest activity, helps eliminate soil borne diseases, and aids soil fertility by growing crops with…
Organic Cover Crops
Organic cover crops create happy healthy soil. Cover crops like red clover, buckwheat, fava beans (in the picture above), daikon radish, rye grass, hairy vetch, and peas revitalize the soil with natural nitrates, suppress weeds, improve water retention, discourage pests and diseases, reduce soil compaction, and attract beneficial insects to the veggie garden. Dirt is…
Organic Garden Club of Ventura County 