The Ojai Garden

April Garden Workshop

Sun, 13 May 2012 15:28:44 -0800

Over 30 people came to the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden on April 28 to learn how to grow vegetables.
Steve Sprinkel, of the Farmer and the Cook, spoke about his experiences growing vegetables in the Ojai Valley.
Steve discussed the importance of diversity, and recommended planting a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers to attract beneficial insects to the garden. He also shared many tips about when to plant certain vegetables, and different methods of organic pest control. Steve demonstrated how to plant a tomato and then participants got to work, digging holes, lining them with wire, and planting. Photos by Les Dublin.

Planting What you Cook Workshop

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:50:10 -0800

Learn how to grow your own delicious and nutritious organic vegetables, at this free, hands-on workshop with Steve Sprinkel of The Farmer and the Cook. Steve will cover everything from site planning, soil preparation and fertilizer to organizing crop successions, rotations, and pest control. There will be tips on how to increase your yield, what to plant in Ojai and when to plant it. Steve will demonstrate techniques for digging beds and planting seeds and seedlings. Bring gloves if you want to dig in! The workshop will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 2:00 PM, in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden (401 South Ventura St., behind City Hall). Seating on the benches is limited, so feel free to bring a chair for a comfortable seat.

Guided Pruning with Charles Duncan

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:56:52 -0800

Calling all gardeners! Come practice pruning and support your community by volunteering in the Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. Expert Horticulturist and Master Gardener Charles Duncan will give a crash course on pruning basics, and then set you to work in the garden practicing what you have learned. Charles will demonstrate pruning a variety of specimens in the Demonstration Garden and offer guidance to all. Bring gloves and sharp sterile shears if you have them. This special event will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 10:00am to 12:00pm. The Ojai Community Demonstration Garden is located at 401 South Ventura St., behind Ojai City Hall.

Compost Workshop

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:02:07 -0800

Jessica Craven gave another inspiring and informative compost workshop on December 10th in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden.
The workshop covered all the basics of composting. Jessica shared many tips to make composting easy, and answered everyone's questions. Participants pitched in and built a compost pile out of dry leaves, fresh grass clippings, manure and fruit and vegetable peelings. The compost will be all ready to use by the next compost workshop! Photos by Les Dublin.

Upcoming Compost Workshop

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:24:33 -0800

Learn how to make compost like a pro and turn your kitchen and yard waste into a valuable soil amendment that your plants will love, at this free, hands-on workshop with Master Gardener Jessica Craven.
You'll save water by adding moisture-retaining compost to your soil, too! If you would like to help make compost, please bring along a bag of fruit and vegetable peelings. The workshop will take place rain or shine on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 10:00am. Seating on the benches is limited, so feel free to bring a chair for a comfortable seat. The City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden is located at 401 South Ventura Street, behind City Hall.

Fall Color

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:48:46 -0800

The City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden is alive with color at this time of year.
This native California grape (Vitis californica) shows off colorful foliage.
California grapes are drought tolerant and provide food for wildlife.
They can sprawl along the ground or climb a trellis or arbor. Deciduous native grapes are a great way to bring the beauty of red foliage to a California garden.

Photos by Les Dublin.

October's Oaks and Gardens Workshop

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:51:36 -0800

Thirty people came to the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden on October 22nd to learn how to care for the oaks on their property. Arborist and horticulturist Michael Inaba, who spoke for almost three hours, provided an in depth look at oaks, and explained when and where to plant near them.
Mike gave a detailed explanation of various factors that affect oaks, such as soil, light and seasons.
Participants learned about soil structure, texture, and more. Mike explained how fungi in the soil help oak trees, and showed the group beneficial fungi that he found in the soil just a few feet from where we were sitting. Mike also demonstrated how to determine what kind of soil texture you have by simply using a jar and water and passed around branches so everyone could learn how to observe a tree's rate of growth. He covered pruning requirements as well. Finally, Mike discussed appropriate plants that are suitable for planting at the edge of the oak canopy, such as California native plants that grow in dry shade, irises and succulents. Photos by Les Dublin.

Catching up: Ojai Day

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:32:07 -0800

Volunteers staffed a booth in the Going Green area at Ojai Day on Saturday, October 15th. The display was designed to provide information about alternatives to a typical lawn. Lawns require a lot of water and maintenance, and are the reason many homeowners use fungicides, pesticides, herbicides, and nitrate fertilizers that pollute our waterways.
Several different lawn alternatives were presented, such as native meadows, greenswards of native grasses, succulent gardens, herb gardens, and edible landscaping. Landscape designer Kathy Nolan was kind enough to lend us her plan for a suburban edible landscape, which provided a myriad of ideas for visitors to the booth.
Landscape designer and garden educator Kate Riley stopped by to sit at our table and answer questions about native grasses and meadows.

Herbalist Carol Wade was on hand to answer questions about growing herbs.

Many people stopped by the display throughout the day. Visitors to the booth went home with a packet of California poppy seeds to plant this winter.
Photos by Les Dublin.

Catching Up: September

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:05:56 -0800

Four groups of children from the Boys and Girls Club of Oxnard toured the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden over a period of two weeks in September. The children came to see what California native plants look like before they plant their own schoolyard habitat garden to provide some food for the wildlife in their area. Each group learned about the native plants in the garden and, while they were there, they learned a little bit about composting, too. Photos by Les Dublin.

Oaks and Gardens

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:28:20 -0800

We love our oaks but don't always know what they need. Learn everything you need to know about caring for the oak trees in your yard at this free workshop with local arborist Michael Inaba of Inaba Horticulture. Clear up any confusion about how and when to water, and what to do with all those leaves. Find out about water saving native plants that can be used for landscaping beneath oaks, too. Your oak trees are an important part of your landscape, and they are even more important to the environment! Come learn how you can get the most from your trees, and how to avoid extra expenses to maximize your “green investment.” The workshop will take place rain or shine on Saturday, October 22, from 10:00am to 11:30am, in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. The garden is located at 401 South Ventura St., behind City Hall. Seating on the benches is limited so feel free to bring a chair for a comfortable seat.

Planting a Meadow

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:31:33 -0800

There's been lots of activity this summer in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. A highlight of the summer was Kate Riley's excellent hands-on lawn replacement workshop on July 30th, which drew a crowd of over 24 people. Kate explained in detail how to remove an existing lawn and replace it with a beautiful, drought-tolerant meadow of California native plants. Although installation of a native meadow takes some initial work, it has many advantages. It saves water, eliminates the need for heavy applications of fertilizer and herbicides, and is low maintenance. In fact, a native meadow often only needs to be mowed once a year. Many of the plants used in native meadows can easily be started from seed. Kate brought native grass seeds for the workshop participants to take home so they could get started right away on their own meadows. After the talk, Kate led workshop participants to the garden's existing lawn alternative/ground cover area, to see California native yarrow (Achillea millefolium) mixed with other ground covers. The group then headed to the garden's entrance, where Kate had a variety of native grasses ready to be planted. Workshop participants dug holes, lined them with chicken wire to discourage gophers, and planted a variety of native grasses, including California Field Sedge (Carex praegracilis), Giant Wild Rye (Leymus Condensatus ''Canyon Prince'), San Diego Sedge (Carex spissa) and the lovely purple needle grass (Nassella pulcra) which is our California state grass. Participants also got some hands-on experience setting up and connecting drip irrigation lines. The following Saturday, garden volunteers returned to finish the job by planting deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens), adding rocks, and then mulching the area. Work on the garden's new meadow demonstration will continue in the fall. Photos by Les Dublin.

Replace Your Lawn: Plant a Meadow

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:55:49 -0800

If you've ever dreamed about replacing your lawn with a more sustainable landscape, you won't want to miss this free, hands-on workshop with Kate Riley of Inner Landscape Design. Come learn how to remove an established lawn and transition to a native meadow that will save water and attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your yard.
Kate will share different looks and designs, discuss applicable native plants, and explain how to install and maintain a meadow. She will also demonstrate planting techniques as she plants a meadow in the garden, with a little bit of help from the group. The workshop will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 30 in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden, 401 South Ventura Street, behind City Hall. Seating on the benches is limited, so feel free to bring a chair for a comfortable seat.

June Events

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 13:59:51 -0800

Two events brought groups of people to the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden in June. On June 4, the city offered a free compost workshop with Master Gardener Jessica Craven. Participants learned how easy it is to make to make compost that they can use in their own yards to enrich and improve the texture of their soil, or use as mulch. Everyone had a look at the finished compost from last December's workshop, before they got to work sifting the compost and building a new compost pile.
On June 18, the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife brought a group of 40 teachers to the garden as part of their Schoolyard Habitat program. This enthusiastic group of educators came from all over Ventura county and beyond, and included teachers from Matilija Junior High and Nordhoff High School in Ojai. These teachers will be creating gardens at their schools composed entirely of native California plants. The gardens will not only provide food and shelter for wildlife, but will also be the subject of diverse hands-on lessons for students. The garden coordinator led the group on a tour of the garden's native plantings. Teachers were able to see a variety of full grown and recently planted natives, which helped them decide what to include in their own gardens. Participants went home with a native plant of their choice. As they left, several teachers were already making plans to return in the fall with their students. A similar event is in the works for the fall, with a new group of educators. Photos by Les Dublin.

Compost Workshop

Mon, 30 May 2011 15:02:57 -0800

Learn how to make compost like a pro and turn your kitchen and yard waste into a valuable soil amendment that your plants will love, at this free, hands-on workshop with Master Gardener Jessica Craven. You'll save water by adding moisture-retaining compost to your soil, too! The workshop will take place rain or shine on Saturday, June 4, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. If you would like to help us make compost, please bring a bag of fruit and vegetable peelings. Seating on the benches is limited, so feel free to bring a chair for a comfortable seat. The City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden is located at 401 South Ventura Street, behind City Hall.

Garden Tour 2011

Wed, 18 May 2011 10:24:56 -0800

The garden coordinator and a bevy of volunteers were out and about in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden on May 7th to greet visitors who stopped by during the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce Garden Tour. A representative from the Ojai Valley Sanitary District was present as well, giving out free sample bags of compost. Volunteers worked in several areas and chatted with guests, providing information about the garden. The garden looked beautiful, with many plants giving off a show of colorful blooms right on time for the tour. Visitors loved the garden. This was the first visit to the Demonstration Garden for many. It was a lovely day for a tour! Photos by Les Dublin.