Pacifica Riptide

Pacifica Gardens: Food Donation Program

With the development of our Food Donation Program this spring, we have been given the opportunity to share locally grown organic produce with Pacifica families in need. This program is a chance for us to give back to the community and share the bounty of our efforts and the project with those in need. The program is supported by a grant from Silicon Valley Community Foundation and San Mateo County. As we have harvested this summer and fall, a portion of the harvest from Pacifica Gardens has been set aside for donation to Pacifica Resource Center, which is aware of families that need assistance. Our produce is distributed while it is still fresh, nutritionally sound, and wonderful! So far this year, we have donated 225 pounds of food through this program. Thank you to all volunteers for your efforts and participation in the Pacifica Gardens project. You help make this type of giving possible.

MARJI DAVIS
PACIFICA GARDENS
A PROJECT OF PACIFICA'S ENVIRONMENTAL FAMILY

Pacifica Gardens Get Ink: Coastviews Magazine

Just wanted to give a heads up, if you see a copy of Coastviews magazine for August 2009, pick it up and check out the article on our garden project!! Thank you to Susan Miller who contacted Coastviews and suggested they do an article on Pacifica Gardens. They took her suggestion seriously, contacted Loretta and the rest is printed history! Find us on pages 36 and 37. And thanks to Susan for spotting it a month earlier than we had anticipated. Happy reading!!
 
Marj Davis
PACIFICA GARDENS
Co-Director, Bus. and Admin.

 

Pacifica Gardens in Full Bloom: Happy Summer

NEWSPAPER STORY about volunteers from St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, coming all the way out here to help build our senior/ADA beds. The story also mentions our first donation to the Pacifica Resource Center and details of the center's food donation distribution. Hope you enjoy the article! This is a great update for those of you who are unaware of what we have been up to since the Garden Tour. Also, we made our second food donation on June 29: collards and kale (3.5 lbs.), parsley (3 lbs.), and potatoes (9.5 lbs.). Sami Knowles is keeping our blog current on PACIFICA GARDENS. If you haven't been by recently, the gardens have exploded with growth. Come check them out!  FENCE UPDATE

MARJ DAVIS

 

Pacifica Gardens Milestones

RIBBON-CUTTING CELEBRATION
By Melanie Heisler
The weather was dreary, but spirits were high as PG staff, garden volunteers, Pacifica School District School Board members, city officials, friends, and family gathered on May 24 for the official Ribbon-Cutting Celebration (see above). Loretta, Melanie, and Melissa acknowledged all the help, contributions, time, and effort that brought the garden into existence. After a toast of organic sparkling apple cider, PSD Superintendent Jim Lianides cut the blue and green ribbon to officially open the garden gate. Inside, people toured the garden, sprouted the Giving Tree to life with donation leaves, and bought plant starts and PG t-shirts. Thanks to Foodtown, Pacifica Farmers Market, and PG volunteers for the delicious refreshments. And a big "thank you" to everyone for all the hard work and valuable contributions that made Pacifica Gardens possible.

HOW TO BUILD A GREENHOUSE IN FIVE DAYS
By Jeff Stine
On Thursday, June 5, Cas Lesiak, Wes Schultze, Chuck Iverson, and I met with Pacifica Gardens Manager Loretta O'Brien to figure out how to reassemble the pieces of our donated greenhouse (see above). Marj Davis took on the task of getting the materials we needed. By the end of the afternoon we had a plan, the foundation perimeter was dug, the corners were staked and squared, and the materials were ordered. On Saturday, June 7, the drain rock, lumber, and fasteners arrived. Cas, Chuck, and I laid drain rock in the foundation trench, then weedblock and gravel for the floor. Cas and I had to leave at noon, but Chuck stayed all afternoon and continued to work. He and Cas came back on Sunday for another full day of work. By the end of the weekend greenhouse marathon, the walls of the greenhouse were assembled, the 4x4s for the foundation measured, cut, drilled, bolted, then drilled again for the ground stakes. What an effort! On Tuesday, June 10, Cas, Chuck, Wes, and I leveled the foundation using a clear tube, water, stakes, and string. Here's how: We put stakes at the points we wanted level, tied the ends of the tube to the stakes, filled the tube with the water until the level came up the stakes a bit, then tied a string to the stakes at the water height at each end of the tube. Voila! A perfectly level line from which to measure the foundation height. By the end of the day, the greenhouse frame stood securely attached to a level foundation with potting tables inside, ready for us to attach the glass panes. Next time you're at the garden, check it out. Many thanks to Chuck, Cas, Wes, and Marj for making this happen so quickly. Thanks in particular to Chuck for his two-day greenhouse marathon. Thanks to Kate and John Halloran for donating their greenhouse. And many thanks to Pacifica Lumber for donating materials and delivery.

Pacifica Gardens Volunteer Survey

Thank you for your interest in Pacifica Gardens. This is a community project for many reasons. To be successful, we need your input, participation, and support. Take a moment and tell us about your interests and skills. Then send the completed form to pacificagardenssurvey@gmail.com. You also can fax this form to 415-227-3538. Click here to Download pacifica_gardens_18_font_volunteer_survey.doc We will be in touch soon.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Name_________________________________________
E-mail________________________________________
Address________________________________________
City_______________________________Zip_________
Home (____) _____-______ Cell (____) _____-______   
Other (____) _____-______

INTERESTS. I would like to work on:

□ adapting the existing irrigation system   
□ building the fence
□ acquiring materials and supplies
□ community garden
□ children’s garden                                 
□ fruit tree mini-orchard
□ flowers and herbs
□ vegetable/food production
□ ADA/senior garden beds         
□ compost program
□ fundraising                                                    
□ making phone calls
□ other, related interest. Please describe: ____________________________________

RESOURCES
I have my own:            
□ hand tools                
□ garden tools             
□ carpentry tools
I can donate:                
□ building materials      
□ plants/seeds            
□ soil/compost
□ I have a truck and I can pick up resources.    

SKILLS/EXPERIENCE

□ general construction and carpentry            
□ fence construction
□ irrigation design/construction/maintenance 
□ landscape/garden design
□ organic gardening                  
□ community gardening
□ children’s gardening                           
□ planting/pruning fruit trees
□ phone banking/fundraising/marketing   

Describe experience:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Have you worked for a nursery or garden center? List experience and garden education programs/ internships you have completed (Master Gardener, Permaculture, Biointensive, etc.).

____________________________________________________________________________

AVAILABILITY

I am available ____ hours per week.                  
I am available:  weekends □    weekdays □     evenings □
Call me:            weekdays □     evenings □    weekends □      
Best time to call___________________

Learn more about us at PACIFICA GARDENS