Learn Permaculture from an International Author - Toby Hemenway

This is too exciting to keep to myself.  When I took the Permaculture Design course three years ago it completely changed the way I look at everything, for my gardens to the way I lived my life.

Now Phoenix is fortunate to have an international author, teacher and expert on Permaculture bring a 5 month weekend course here!

SPRING 2011 PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE WITH TOBY HEMENWAY –
 ONLY ONE WEEK TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT!


Reserve your spot now for the Spring 2011 Permaculture Design Certification Course (PDC) with Toby Hemenway, internationally recognized Permaculture instructor and author of the best-selling Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. After January 19, the early bird discount of $150.00 will no longer be available, so click here to apply!


Students who complete the PDC become certified by the Permaculture Institute USA, the U.S. branch of the International Permaculture Institute!

“Sustainability continues to grow in popularity throughout the world. It will continue to be a burgeoning industry with great career potential as resources and energy become ever more scarce and expensive.” Environmental Jobs: Green Jobs in Sustainable Development.

Who takes this course?

Homeowners, farmers, and gardeners large and small learn to increase the value and productivity of their property, and to create home and land environments that better support their own needs as well as nature’s…in a much less costly way.

Teachers learn to integrate permaculture design into their curriculum in ways that have been proven to raise student performance.

Real estate and development companies are able to better address the public's growing concern for the environment and to reduce resource use and impacts.

Planners and public officials find holistic solutions to land-use and resource issues, and will identify and solve bottlenecks and impediments to implementing their programs.

Design professionals can add new qualifications to their resumes and offer improved services to their clients. Their designs tend to use fewer resources, work more efficiently, and are easier to maintain.

Entrepreneurs as well as job-seekers will find that a prime emphasis of this course is on earning a livelihood using the skills acquired in the course, reducing the need to spend, and developing holistic business and planning skills.

Wherever your interest in sustainability lies, be it the home garden, a home business, or for career enhancement, this course will be a transformative educational experience for you. You can be part of creating a sustainable future!

Click here to learn more about the course, curriculum, instructors, and how to apply. Do it now, before the $150.00 early bird discount period expires!


Please let me know if you would like to learn more about my experience.  I am happy to share it with you!

The Garden Goddess
Doreen Pollack
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Community Gardening is on the Rise in Phoenix

Community Gardening has  become a new-hip thing to do in Phoenix and surrounding cities. There are many reason for this ranging from people wanting to beautify vacant lots, neighbors getting together to do something outdoors, feeding the hungry, sending food grown to a foodbank and more.

 The problem is people are not sure how to navigate the process of starting a community garden. Creating a community garden is much more then knowing how to grow plants.  It is mainly about how to organize a group of people, secure the land and then figure out how to kept it going.  The growing part is easy after that!

There are several ways to get started on the journey.  The American Community Garden Association has many helpful tools on their website - http://www.communitygarden.org/  Here you can find step-by-step instruction as well as sample forms for leasing the land and renting out plots.  There is even a list serve where other members share their personal experiences and ask and answer questions.

On perhaps you prefer a more personal approach and want to be able to talk this through with an experienced person - well that is me!  On Thursday, November 18th I will be leading a 90 minute class entitled: So You Want to Start a Community Garden?  I will be sharing my personal experience as a garden manager, the results of my research and what I have learned as I have met with and helped other community gardens.  It is being hosted at the Maricopa County Extension Office and presented through the Phoenix Permaculture Guild.  You can see more about it here.

Then next April, there will be a conference for community and school gardens on April 1+2, 2011 here in Tempe, AZ.  Growing Communities, One Garden at a Time is the American Community Gardening Associations, Southwest Regional conference.  I am honored to be leading that effort.

I would like to know more about your ideas and questions about community gardens.  Do you participate in one now?  If so where and what is the name of the garden?  What is your experience?  Please drop me a line or leave a comment here!

Fall Means a Fresh Start in the Garden

There is a change in the air in Phoenix. The evenings and mornings are definitely cooler. The humidity is gone and so is the monsoon rain. The leaves on the Mulberry trees are starting to yellow slightly and drop.


This slight shift always has me feeling hopeful and excited for another planting and growing season. Time to clean out the garden beds, re-build the soil with my compost, rake it smooth and get the seeds planted. Time to make the row markers, set out a plan of what goes where, and start to think about the color that comes from flowers in the garden. Oh I almost forgot, I pick a new edible plant to grow each year – I wonder what it will be this year – Do you have a suggestion for me?

While I was watering yesterday, I noticed one of my artichoke plants is emerging from its summer rest. I have two – I hope the other one comes back!

I like to take a reasonably-paced approach to getting the gardens ready for a new season. I start with getting the garden cleared and soil amended one week. I like to let the compost and any other amendments sit in the ground for a week at least before I plant into it. Looks like I will be doing this on Sunday morning while it is cool. That also lets me take stock of my seeds and purchase anything I may still need. However – after the bounty I got at the American Community Gardening Association Conference I attended in August and the seeds I got at the Seed Swap last week I think I may be set this year!

I also have new seeds from Humble Seed for an herb garden – aptly called Uncle Herb’s Favorites – 10 different herbs in a great package that can be reused. What I love about this company is they are very particular about where they get seeds and the package them locally using the Marc Center.
So in a few weeks I will be planting out my new garden. I am excited about eating fresh lettuce, spinach and other greens, beets and peas – all in about 2 more months! The gap between will need to be supplemented by the farmers markets.



What are your plans for a fall garden? Please let me know if I can help. I am starting to book consultations now – just email me at gardengoddess@down2earthgardens.com or call 623-217-6038.

Happy Digging,
The Garden Goddess
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Community Gardens Build a Better Community

I am often asked how to create a community garden. Someone sees an empty lot in the area and thinks a garden is the solution, or another person wants one in their city park. I have even heard from city officials who want a community garden on vacant lots to help keep the dust down and trash at bay. And my response to them is always the same, “The first word in community garden is community. Build your community around the garden first, then design the garden!”


Community gardens need someone behind them to organize others to get involved. Not everyone will think a garden is a good idea. Some will want to garden at home and not go somewhere else to garden, others will not know how to garden and be intimidated by a community garden. And yet others will see the benefit of working together on something to beautify their neighborhood and get people out of their homes to get to know each other better.

This is what happened in my own neighborhood, the Coronado Historic District in Phoenix, AZ. What started out as a casual conversation at the local coffee shop, Toast, turned into a garden that has been going now for 2 years. It has had its own challenges and ups and downs, but we got our first plot renter from the Nabe and I expand my growing space to the garden as well.

There is a story about it and pictures on the Coronado Neighborhood website. Take a moment to read it, check out my neighborhood that I am proud to live in and let me know what you think.

Are you a community gardener? Do you know someone who is? I would love to hear others experiences. Please share!

I am headed off to Atlanta in a few weeks to attend the nation conference of the American Community Garden Association.  it is open to the public, so please join me!!

Happy Digging,
Doreen, the Garden Goddess
Community Garden Consultant
http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Look What I Found in the Garden

Here's a photo blog of all the yummy food (and people) I found in the Garden for Tomorrow created by the Tiger Mountain Foundation and Darren Chapman this past Saturday in Phoenix, AZ.

Happy Gardening

The Garden Goddess

http://www.down2earthgardens.com/

Mourning the Loss of Baby Rain Drops

Well it FINALLY rained at my house in Phoenix, AZ last night - and into the morning. We had a real honest-to-goodness thunderstorm. By the looks of the yard it was pretty windy, too.

I was very excited to see how much rain I got and how much I collected in my 55 gallon rain barrels. I have three barrels and although it is only 165 gallons of water - I reuse that water over the span of a few weeks to water some of my gardens. Rain water is SO much better for the plants than city water. It has less chemicals, especially salt and chlorine, in it.

I stumbled out of bed and directly into my sandals and headed outside about 6 AM. It felt cool and certainly smelled like the desert. Although I live in an urban neighborhood, I have a creosote bush in my back yard that smells heavenly when it rains.

I immediately looked into my barrels. I could hear the water trickling down the gutter and into the barrel. I went to the closest one and was surprised to see so little water in it. Scratching my head I looked down and saw water trickling out the tap (spigot) near the bottom. I had forgotten to close it the last time I drained it! So I turn the handle closed and went to the next barrel. Same thing! Darn! I wondered how much I actually lost.

Then I remembered, I still have one barrel I have not tapped yet! I went around the side of the house and checked it knowing it would have water in it and I found it half full! Woo Hoo! Now it is heavy with water. I will be leaning into it to dunk the watering can to get the water out. After it is empty I better get busy and install my new Barrel Conversion Kit.

Next I checked the rain gauge in my garden and it measured 1/2 an inch of rain - that is a lot of rain for a storm in Phoenix!

As I sat on the back porch sipping my morning tea and watching the cats play in the wet grass, I reflected in my loss of all those baby rain drops. Frustrating? Yes! but I was very happy overall that we got such a nice rain for the first time this summer!

Happy Sloshing!

The Garden Goddess

www.down2earthgardens.com

Life Changing Events in the Garden

I moved to the Valley 12 years ago from Chicago. Gardening was much different there. You put seeds or a plant in the yard or garden and they grew. It rained regular and the soil was rich with organic materials. Never really too hot or sunny. Actually that last part is why I left. I couldn't stand the cold winters and the grey skies.

When I bought my own home in 1998 in Glendale, Arrowhead Ranch Phase 5 (I was proud of that long sub-devision name) I really had no idea how to landscape it. The front landscaping was included. I drove around similar neighborhoods and looked at plants I liked and that's what I picked for my yard. Although my house was the third on the block to be built, by the time the street was built out, we all looked the same.

Back yard was pretty much the same - lots of bouganivillea and lantana. But soon I began to experiment with different plants. Got my first Hibiscus and agave then. Added several other vines and bushes and expanded garden beds and irrigation systems, all kind of helter skelter. Some lived, many died. It was very frustrating and costly.

Several years ago I worked with someone who had a certificate in her office for a Master Gardener program. I was in awe of how easily Rhonda spoke of plants and where they should be planted and when. I wanted some of that for my self!

Four years ago I had the chance to take the Master Gardener program and it changed my life. Not only did it give me more confidence in my own gardens, but I started sharing it with my friends. Soon people were offering to PAY me for my knowledge. They didn't have it and didn't want to go off the learn it themsleves. They wanted ME to come to their house and answer their
questions about specific plant problems or help them re-do or add a garden.

With the encouragement of my friends, I started my one-of-a kind Garden Consulting and Coaching business, Down 2 Earth Gardens (thanks Robert for helping me create the name).
D2EG provides advice to homeowners on how to reduce the use and dependency of outside resources in their landscape. I create low water and low human energy use designs which are creative and natural. I specialize in working closely with do-it-yourself gardeners and people just starting to use their yard for food production and respite from their busy lives.

I am now doing what I truly love - working with people and the earth. After 25 years in Banking and 10 years in Non-profits, I am doing work I LOVE!

Well now you can apply for and hopefully attend a wonderful program that could change your life as well. The 2010 Master Gardener Program Dates are out!

Jan. 12 - May 4, 2010 (Tuesdays)
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Desert Breeze Police Substation
251 N Desert Breeze Blvd
Chandler, AZ


July 13 - Nov. 2, 2010 (Tuesdays)
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County
4341 E Broadway Rd
Phoenix, AZ

Information regarding the class, including the application and maps, can be found at http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/mgs/mg-broch.htm

The fee is minimal compared to the knowledge and friendships you will make! I highly recommend you take the program wherever youlive! There are Cooperative Extension Offices throughout the US. Look them up in your part of the country and run, don't walk to the next class near you!

Happy Digging,
Doreen Pollack aka The Garden Goddess
www.down2earthgardens.com