Community Events

From parking lot to fruitful garden…we have much to celebrate. What was once a road, parking lot and staging area is now mostly a cooperative vegetable garden where members work together, in teams or individually, but share in the produce.

This Sunday, September 23, we invite the community to visit the Lafayette Community Garden and Outdoor Learning Center as we celebrate the end of the 2018 season at our 7th Annual Harvest Festival.

The garden was established in  the spring of 2012 after three years of planning by a small group of Lafayette community members. It has become a place for community members to grow food, learn about the local ecosystem and organic gardening and contribute back to our community.

The gates swing open to the public from 11AM and the festivities will last until 3PM. There will be many activities and speakers. Please come check out what we have to offer. The event is FREE.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:00  Welcome
11:30 – 12:00  Raising Chickens: Papa John Kiefer
12:00 – 12:30  Worm Composting -Linda Mizes
11:00 – 2:30    Food, Community Tabling, Games, Displays, Crafts, Card Sales, Scarecrow-making
11:30 and 12:30  Garden Tours
12:30 – 1:00   Flute Music by member Pamela Halloran
1:00 – 2:00   Saklan Material Culture: “Doc” Jim Hale will discuss the plants, animals, and natural resources used by the Bay Miwok Saklans
2:00 – 2:30   Beekeeping: Jan Pinkerton-Spieth
2:30 – 3:00   Flute Music by member Pamela Halloran
2:50 – 3:00   Closing (Winner of popcorn count)

*Included are finger food, sandwiches, tea, water and lemonade.

They say, “If you build it, they will come.”

Join Martha Harris on Saturday, September 8, 2018 from 12PM to 2PM to create your own Garden Log, Fairy or otherwise, to decorate your outdoor garden or inside as a centerpiece to your table. We will provide sticks and logs of various sizes, collected here in Lafayette, along with pine cones, lichen and other natural findings for your use. Bring your own favorite items from nature that you would like to include in your Garden Log.

Class appropriate for all ages. Parents, grandparents or other caregivers need to accompany young children under the age of 8 years. This will be a fun intergenerational activity to welcome fairies, gnomes and other magical beings into your life. No experience with magic necessary.

Register for this and other classes on our Featured Events page.

Growing Winter Vegetables in Containers

Want to continue gardening in the winter, but not sure how?

On Saturday, August 25, 2018 from 12PM to 1PM, join Master Gardener, Terri Lippert, who will inspire you to grow your own vegetables even with limited space. This class will include tips for making inexpensive self-watering containers, which you can fill with your own potting soil mixture.

Get ideas for what to plant in the fall and winter months and learn how to locate and manage your containers for best result.

Sign up for this class and get gardening in time for a winter harvest.

Register at RecycleSmart today!

Do you only have room for a vegetable garden? Join presenter Holly Sauer, Master Gardener, on Saturday, August 11 from 11:30AM to 12PM at the Lafayette Community Garden to learn how to grow and prepare edible flowers with your veggies.

Holly Sauer, Master Gardener

Also included in the presentation:

• Edible flowers available year-round in sun and shade
• Safety tips for selecting and preparing edible flowers
• Growing tips for healthy, beautiful flowers.

Every time is the right time to grow and enjoy edible flowers.

Sign up today to learn how you can incorporate flowers in your gardening and kitchen escapades.

New participants are invited to learn about

Botanical Journaling with John Muir Laws

Sunday, August 26 | 10AM to 2PM

Gifted naturalist John Muir Laws (and other seasoned artists) will be coming to the Lafayette Community Garden & Outdoor Learning Center on Sunday, August 26 to share his approach to drawing vegetables. Join us to observe their craft and experience what it takes to set up your own journaling kit, how to sketch “in the field” and learn the foundational strategy to draw any subject.

Sign up today and bring with you a sketchbook, your favorite drawing pencils and something delicious to share at the Potluck lunch.

Top 5 reasons to garden with kids:

1. Gardening inspires healthy eating. Children are more likely to try fruits and vegetables that they have planted, nurtured and harvested.
2. Gardening affects the brain. Kids learn from working in the garden. They tend to be more inquisitive and will ask questions about how sun and water can cause a plant to grow out of a tiny seed. Add to this some math—counting, measuring—and experimentation. And think of all those brain-boosting vitamins and minerals in the food they eat.
3. Gardening provides much needed physical activity. The recommended amount of exercise for children is 90 minutes. Gardening provides plenty of physical activity, such as digging in dirt, carrying a watering can and pulling around a wagon full of soil.
4. Gardening improves mood. There is something satisfying about digging in dirt. The microbes found in dirt can make you happier and more relaxed. Maybe that is why kids gravitate toward gardening tools.
5. Gardening promotes patience and self-esteem. Think of how proud a child would be to harvest a carrot he or she tended to over weeks. And instead of immediate gratification, this child would have learned that patience bears the best fruit.

If you are interested in learning more about gardening with young children, register and join us at the garden for a free class, Introducing Young Children to the Garden, on Saturday, June 23 from 1:00PM to 2:00PM.