If you’ve driven by recently, you may have noticed that our garden is lush with harvest. We continue to be blessed with a diverse, energetic, positive community of garden members and supporters who have helped bring the garden and learning center together.
Penny Porter of All in a Jar will be at the garden on Sunday, September 21 from 3:30 to 5:00PM to share her knowledge of food preservation at home. Have fun learning the basics on water bath canning for high-acid foods. We will discuss the best foods for this process, the tools you need and the do’s and don’ts.
There are many tricks and techniques that make canning a unique process for extending the life of your favorite foods. Most importantly, this class will provide quintessential knowledge and skills for how to begin canning in your own home.
Join Penny Porter for some Canning Basics.

Still looking for the perfect camp? Want to learn a little about the local history of Lamorinda? Then come and join us at the Lafayette Community Garden and Outdoor Learning Center and immerse yourself into the abundant world of nature as experienced by the local Native American Tribe, the Saclans/Miwoks.
We will meet daily August 4 to 8, from 8:30 to 11:30am. Youth and open-hearted adults will live as tribal members adopting Native American names and cultural observances. We will use what nature has provided for tools, meals, clothing and shelter. The last morning will conclude with a tribal sharing of food and ceremony with guests.
Educator, Peggy Magilen, will lead this experience, assisted by other members of the Community Garden.
The camp is geared for children ages 8 to 12 years old.
A minimum of 6/maximum of 12 youth participants; a few additional (adult) caregivers welcome.
Cost: $50 per camper to cover materials.
Register today.

Hey kids! The Lafayette Community Garden will be hosting its second Our Secret Garden series.
Beginning June 30, Eli Chan will offer children a chance to get personal about ecology. On Monday and Thursday mornings from 9am to 10am, kids (and their caregivers) will head outside and connect with nature through stories, physical activity and garden-related crafts. They will be armed with the tools to make good food and lifestyle choices. Caregivers will learn how to nurture our next generation to be enthusiastic about their bodies, the environment and our community.
Together, we will become caring human beings who are part of an interconnected natural world. Join us in the garden and get ready to dig deeper than before!
Sign up now to become a first-class community leader.
Calling all kids! Bring your parents on Saturday, June 28 from noon until 1:00pm for a hunt for hidden bugs at the Lafayette Community Garden! How many can you “spot”?
Join the Lafayette Children’s librarians a few buggy stories and learn what insects can do for and to our gardens. We will explore the world of bugs, their homes and preferred foods. Here’s your chance to dig in dirt, collect insects, inspect them, and release friendly ladybugs to help keep those pesky aphids under control.
Go ahead! Ask your parents to register you for this exciting opportunity.
Eggs are an age-old symbol of springtime and renewal.
Join us at the Lafayette Community Garden April 5, 2014 from 11:30am to 12:30pm for an “EGGstravaganza!”
Stop by the garden to listen to Lafayette Library children’s librarian Ann Miller tell stories of chickens and eggs. Stay for egg decorating and crafts. See how many eggs you can find on an egg hunt around the garden. Visit our hen house for some old-fashioned “cluck, cluck, cluck” Chicken Fun!
Sign up here.
This is a collaboration between the Lafayette Library and the Lafayette Community Garden.
Join us for a unique fundraising event on Saturday April 26, 2014. For more information go Hollie’s Homegrown. To register, go here.
Are you tired of mowing and edging your lawn, or for paying to have that done for you? Wouldn’t it be great to save money on your water bill? Wish you could quit with the herbicides? Would you like to have a beautiful, water-conserving garden that attracts wildlife? If so, “Mow no Mo!” is the workshop for you.
$30. Limit 30 participants.
Saturday, March 29, 10:00 – 3:00 Lafayette
In this hands-on workshop you’ll get information on how to remove your lawn, select native plants, and design a water-conserving, pesticide-free garden that attracts wildlife. Most importantly, you’ll have the hands-on experience of sheet-mulching a lawn, and you’ll depart confident that you can do this at home.
We’ll meet at a Lafayette garden that currently has a lawn, but won’t when we are through with it! If you have them, bring a labeled long-handled shovel and rake, and gardening gloves, as we will be sheet mulching—cutting back turf, shoveling compost, laying cardboard, and spreading woodchips. We’ll work here until everyone has had a chance to try everything.
Bring a lunch to enjoy while you get your sheet-mulching questions answered. We’ll talk about how to select native plants and where to purchase them, provide you with a list of sheet-mulching resources, and let you know how you can get rebates from your local water district for removing your lawn. You’ll leave this workshop ready to sheet-mulch your own lawn away! To register go here.
Did you know that the roof of a 1,000 square foot house can collect around 600 gallons per ONE inch of rain? In an average year with 12 inches of rain, that small roof could collect 7,200 gallons of precious, FREE water. Or are you aware that you can set up your laundry to safely and efficiently water your landscape?
Sustainable Contra Costa is hosting hands-on rainwater harvesting and greywater installation workshops to help you learn how to conserve water, make your home more energy efficient, and save money. Come join us March 23rd and March 30th to start off the Sustainable Living Workshop Series. Lunch will be provided. Space is limited! Location details will be sent after registration. To register and for more information, click the links below.