Good Times

Home&Garden GOOD TIMES

MAGAZINE 2016

ORGANIC OASIS p12

Community gardens spread through Santa Cruz County

SAVE THE RAIN How rainwater

collection can get us through future dry seasons

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CONTENTS RAIN, RAIN, STOW AWAY P6 How rain catchment can ease our water woes.

EDITOR’S NOTE

T

SEED FOR YOURSELF P12

here are a million reasons to love the rain. It fills our reservoirs, replenishes our soil and allows all of us to breathe just a little easier when thinking about the future of our ecosystems. But forget all that high-minded stuff—around here we’re just happy to be able to put out a Home & Garden Magazine that isn’t about the drought.

Rain, people! Give us a torrent of it; we’ll happily splash through a thousand puddles, soaking wet (because we pretty much forgot what umbrellas and galoshes are even for) to get this issue out.

But with great showers comes great responsibility. That’s why our first story is about rainwater collection, and what we can all do to hold on to some of this precious precipitation while we have it.

The rain is good news for the subject of our second story, too: Mesa Verde Gardens, and their effort to bring vegetable gardens to low-income Pajaro Valley neighborhoods. It’s an innovative way to bring organic produce to a community.

If the rain is keeping you indoors, you might start thinking about redecorating. If so, we have two stories about home décor in this issue that you’ll want to read first. One is about the growing popularity of sustainable furniture, and where to find it in Santa Cruz; the other is about Agency, the second store opened

by Artisans’ Linnaea Holgers James and Peter James, and their own unorthodox furniture line Telegenic California. Finally, as we race into spring, you’ll want to know about local flowers; let Carra Duggan of Flowers By Carra tell you everything you’ll need to know.

Until next time, don’t stay dry!

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Nonprofit brings community gardens to Pajaro Valley neighborhoods.

DO IT UP IN GREEN P19 Santa Cruz is at the forefront of the sustainable furniture movement.

TALENT AGENCY P23 The owners of Agency don’t just sell furniture—they make it, too.

THE SECRET LIVES OF FLOWERS P25 Why they’re not just for smelling.

HOME AND GARDEN EVENTS P31 Get your green thumbs out for a busy spring and summer.

STAFF PUBLISHER Jeanne Howard EDITOR Steve Palopoli MANAGING EDITOR Maria Grusauskas CONTRIBUTORS Amanda Edwards Kara Guzman

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Anne-Marie Harrison Sally Neas June Smith

PHOTOGRAPHER Keana Parker Chip Scheuer

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WEBMASTER Lily Stoicheff

ART DIRECTOR Tabi Zarrinnaal

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Debra Whizin

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Harvesting the

s d u Clo

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How to catch and store rainwater now to beat the dry season later

W

ith the rains of December and January, my yard—and most of Santa Cruz—is looking greener than it has in years. But now that we’ve got rain, what are we going to do with it?

Rainwater harvesting is a way to collect and store it instead of allowing it to run off. In a healthy ecosystem, rain percolates through soil to recharge streams, reservoirs and aquifers. Excessive runoff can create a whole suite of environmental issues, like stream-bank erosion, habitat degradation and flooding.

“The problems started when we paved so much land,” says Lydia Nielsen, owner of Rehydrate the Earth, a landscaping company that focuses on eliminating runoff.

One popular technique for rainwater harvesting is rain catchment— catching rainwater off of roofs in cisterns, and then using it to irrigate one’s yard. These cisterns can be small—about 50 gallons—or as big as wine barrel, and up to 10,000 gallons.

Golden Love, owner of Love’s Gardens, which builds water-neutral gardens, has worked extensively installing rain barrels, sometimes burying several of the larger tanks to store tens of thousands of gallons. On top of providing irrigation, these tanks have been successful in mitigating some large water issues, like depleted wells or saltwater intrusion. But, in his own yard, he has a smaller system that he uses to water annual vegetables. Even through the past years of drought, Love was able to maintain a vibrant garden with annual vegetables, flowers and fruit trees, thanks in part to his water catchment systems. Between 50-70 percent of home water use is generally for irrigation, meaning harvesting rainwater can improve water conservation dramatically.

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Even through the past years of drought, Love was able to maintain a vibrant garden with annual vegetables, flowers and fruit trees, thanks in part to his water catchment systems.

<7

Of course, these tanks can be pricey and not everyone wants to fill their yard with giant plastic barrels. In that case, another option for gardeners interested in capturing rainwater is passive rainwater harvesting, which involves sculpting the land to absorb more water—or, as enthusiasts like to say, “Slow it, spread it, sink it.”

A common technique for passive harvesting is to use infiltration basins. These are basins dug into the soil about 2-3 feet deep, then filled with wood chips or gravel. Water flows into the basins, where it has the opportunity to sink into the soil. Soil can hold up to three times its weight in water and supply steady irrigation to deeply rooted plants.

I met Nielsen at a site where she had installed three basins, placed where water typically pools during rain. Nielsen has interconnected the three basins so that if one fills up, it spills into the next. She designed a garden around the basins so that, eventually, the plants will be able to survive through the dry season without irrigation.

These basins produce quite a bit of soil, which Nielsen turned into another passive harvesting technique: a berm—essentially

a long mound which stops and absorbs potential run off. Berms are often employed in conjunction with swales, which are trenches dug on a contour with the land’s slope as a place for water to sink in.

Even with the abundance of rain from El Niño, Californians should still lean toward water-wise gardening techniques such as rainwater harvesting, as the state has had one of the longest dry seasons on record. And with the uncertain future of climate change, we may have more drought ahead of us.

“I want this place to be lush,” says Love, who also uses passive water harvesting in his quest for water-neutral gardens. “We need to have habitat for the bees and the birds—and for humans, too.”

While sculpting land or installing rain barrels may be intimidating, Nielsen explains that it is not as hard as it sounds.

“If it is just you and your friend and some shovels, how much trouble can you get into?” she asks. “But if you come in with a bulldozer and start digging out land, then, yes, you could get yourself into trouble.” She also mentions that anyone who lives on a sloped site should consult a professional. But for anyone 10 >

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else, as long as they start small, rainwater harvesting can be very simple.

There are plenty of resources out there. Nielsen and Love both teach classes, which you can find on their websites (RehydrateTheEarth.us and LovesGardens.com, respectively).

Also the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County has a free booklet, Slow it, Spread it, Sink it! A Homeowner’s Greening Stormwater Runoff. Nielsen also recommends the book Rainwater Harvesting for Dryland and Beyond by Brad Lancaster.

Rainwater harvesting is just one technique in a suite of waterwise options. Another common one is installing a graywater system, which redirects water draining from showers or laundry for irrigation. And, of course, choosing the right plants is of the utmost importance. Love focuses on low-water, food-producing perennials such as fruit trees. He was able to water his dozens of fruit trees through the drought with just the water from his laundry.

There is also much to be said for clever design. Love’s backyard has an outdoor shower next to his fruit trees. “I take my shower out here, and it waters the plum tree,” he says.

WELL SPRING Rain barrels, especially if combined with passive harvesting and drought-resistant plants, can keep a water-neutral garden lush.

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FRUITS OF HER LABOR Ana Rasmussen, founder of Mesa Verde, in one of the nonprofitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eight thriving community gardens. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER

Soil ForAll Watsonville nonprofit Mesa Verde Gardens continues growth

BY KARA GUZMAN

A

na Rasmussen, longtime resident of a downtown Santa Cruz mobile home park, remembers waiting three years for a community garden plot for her family.

“I remember thinking, I bet there are other people like me who would like a garden but don’t have a place. That’s how this whole thing got started,” says Rasmussen.

Before she founded Mesa Verde Gardens, a nonprofit bringing shared vegetable gardens to low-income Pajaro Valley neighborhoods, Rasmussen was a social worker for two decades. Ready for a career change and with her sons grown, she apprenticed at Oakland’s City Slicker Farms and UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in 2009 and 2010.

In early 2010, Rasmussen began Mesa Verde’s first project—10 gardens at Watsonville preschools, introducing students to organic produce. After talking to parents, she realized a deeper demand: families already wanted vegetable gardens, but most lived in low-income apartments without access to soil. Rasmussen pivoted.

In 2011, Mesa Verde opened the first of eight community gardens— seven in Pajaro Valley and one in Live Oak. Families pay $8 per month for a 180-square-foot plot, which yields around 50 pounds of organic produce each month. Today, the organization serves 270 families.

“It’s like 1,000 new organic eaters in the community that weren’t there before, so I feel really good about that,” Rasmussen says.

A CONNECTION TO THE LAND The gardens are popular in south county, and new members join every spring. The nonprofit also runs three community orchards, a total of 125 fruit trees for garden members.

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KALE TALES Many Mesa Verde gardeners report that their plots have changed the way their families eat, replacing fast food with fresh, organic vegetables. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER <13

Last year Mesa Verde added two gardens at Watsonville middle schools, for the parents of children at those schools, thanks to a partnership with Pajaro Valley Unified School District allowing free access to the land. In March, the nonprofit will add a garden next to Watsonville’s Starlight Elementary.

At first, Rasmussen thought she would help people learn organic practices, but quickly realized that her members were already experts. Around 80 percent of Mesa Verde members have at least one farmworker in the family, which makes Pajaro Valley community gardens much different from community gardens in San Francisco or Silicon Valley, she says.

“I think of ourselves as the bridge between the land and the people who would like to use it,” she says. “It’s really about providing the place. Then we just step back because they’re really good at growing food.”

In Mesa Verde surveys, the top reason members say they want garden plots is to feed their families organic produce, which is too expensive to buy otherwise. Many members have been exposed to pesticides in the fields, and know first-hand why organic produce is healthier, Rasmussen says.

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KALE? WHAT IS THAT? Angelica Ortega began renting her plot at Mi Jardín Verde garden, located at Watsonville’s All Saints Episcopal Church, five years ago. The three-quarter-acre garden is the nonprofit’s largest, and includes a common corn patch, fruit tree nursery and orchard and picnic area.

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Member dues cover around 10 percent of Mesa Verde’s $173,000 budget.

Around 75 percent of funding comes from foundations and the rest from individuals and businesses.

Last year, local philanthropists Rowland and Pat Rebele announced an annual $20,000 five-year matching grant to benefit Mesa Verde.

So far, the nonprofit has raised $15,000 in individual donations. If it can raise an additional $5,000 by March 31, then Mesa Verde will receive $40,000, says Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said the matching grant would be a game-changer, and allow the nonprofit to plan in new ways.

“Gardening is the original local food,” she says. “Before CSAs, before farmers markets, before Whole Foods, people were growing food for themselves, and we’re just trying to bring that back.”

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Around 80 percent of Mesa Verde members have at least one farmworker in the family, which makes Pajaro Valley community gardens much different from community gardens in San Francisco or Silicon Valley.

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Ortega, who lives with her two children (ages 9 and 21) and grandchild, said the garden changed her family’s diet drastically, from pasta and fast food to fresh, organic vegetables.

Ortega now shares three plots with her children and four sisters. One plot is dedicated solely to tomatoes, which Ortega cans each fall, yielding around 200 jars last season.

“I use it for soup, for chiles, for salsas, for everything, and plus I give some for my other sisters,” she says.

From other plot renters, Ortega has learned to grow new vegetables.

“My sisters, too, they changed their diet. They didn’t like to eat the kale. They were looking at me eating kale and they were making faces, like ‘What are you eating?’ but I made recipes and made it nice.”

“And the collards too, is that what you call it?

So we are trying new vegetables that we didn’t know in Mexico,” Ortega says.

In December, Ortega became the newest of the nonprofit’s five staff members, and is now an outreach coordinator.

“Sometimes we are so busy in our lives that we don’t even realize that we can do a lot in a little plot and make a big change in our life. So to take an hour working in the garden, you can do a lot, instead of being here in the house watching TV,” Ortega says.

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How to find sustainable furniture in Santa Cruz

BY AMANDA EDWARDS

W

hat once seemed to be a home decor trend is now becoming an industry standard, as sustainable is the new watchword for furniture.

Sustainable furniture can be defined many ways, but essentially it is creating something that can be recycled after the piece has worn out its utility, or has been crafted from recycled or sustainable materials.

When searching for sustainable—aka eco-friendly, organic or reuseable—

furniture, advice from local sellers is the best first step. They can answer questions about materials, manufacturing and how long a piece will last. Identifying what is and is not sustainable can be tricky, because what it really comes down to are the individual materials. Is the manufacturer using recycled plastics or wood, as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council? What other materials are they using, and how much of them?

Unfortunately, the rising popularity of sustainable furniture has led to “greenwashing,” in which marketers misrepresent their products to make them seem more environmentally friendly than they really are. That’s why having the kinds of resources we do locally—sellers who know the intricacies of the sustainability issue— is key in a community that places particular importance on environmental concerns in retail shopping.

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WHERE TO LOOK FOR

SUSTAINABLE FURNITURE IN SANTA CRUZ COUCH POTATO 3131 Soquel Dr., Soquel Bruce Cushnir is the owner of Couch Potato, located in Soquel. The store has been open since 1998, and they focus on developing close relationships with the manufacturers they consider reliable—in fact, it’s Cushnir’s policy to work only with North American companies, so it’s easier to develop these relationships. While not all of Couch Potatoes manufacturers are 100 percent sustainable, others have eco-friendly elements.

Some of the manufacturers they carry are Sphinx, Stylus, Huntington Industries, and Elite Product.

To Cushnir, the environmentally sound aspect of his business is important.

“We all make a footprint. Whatever we can do to make our footprint less damaging and more positive is progress for everyone,” he says.

MODERN LIFE HOME AND GARDEN 925 41st Ave., Santa Cruz Jill Sollitto, owner of Modern Life Home and Garden, has strong opinions about why it’s important to carry sustainable furniture in her store. She believes that resources are limited and our population is increasing at a rate never seen before.

As the market changes and eco-friendly furniture becomes more the norm, Sollitto is aware of the problem greenwashing has become, and wants buyers to be confident they are getting the real deal.

Modern Life also carries items made from reclaimed materials like purses and candles.

SC 41 2647 41st Ave., Soquel SC 41 takes pride in carrying only sustainable furniture, like local manufacturer Maria Yee, and Comfort Designs.

Michael Baetge, owner of SC 41 and Homespace in Santa Cruz, defines sustainable furniture as something that lasts and endures so in the future it can be handed down rather than ending up in a landfill. Everything from the carpet to the paint on the wall to the products they sell in the store

are eco-friendly at SC 41. Today, Baetge thinks that sustainable furniture has become less of a novelty and more of a conscious goal.

“Eight years ago we opened this store. At the time there were a handful of suppliers that we could purchase from,” Baetge said. “Today, we feel it has become the standard of furniture.”

HOMESPACE 2701 41st Ave., Soquel Homespace, which is located right next to SC41 in Soquel, follows the same ethical agenda as their sister company, SC 41.

Baetge purchased this store in 2012, and has since added various sustainable options.

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Hands Crafting

Agency brings a personal touch to home decor

BY JUNE SMITH

T

he origin story of downtown shop Agency begins with Artisans Gallery, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Artisans is owned by Linnaea Holgers James, who bought it in 2009, after working there for 16 years.

Last year, she and husband Peter James felt ready to open a second store, with the name paying tribute to the fact that the space was previously occupied by a travel agency, and 70 percent of the home décor products handmade and produced in the U.S. But the couple’s connection to what Agency sells is even closer than that— one of the furniture lines is their own Telegenic California. As a kid growing up, Peter found pleasure in making the things his parents wouldn’t buy for him, like pinball machines, guitars and fish ponds. For over a decade, he has worked as an artisan in plaster, concrete, wood, and metal, creating custom architectural elements and finishes for clients. After years of crafting for others, James started designing the kinds of pieces for the home that he felt needed to be made, which led to the formation of Telegenic California.

Co-founder Linnaea had inherited a collection of mid-century furniture from her Scandinavian grandparents, yet was still searching for a simple coffee table for their living room. Peter experimented with designs in his Santa Cruz shop, and, intrigued with harnessing the strength of plywood, he created his first prototype.

Linnaea loved it, and so did everyone else.

“As a designer, I see this line in context with the work that influenced me and the work I hope to create,” says Peter. “I am really just designing furniture I would like to see in existence, and then making it within the constraints that reality

FREED AGENCY Husband and wife Peter James and Linnaea Holgers James opened Agency in 2015. PHOTO: CHIP SCHEUER

presents, like professional obligations, kids and family. I am very happy with the response to the work and I will build upon it at every opportunity.”

On their website, the couple describes their products as “leverage[ing] plywood’s inherent strength and beauty in striking, simple and innovative designs.” The pieces are crafted from plywood sheets, glued or “stacked” into a 3D form, then laminated with nontoxic glue. For the hardwood veneers, they use mostly walnut or birch. They take pride in the fact that Telegenic’s furniture is crafted, assembled and finished by hand in Santa Cruz.

An entire collection has followed, with Linnaea helping with design, production and day-to-day management.

“Telegenic California creates iconic furniture for the next generation of modernism enthusiasts, thoroughly

contemporary complements to classics from the past, present and future,” says Peter. “There is nothing more sustainable than an object that has been conceived, designed and crafted to last for a lifetime, and I work hard to minimize waste. But I want people to choose my work because it makes them happy when they use it. I hope they feel satisfaction and pleasure.”

Cierra Ryczek, jewelry artist and owner of Lumen Gallery in Capitola Village, says she’s thrilled to offer Peter James furniture in her shop. “Many of our customers are excited to see a local artisan creating such modern, fresh designs,” she says. “His craftsmanship and clean designs are superb and alluring, a perfect fit for our edgy, hip store.”

Agency is located at 1519 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 515-7937.

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The

Flower Whisperer Carra Duggan on growing local blooms, breaking design rules, and why flowers are essential to life

BY MARIA GRUSAUSKAS

N

othing says carpe diem quite like a vase of fresh-cut flowers on the table. But their value is not merely ornamental.

Since the evolution of flowering plants some 130 million years ago, angiosperms have played a critical role in terrestrial ecosystems, and it’s safe to say that without them human life would not only be drab, but nearly impossible.

Flowering plants attract the pollinators (bees, moths, beetles, etc) needed to produce some 1,200 food crops, or at least one out of every three bites of food that we eat, according to the Pollinator Partnership.

“When you bring a beautiful flower into the world, you’re providing a tremendous service to the world,” says Michael Olson, author of the book MetroFarm: The Guide to Growing for Big Profit on a Small Parcel of Land 27 >

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FLOWER CHILD Carra Duggan knew she wanted to work with flowers since she was young, helping her mother in her garden in Illinois. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER

<25

and host of the Food Chain radio show on KSCO. People who work with plants for a living have a certain relaxed air about them, he says. “I did a radio show from Soledad prison, and they have a horticulture program down there. The people who worked in the horticulture program all had this countenance upon them. You could look at them and know in a second, that’s a person that works with plants,” he says. “The other people, you could tell. It’s just night and day.”

Carra Duggan of Flowers By Carra is no exception. Though it could also have something to do with the fact that she’s passionate about her work, there is a calmness in her demeanor that emanates from her sun-kissed face and big blue

The difference between heirlooms and hybridized flowers is one that you can see and smell, which is one reason Duggan sources locally as much as possible.

eyes. At 34, Duggan has found her calling, growing and arranging some 80 different varieties of flowers for local farmers markets, Whole Foods, and events since she took the plunge six years ago.

That’s when she partnered with her friend Deena Miller, who studied at UCSC’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) and now runs Sweet Roots Farm in Grass Valley, to grow on a quarter-acre plot at Everett Family Farm in Soquel.

“I think we started out with 50 different flower varieties, A-Z, amaranth to zinnia, it was a little crazy,” she says. But rather than pare down the varieties as she learns what works best, Duggan’s passion for trying new seeds has only expanded her production. And now that Everett’s hard cider production is taking off, she’s in the process of finding a new plot of land.

“I’ve always had an interest in perennials,” says Duggan. “A lot of the 28 >

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<27

While the demand for cut flowers is high, around 80 percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from other countries.

things that we started out with are annuals, so they only bloom one season and then they die. Perennials are something that comes back every single year and continue to bloom, and in a way it’s a little more sustainable for farms to have perennial crops.”

With a background in interior design and environmental studies, Duggan credits her growing knowledge to Miller, as well as an apprenticeship at Delphi for Agrarian Arts, work for a narcissus hybridizer, and plain old trial and error.

“It’s been a really bizarre growing season,” says Duggan of the past two summers, which saw very little fog. It meant watering more, and that the flowers tended to fry faster. “I found that I had to be out there at the crack of dawn to harvest.

Harvesting at the peak time of the day will just shrivel all their cells up.”

The takeaway for any gardener, she says, is that every year’s garden is going to look different depending on the climate, which can change very quickly.

For flower growers just starting out, Duggan recommends easy-to-grow zinnias, sunflowers, amaranth and blackeyed susans—things that are generally easy to start from seed and have what’s called “cut-and-come-again,” which continue blooming each time they are cut.

“Another perennial that would be great for home gardeners, because it’s deerresistant and can tolerate shade and moisture, is hellebore. It’s a favorite of mine,” she says.

SLOW BLOOM MOVEMENT While the demand for cut flowers is high, around 80 percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from other countries.

30 >

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<28

apply it all the time. But if you “That’s kind of hard to believe around here in this climate, because they grow have two of something on one side everywhere,” says Duggan. “But you and then maybe one on the other go like three hours east of here and it’s then your eye won’t stay in one spot,” another world.” she says, her hands Most of the motioning around imported flowers an imaginary we see in a bouquet. common groceryShe works by store bouquet have first gathering up been hybridized so a fluff of foliage, that they can be like eucalyptus shipped thousands or fern, then of miles and stored adding the focal for weeks before flowers she wants they are sold. The to showcase, like roses shipped dahlias, careful from Colombia not to overpower and Ecuador are the visual field by teeming with adding too many. pesticides and “I learned to just processed by -CARRA DUGGAN OF take the time to cheap labor, while FLOWERS BY CARRA look at flowers in sunflowers (a an organic way and native here) have let them kind of been hybridized do and fall as they to not drop pollen, may,” she says. “Don’t force them to which makes them less messy. “A lot stand straight up if they don’t want of the original varieties are gone,” to stand straight up. Let them dangle says Duggan. “The heirloom varieties over a vase, or pop out with a little are just like nonexistent.” eyeball amongst the other blooms.

But the difference between Just add little bits of surprise and heirlooms and hybridized flowers detail, rather than stuff them into is one that you can see and smell, places where they don’t want to be,” she says. Duggan sources locally as she says. much as possible, and draws on Debra Duggan will be at the Westside Prinzing’s concept of the 50-mile farmers market this summer, where bouquet for inspiration. she’ll be selling her flowers by the stem so that customers can make EYE FOR DESIGN their own arrangements, and also Duggan’s arrangements have a teaching workshops in growing certain whimsy about them—you’ll practices and design. see a flowering branch that acts as a “I bring things that people aren’t whole new layer and draws the eye, used to seeing at the market, and so or a smattering of poppy seed pods, it definitely strikes up conversation, or a spray of wild mint harvested and becomes an inspiration for people from the bank of the stream running to grow it at home,” says Duggan. “I through Everett Family Farm. think that having just little tidbits, like Aside from a design class with Erin using seed pods and not just the flower Benzakein of Seattle’s Floret, she is heads, gives people a relief from your largely self taught. grocery store bouquet. And it does “Style-wise I’m really drawn to inspire people.” asymetrical things, and I think that’s For more information visit also why the rule of threes generally works, although you don’t have to flowersbycarra.com.

“I learned to just take the time to look at flowers in an organic way and let them kind of do and fall as they may.”

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Grower’s Tips for Longest Vase Life • Re-cut stems every couple of days for best absorption

• Change vase water every

couple of days—flowers harbor bacteria, says Duggan, especially the hairy stems of zinnias and sunflowers

• Heat wilts—keep away from hot, sunny windows and kitchen stoves

• Don’t place next to your fruit

basket: produce gives off ethylene gas, a plant hormone that accelerates the ripening and aging process of plants and flowers

R A D N E L CA

4/2

ORCHIDS 101 Participants may bring one non-blooming orchid to the workshop for a hands-on repotting demonstration led by an orchid expert who will explain how to care for these unique plants.

2 p.m., Dig Gardens, Santa Cruz; $25.

4/9

ARBORETUM SPRING PLANT SALE Looking for droughttolerant plants for your garden? The UCSC Arboretumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual sale is the perfect place for water-wise flowers, shrubs, trees, and more.

UCSC Arboretum.

4/11

COASTAL WILDFLOWER DAY Half Moon Bay is the perfect stage to celebrate the birth of springtime wildflowers with games, lessons on how to grow plants and restoration projects.

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Half Moon Bay State Beach visitor center, Half Moon Bay. Parking $10.

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R A D N E L A C 4/30

HEART & LETTER WALL PLANTER WORKSHOP Learn to design and plant a wall planter. The succulents and planter made from redwood (pick either a heart or letter shape) are both included in the price of the workshop. Call the store ahead of time to let them know which letter you would like to do. 466-3444.

2 p.m. on 4/30 and 5/7. Dig Gardens, Santa Cruz; $75.

5/1 5/3 6/7 6/25

FARM & GARDEN SPRING PLANT SALE The UCSC Farm showcases their annual perennial vegetables and flowers for sale.

10 a.m.-2 p.m., UCSC Farm.

COMMUNITY DAY On the first Tuesday of every month, the community is invited to explore the UCSC Arboretum without an entrance fee.

All day, UCSC Arboretum.

ARBORETUM GARDEN TOUR Stroll through New Zealand, South Africa, or Australia with the rare plants at the Arboretum on the first Saturday of every month.

11 a.m., UCSC Arboretum.

GROWING AND DESIGNING SPECIAL EVENT FLOWERS Zoe Hitchner of Front Porch Farm and Sky DeMuro of UCSCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Alan Chadwick Garden lead a workshop on special event flowers. Learn to make one-of-a-kind floral designs for hand-tied bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, and more.

10 a.m.-3 p.m., Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, UCSC.

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CALENDAR 7/23

DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM WORKSHOP This hands-on workshop will lead you through the process of installing a drip irrigation system, from the spigot to the garden, fitting by fitting.

Noon-4 p.m., Love Apple Farms.

7/29-31

7TH ANNUAL NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE EDUCATION CONFERENCE This year’s conference will focus on the growing demand for inclusive and critical approaches to sustainable agriculture and food education at the postsecondary level.

UCSC.

8/20

WINTER VEGETABLE GARDENING With our mild California climate, growing a winter vegetable is easy—learn how to battle cold temperature, prepare beds, deal with winter pests and diseases, and more.

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Love Apple Farms.

9/11 10/10

LOVE APPLE FARM TOURS Munch on farm-made jams, pickles, and more while perusing the “stunningly beautiful” farm grounds, as GQ magazine has called them.

9-10 a.m., Love Apple Farms.

EVERGREEN CEMETERY WEEKLY CLEANUP Each Monday volunteers can help keep Evergreen green, by pulling weeds, picking up trash and other beautification endeavors.

9:30 a.m.-Noon, Evergreen Cemetery.

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Contemporary plants •• pottery •• Garden Furniture

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420 Water Street | Santa Cruz 831.466.3444 | DiggarDenS.Com HOME & GARDEN | SANTACRUZ.COM | GTWEEKLY.COM | 2016