Local Ecology & Agriculture Fremont

2011

A Letter from the President

Hello to all my fellow LEAFers!

I hope these winter months find you planning for the spring or better yet tending to your winter garden. Much has happened this past year - wow it has gone by so fast! It has been 2 ½ years since LEAF got going. Here we are coming up on our third spring planting, and there is a real buzz in the works at LEAF, (and it's not Richard and his bees). We are working on our 2^nd proposal for a grant from Stop Waste, and a big shout out to Justine for her amazing efforts on this. Keep your fingers crossed that we are successful. Justine and others have been busy with a proposal to the City of Fremont Park & Rec. Dept. to acquire a bit more land near the California Nursery Historic Park “Rose and Butterfly Gardens” to set up a more permanent spot for LEAF Center. We are very excited for the possibilities at this site. We will have more information on all this in the new year. Until then, wish us well in our efforts to bring more opportunities for all of you LEAFers to enjoy.

Recently, we have had a bit of a change on the Board. Lorna Jaynes has stepped down after 2 years of dedicated service to LEAF. With her lawyer background she was instrumental in setting up our “non-profit” status in record time. She has helped in so many ways these past 2 years and will remain with us as a volunteer and now sits on our advisory board. Steve LaGraffe has taken Lorna's place on the Board. Steve has been our best ever volunteer and brings to us his multiple skills and undying enthusiasm to our group. Our other board members, Jenny Kassan, Micheal Joss, Jenny Mosley, Justine Burt, Rachael DiFranco, and Richard "The Bee Man" Godfrey continue to serve in so many ways, continuing to be a part of a larger movement world wide working with local communities to become more sustainable with the limited resources on our planet. A big thank you for all their efforts.

A few more mentions: Thanks to Alex for his Eagle Scout project. He and some fellow scouts did a great overhaul on our vintage Trailer/Office, with a very interesting paint job... thanks guys. Speaking of scouts we have a new group of Girl Scouts that have planted a winter garden, which is looking super. Lately LEAF has a great new volunteer. Mike Hubley who lives close by and often walks to the garden, has found us and is really making a difference at LEAF. His old love of gardening has found new roots here, and he is taking classes, attending environmental conferences, and putting in some real time at the garden. Mike is getting ready to plant a winter soil amending crop of nitrogen fixers to prepare for the nutrient needs of our spring garden. I'm sure he could use a hand; if anyone wants to help, please email Mike at: mjhubley[at]yahoo[dot]com. Thanks to all the other volunteers too numerous to mention, for all you have contributed over this past year to a very worthwhile Organization... LEAF

We have had some extraordinary events this past year at LEAF Center, I'll just mention a few. This spring we had a really delicious 5 course, farm-to-table fund-raiser meal “A Peas Speech” produced by many of you, and headed up by Justine and Lalitha. They pulled off an amazing feat in the LEAF Garden under threat of heavy rain! We raised money for LEAF and fed over a hundred people. A big thank you goes to Annie and Margo at “The Vine Restaurant” for their help. We had music and merriment from a plethora of musicians, and our long-time awesome garden volunteer Ed Roberts poured a variety of libations and kept the party going late into the evening....

This fall Mia Mora and Margery Leonard put together our 1^st “Food Swap”. Its was a very cool event and all that participated went home with some great locally produced food. These gals are talking about another one coming soon. Be sure you don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to meet some like minded folks and share in the bounty.

We have had a few classes at the garden this year. A bee class with Rich “the bee man” Godfrey, a compost class with Caroline “the compost queen” Harris, as well as a class on Olive Oil with Michael Joss and friends. So much more has taken place this year behind the scenes - I could write a book about it...
Thanks to you all for your help in making LEAF a success. We need all of you to help this coming season with LEAF. Please give a hand and join in the joy of saving our little portion of the planet.

Happy Holidays!
from the LEAF Board of Directors and myself,

BrucePicture

Bruce Cates
Your LEAF President

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Girl Scouts in the Garden

This year, our local Junior Girl Scout troop 31916 matured into Cadettes, giving them the opportunity to earn the Silver Award. The Silver award is the highest award Cadettes can achieve. The award asks the scout to look around her community and find a way to invest herself in making a change for the better.

The girls decided they would grow organic and sustainable fresh produce for people in need and donate to Abode and Centerville Dining. Once the girls had the project idea they turned to LEAF to make it happen!

A troop parent, Debbie Fuller says,

"The support and guidance our troop has received from LEAF has been beyond imaginable. Initially, we contacted Bruce Cates who invited us to meet him at the LEAF Center in Niles. Meeting on a Thursday afternoon, Bruce spoke with the girls and encouraged them to venture around the garden. They were captivated by the place. Since then, some of the scouts have attended the Bee Seminar and Seeds and Propagation Workshop. A representative from our troop was invited to speak with the LEAF board about the project. And just the other day, the girls had a great time with Richard Godfrey planting the circle garden with lettuce, onions, peas, celery, chard, kale, and more."

The plants the girl scouts sewed were purchased in part with a grant from Niles Rotary. Thank you Niles Rotary!

Bee Keeping Seminar

The Bee Keeping Seminar was well attended especially by many young and knowledgeable bee enthusiasts! Over $70 in donations was collected in exchange for locally grown honey. We will have another bee keeping demonstration next year with more bee keepers presenting.

Food Swap Recap

LEAF's first ever food swap was held Sunday October 9th. We had perfect weather and a good turn out. Over 20 people brought items to swap including, a fruit tart, pumpkin bread, jam, honey, eggs and lots of fresh produce including figs. Gardening tips and recipes were exchanged, people chatted with new acquaintances and old. Like other LEAF events, it was an opportunity to build community around sustainable food and gardening. While a first for LEAF, it may well have been the first food swap for Fremont as well!

Food swaps, where no money is exchanged, are one element of the new barter/sharing economy popping up from coast to coast. Food swaps, in various forms, are held regularly in Santa Monica and several other places in the East Bay. The LEAF Board plans to hold swaps next year.

Anyone interested in planning and coordinating future swaps should contact Mia Mora at: miagardens(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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W I N T E R
G A R D E N T I P S

by Steve LaGraffe

It's time to plant cover crops where the summer vegetables were. The soil has worked hard during the summer and the cover crop will replenish the soil with nitrogen for next year. Possible cover crops are fava beans, wheat, vetch and rye.

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Want to start gardening?

We have some space available in the Niles garden to start your own winter crop.
Contact Michael for details:
michaeljoss(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

Interested
Teenagers & Highschoolers

All teens are welcome to volunteer in our gardens. To get started, print out and have parents sign this volunteer agreement form VolunteerAgreement.doc
Then bring it to a work party and dig your hands in the dirt!

You are always invited to the gardens!

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California Nursery Rose Garden on Niles Blvd.

open all week 8 - 6

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Saturdays, 9am - 3 pm at LEAF Center Garden
Saturdays, 9:30 - 5 & Tuesdays, 9 - 3 at California Nursery Garden on Niles Blvd.
Saturdays, 10am - 12:30 pm at LEAF Garden on Mission Blvd.
Sundays, see calendar at LEAF Garden on Washington Blvd.
Thursdays, 9 - 11 & most Saturdays California Nursery Rose Garden on Niles Blvd

" There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it."

-Minnie Aumonier

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fremontleaf@gmail.com | www.leafcenter.org