Go Organic
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Distance: .35 miles Time: 40-50 mins
Stop 1: Build Healthy Soil
What happens to the food grown here? Every year more than 2,500 pounds of fruit and vegetables are harvested by the student farmers of our Green Youth Farm program; the produce is sold at farmers' markets (including ours!) citywide.
At this first stop we are going to ask you to do something unusual: take a good look at the soil.
Healthy soil is THE #1 ingredient for growing tasty vegetables.
We've worked hard here to improve our heavy, clay soil. No digging, double-digging, or roto-tilling: instead we: Layer on 1-2" of well-composted manure in the spring, add 2-2½" of leaf mulch in the fall and top-dress plants all season long.
These practices build the soil from the top down—you can do the same in your vegetable garden.
Stop 2: Provide for Pollinators
While bat colonies often hibernate in caves, they can roost in dead trees or in bat houses like these.
Stop 3: Provide for Pollinators
Always keep a respectful distance from beehives - bees make a beeline straight for the hive as they return from flower-feeding.
Stop 4: Practice Integrated Pest Management
About the apple orchard: apples are notoriously difficult to grow without chemicals (they're #1 on the "dirty dozen" list of fruits/veggies grown with the most chemicals). Our Integrated Pest Management team is using non-toxic, natural substances to control pests and treat plant diseases instead.
Stop 5: Consider Growing Fruit
Stop 6: Conserve Water
Stop 7: Two Organic Practices in One Spot
- On the garage roof are solar panels that power an irrigation system for the orchard.
- See the small, round structure tucked under the eaves? It's a bee house that encourages native mason bees to settle here.
Stop 8: Plant Heirloom Varieties
Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, apples: whenever you plant heirloom varieties, you're supporting biodiversity.
Stop 9: Plant Heirloom Varieties
Stop 10: Compost, Compost, Compost
Got compacted soil, or no yard at all? Build a raised bed. Our carpenters built these 4' x 8' beds from long-lasting, untreated cedar. They're filled with a compost-rich soil mix.
Stop 11: Support Your Local Farmers
The student farmers in our Green Youth Farm program harvest produce weekly, then sell it at our farmers' markets (yes, you can purchase it there!).
Better still, be your own producer: use these ever-changing beds for ideas on what/how to grow vegetables for three seasons of the year.