2024 in the Garden
Happy 2025 to all! Here’s a short recap of what happened in our garden community in 2024 and a look ahead to 2025.
The garden is great place to meet up to learn more about things like organic farming practices, planet-friendly growing methods, food preservation, water-wise irrigation, and sustainability. We promote this learning through our free or low-cost community-focused education events.
Last year CACG worked with the UC Master Food Preservers to teach the basics of canning and preserving food. In June, folks in the Jams, Jellies and Chutneys class went home with a jar of their own tomato salsa. We have a new dehydrator, so look for an upcoming class on what to dry and how.
In October, local farming expert Idzai Mubaiwa presented a workshop on winter seed starts, including best practices for preventing mildew on the seedlings. Participants shared a meal of sadza (an African cornmeal stew), chicken hash, and slaw after the workshop. We hope to have Idzai return this spring for another workshop.
We will have a full schedule of education events in 2025, starting with the Building Soils workshop March 1 led by UC Master Gardener Niki Vollrath. Check our events page for more information.
We have partnered with Nati of Yoga Here and Now San Diego to bring a touch of bliss to the garden. Two Yoga in the Garden events were held in 2024. In addition to raising consciousness, the events raise donations for local nonprofits. Yoga is scheduled for the third Saturday of each month in 2025.
The CACG board works to get the word out about the garden through outreach to community organizations. This past year, we met with the Mesa College Community group and made contact with the College Area Council to begin connections that we can develop into partnerships. We also held an informational tour for 28 American Language Institute students and instructors. We continue to work with the leadership of Associated Students at SDSU and with Greenlove, a student-led initiative dedicated to sustainability. The SOULA project also brings SDSU students to the garden on a regular basis.
Our monthly volunteer workdays, held on the last Saturday of each month, are a staple of our community-building efforts. Garden members and community volunteers made compost, mulched, weeded, hauled out trash, repaired irrigation, and learned how to make seed bombs. Our biggest day saw 45 volunteers help rebuild the cooperative growing beds at the front of the garden. Produce from these beds is donated to Wesley House at SDSU. Take a look at the onion starts in the new beds. Once the new irrigation is in, a full planting of winter crops can begin.
And after all the hard work comes the fun! At our fall harvest potluck in October, a dozen garden members gathered for a community get together with food and games. Members enjoyed burgers and homemade salads as they got to know each other. Topics of discussion included what pests were eating our crops, when to plant winter vegetables, and ideas for a recipe feature for the CACG blog.
The next of the quarterly potlucks will be a chili party January 25. We will be dishing up vegetarian chili after we toss native plant seed bombs. We hope to see all gardeners there. RSVP here and let us know what you’d like to bring.
