SOIL SUMMIT: An APLD Student Member's Perspective

BY Marcus Teply

APLD-CA GREATER LOS ANGELES DISTRICT

I was the lucky winner of the APLD-CA, student scholarship to the Urban Soil Summit. The presentations by LA Compost and Urban Tilth really warmed my heart.

LA Compost’s Michael Martinez “connects people with the soil that feeds us.” His compost hubs throughout Los Angeles County not only create neighborhood centers where residents come together to make compost, they also provide education on how to grow healthy food. This is remarkable, because soil is not necessarily on our minds when it comes to improving urban communities.

Urban Tilth, based in Richmond in the Bay Area, operates five small community farms. They serve as fertile ground for training and employing young people from urban neighborhoods to grow, distribute and cook produce. Executive Director Doria Robinson spoke passionately about the more than 300 enthusiastic urban farmers they have educated over the years and their contribution to more self-sufficient communities.

Turns out when you have good soil, all kinds of things can take root and grow.

APLD Designer Bernadette Balics Featured in Pacific Horticulture Magazine

Sacramento district member Bernadette Balics was featured in the summer 2017 issue of Pacific Horticulture magazine, the third in a series of articles featuring APLD designers. The Planting the New California Garden series illustrates how water-use data from WUCOLS can be translated into lush, unthirsty gardens. Bernadette designed a sprawling garden on the outskirts of Davis with low plantings to preserve the long vistas of the surrounding farmland and hills. A perfect example of how drought-tolerant plantings can feel sumptuous, the garden brims with intermingling foliage and flowers, inviting visitors to stroll the boardwalk while pollinators hover and dip.

Link to story: https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/planting-new-california-garden-part-3-bernadette-balics/

Low plantings to preserve long vistas of the surrounding farmland and hills.
Credit: Jennifer Jewell

Del Rio Botanical Farm Tour

by Marti Meyer

APLD-CA SACRAMENTO DISTRICT

(L to R) Marian Bender, Mary-Lee Gilliland, Del Rio's Suzanne Ashworth, Hope Nelson, Soleil Tranquill, Larry Landis (Soleil’s husband), Martin Carrion van Rijn, Gary Kernick, Bernadette Balics, Marti MeyerCredit: Marti Meyer

On a toasty hot Saturday in May, the APLD Sacramento District toured Del Rio Botanical Farm, a certified organic seed and vegetable production farm in West Sacramento. The Sacramento River, one of the most important bodies of fresh water in California, is a stone’s throw away and supplies the farm’s water, allowing third-generation proprietor of Del Rio, Suzanne Ashworth, to harvest open-pollinated seed and produce year round on 68 acres.

Suzanne is author of Seed to Seed, an authoritative reference on seed propagation and preserving varieties for future generations. With a collection of over 1,600 types of seeds, she works closely with many farms and national organizations on seed-saving projects. Del Rio harvests vegetables, fruits and herbs throughout the year for its consumer supported agriculture (CSA) boxes and specialty restaurants.

On our tour Suzanne led us through the gardens, introducing her goats, chickens and Japanese coternix quail along the way.  She offered samples of an amazing variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs, as well as cheese made from the farm’s goat milk.

We lingered to discuss some of the farm’s most unusual varieties and some of their unexpected uses:

Hollyhock, alpine strawberry, and loquat at Del Rio Farm. Credit: Soleil Tranquilli

Vegetables: spineless nopal, purslane (Portulaca oleracea), lambs sorrel (Rumex acetosella), radish seed pod, avocado leaf (licorice flavored, cook with beans)

Herbs: toothache plant (Acmela oleracea), poisonous porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), clove basil, medicinal tea (lippia alba), Aztec sweet herb (Lippia dulsis), horseradish leaf (use to wrap fish and grill), lovage stem (sip a Bloody Mary through it for enhanced flavor), comfrey, yerba mansa (tea, medicinal tinctures), fish sauce plant (Houttuynia cordata)

Fruits: alpine strawberry, Pakistani mulberry (we dallied longest here!), tangerine lemon, limequat

Tasting hollyhock petals. Credit: Soleil Tranquilli

Edible flowers: pineapple guava, calendula, mallow, alyssum, daylily, hollyhock petal

After the tour our Del Rio experience continued in downtown Sacramento, where we ate lunch at Hot Italian, which uses many of the farm’s products.

Harvest Day in Sacramento

In early August, APLD-CA Sacramento District hosted a table at Harvest Day, the annual educational event of the Sacramento County Master Gardeners held at the Fair Oaks Horticultural Center. Pictured are District President Martin Carrión van Rijn and Secretary Bernadette Balics.

Credit: Marti Meyer