What New

April

An Eagle Scout candidate visited Clare’s Food Garden recently to talk about building better wooden sides on two of our largest planter beds. This would be a very useful improvement and an important Eagle Scout project.

Our onion and garlic crops and potatoes in several beds are growing well and are nearly ready for harvest. Currently we are harvesting fava beans, greens, several other vegetables, and a variety of herbs.

Tina Higashi, the EGG leader, gave us some bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) seeds. The seeds are growing so well that we will soon be planting this unique cucumber climbing vine. The bottle gourd plant is known for its edible bottle-shaped fruit. This plant was domesticated in Africa over 10,000 years ago. The fruit is usually harvested when the plants are young and tender because when the fruit gets old it is hard and unusable. It will be fun to grow this new cucumber variety.

February

A big Thank You to Sycamore Tree Service for a big pile of wood chips for mulching the Garden. Jenny used them for a tree removal project and they did a wonderful job at a very reasonable price, and we got 5-6 yards of free wood chips.

December 2025

Year End Report

• We continue to harvest produce for Culinary Angels and also La Familia and other local organizations.
• We maintain our core group of volunteers from LAVGC, St. Clare’s and also helpers who have discovered us via social media.
• We welcome visitors and  volunteers – 
• You will find us in the garden on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9.30 to 11.30a.m.
• Our yield of produce totaled 2,000 lbs last year. Crop planting varieties were similar to the previous years. Our fruit trees provided a few pounds of figs and also lemons. We look forward to an increase in  fruit, and a few  harvests of asparagus in 2025.
• More beds have been created. We were given a shredder, which is useful for breaking down material in compost layers.
• Outreach
• We continue to benefit from our association with LAVGC, an annual financial donation. In addition, members of the garden group help with environmentally deterring   pests, pruning fruit trees, sharpening tools etc. Clare’s Fare in turn,  host some club meetings and also donate seeds for the “Seed Share” group.
• We now have four Eagle Scouts Projects, which are extremely beneficial:
  • Greenhouse shelving.
• • Leaf and mulch enclosure.
• • Decorative cover for irrigation control system.
  • Shelving unit behind large shed.
• We enjoyed St. Clare’s Preschool visit to our Pumpkin patch, where the children helped to replenish Mr. and Mrs. Scarecrow with fresh straw.
• Benefactors
  • Fertile Groundworks – donated seedlings.
  • Eden Garden – seedlings and cuttings.
  • Local ranchers and gardeners in Sunol – plants and materials to enhance compost.
• We look forward to another productive year and positive interaction with the community.

October 2024

In addition to growing a variety of vegetables and fruit trees, we also grow herbs that are important for the Culinary Angels meals preparation. Our herbs include basil, chives, lemon balm, oregano, parsley, thyme. fennel, purslane, sage, rosemary and four types of mint.

The purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is certainly an interesting succulent plant at Clare’s Food Garden. The first year or two we had seen many purslane weeds, which we worked to remove. A friend happened to talk to us about purslane being an important edible item. So, we checked on it and realized that the Culinary Angels and La Familia could use its harvest. Now we grow purslane, which has a long history of being used as a superfood. It’s high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Purslane also has the highest recorded levels of omega-3 fatty acids of any land-based plant. Purslane can be eaten raw and cooked, used in salads, juices, sandwiches, dips, pesto, stir fries, quiches, soups, curries, stews, sauces and more. The whole plant is edible—flowers, leaves, stalks, and seeds. It is fun to harvest the several purslane varieties we are now growing.

September 2024

Currently, we are harvesting tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, squash, a variety of herbs, potatoes and some fruit trees including the unusual Tiger Stripe figs. The pollinator garden and the succulent garden are also growing well and producing a lot of flowers that atract bees, birds, buterflies, flies, and other pollinators. The sunflower leaves are eaten by many goldfinches!

We got Egyptian Walking Onions from Sondra Bierre a year ago. They have grown well at Clare’s. Egyptian Walking Onions taste like regular onions, and all parts are edible. We cut the shoots for the harvest and they can be used like green onions all year. These perennial onions can spread around the garden as their top-set bulblets can create new plants. Egyptian Walking Onions grow a cluster of bulblets on top of the original stalk, and the weight of this new growth may cause the top to flop over. The bulblets can root in the soil and grow a whole new set of plants— hence the name “walking onion.” So, we are careful to select those bulblets to prevent their spread around our garden.

Another interesting plant we grow is the Jerusalem artichoke. They are not actually artichokes but a variety of sunflower that produces an edible tuber or root. We harvest the roots in the fall. They are rich in many vitamins and minerals. These plants grow up to 6 feet tall and produce prety sunflowers.

June 2024

May 2024

We have had a nice harvest of potatoes, onions, garlic, and radishes, which have grown very well in the past several months. We removed most of the winter food plants and prepared those beds for summer crops by adding a lot of the important compost we have made. We are now planning summer crops, including squash, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, eggplants, corn, and Jerusalem artichokes. The pollinator garden beds include a variety of native plants, which are growing well. They provide nectar for bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators and these plants also help birds. The pollinators are important to our food garden, which needs their help to pollinate our trees and the flowers of our food plants. Most native plants require minimal water, which is also a benefit to Clare’s Food Garden. The succulent garden is growing and the succulents are also producing flowers to attract pollinators.

April 2024
An Eagle Scout candidate visited Clare’s Fare to talk about building a wooden set of shelves for our storage needs. This would be very useful for us and an important Eagle Scout project.Our onion and garlic crops and several beds with potatoes are growing well and are nearly ready for harvest. We are presently harvesting fava beans, green leaves, several other vegetables, and a variety of herbs.For the summer harvest, we have started planting tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplants, squash, corn, and string beans. We also have several crops popping up from seeds we planted, including radishes, turnips, carrots, and beets.

David Gates, our important assistant, has completed our irrigation systems for the garden beds, pollinator garden, and the orchard trees.

March 2024

We are finishing our harvest of the winter vegetables. Soon we will be cutting up the cover crops and spreading them on the beds. We will turn the cover crops under the soil to decompose and improve the soil, reduce soil compaction, and increase biodiversity. We will also be placing our well-developed compost on all the beds over the cover crop materials before we plant the summer vegetables.

We also have onions and garlic growing now and they will be ready for harvest in about 2 months. The Edible Garden Group met at Clare’s Food Garden in mid-February to watch an expert potato grower demonstrate a new method for planting potatoes. It will be very interesting to harvest our potatoes in several months and see if this new method has produced a wonderful number of potatoes for La Familia and the Culinary Angels.

To benefit the new church patio next to our garden, we have planted a variety of flowers in pots between the garden and the patio. If you come by the garden take a look at the new patio installed by the church. There you will see a brick that Shirley Eastman purchased to Recognize the “garden angels” who started this garden.

January 2024

In 2023 our food garden produced nearly 2,400 pounds of vegetables, fruits, and herbs for La Familia and the Culinary Angels. Thank you to St. Clare’s Church for letting us turn this piece of their land into a productive food garden!

Our winter vegetables, which include broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, cauliflower, peas, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, turnips, Kohlrabi, garlic, onions, some Kabocha squash and a few others, are growing very well for our harvests.In several garden beds we are growing cover crops, which include fast-growing annuals such as field peas, rye, clovers, vetches, and broadleaves like buckwheat. Cover crops protect and improve the soil by feeding it, fostering microbial activity, and contributing to overall soil health. Cover crops improve soil aeration, encourage the proliferation of beneficial microbes in the soil, and provide soil fertility by adding nutrients and organic matter when they are turned into the soil after their growth time.

December 2023

We have planted winter vegetables for future harvest including broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, cauliflower, peas, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, turnips, kohlrabi, garlic, onions, some kabocha squash and a few other items. They are growing very well.

We have also planted fava beans as a cover crop. They have one of the highest nitrogen-fixing rates, and the large, deep roots break up even heavy clay and compacted soil. Fava beans also enhance soil texture, stifle weeds, sustain microbials and attract pollinators with their purple flowers. Cutting up the remainder of the plant and leaving it as mulch is also a great practice for enhancing soil health. We will be harvesting a portion because fava beans are rich with vitamin and minerals, as well as Vitamin A, C and K, they also contain loads of magnesium and potassium. The leaves are tasty salad additions

In mid-November, the church started the construction of a large patio in front of our food garden. When it is completed, it will be nice to have church activities right next to the garden food beds, the pretty pollinator area, and the succulent section.

November 2023

We are harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, greens, and a variety of herbs for the Culinary Angels and La Familia. We are also now harvesting sweet potatoes—nice to see a very good production! Another new harvest is Jerusalem artichokes. These plants (Helianthus tuberous) are perennial relatives of the sunflower so they grow tall and produce a yellow flower in late summer. The edible portions are the odd shaped tubers—roots—that grow in the

ground for a fall harvest. The tubers can be eaten raw or cooked like a potato.

Sweet potato harvest Jerusalem artichokes

We are beginning to plant our winter vegetables for future harvest including broccoli, kale, Swiss Chard, cauliflower, peas, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, turnips, Kohlrabi, garlic, onions, some Kabocha squash and a few other items.

October 2023

Fall fun in Clare’s Garden

After an unseasonable hot spell, the weather seems to be settling down into Fall. We’ve been harvesting the last of the summer crops and have been getting ready for Fall with a good supply of pumpkins.

September 2023

The corn, string beans and squash of the famous “Three Sisters” crops are growing very well and it will be fun to soon begin to harvest this unusual plant arrangement for the Culinary Angels and La Familia.

We will soon begin clearing out some of the garden beds to plant our winter crops including broccoli, kale, swish chard, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and garlic. The noteworthy Fertile Groundworks food garden in Livermore had some extra seedlings of these winter crops and we were fortunate that they donated the extra plants to Clare’s.

We discovered the broken pipe that had caused a serious irrigation leak and we were glad it was repaired to stop water waste. We are now working on the 20-year-old irrigation system to install some improvements and eliminate some unneeded irrigation items.

This year’s annual fundraiser for Culinary Angels, Glitz & Gratitude, is right around the corner!  

On October 21st we will gather at the beautiful Garré Vineyard & Winery in Livermore. Come and enjoy a gourmet meal and wine, an amazing live and silent auction and local musical talent, all with emcee Juliette Goodrich of KPIX 5 and local celebrity auctioneer Big Frank.  

Your kind support allows Culinary Angels to continue its mission of providing nutrient-rich meals and nutrition education to those experiencing a cancer challenge, as well as to their caregivers.  

August 2023

We are now harvesting tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, squash, a variety of herbs, potatoes, pumpkins and some fruit, including the unusual Tiger Stripe figs. We are using several garden areas to grow corn, string beans, and squash. The Iroquois and the Cherokee called corn, bean, and squash the “Three Sisters” because they nurture each other like family when planted together. 

July 2023

Well, be careful of what you wish for. July really heated up with a couple of triple digit spells. We’ve been doing a lot of watering to keep ahead an the tomatoes and squash are starting to produce.

June 2023

June has been a rather cool month after all the rain we’ve had. We gotten most of the garden planted with Summer crops and are just waiting of the weather to heat up so things will start growing. We lost a couple of peach trees. No reason we can determine. We’ll replant and hope for the best.

May 2023

Our own Judy Mathew was interviewed in the Pleasanton Weekly May 26th ed. She’s a Master Gardener and has been working on the Pleasanton Community Garden as a volunteer since 2010. The UC Master Program has led the effort to create a garden and farm on the Bernal property. The 5 acre site will garden plots individuals can rent, an educational center, a community garden and a demonstration garden.

May has been a busy time at the garden as we are planting tomatoes, peppers, squash, beets, radishes, tomatillos and some other vegetables. We’ve removed weeds and added several native plants and some sunflowers to the pollinator garden. We have also done a lot of work on our compost bins as they produce very important material to add to our planting beds.

This month our harvest for the Culinary Angels includes: kale, collard greens, cabbage, onions, fava beans, radishes, snap peas and a variety of herbs.

April 2023

We are celebrating Earth Day (see below). Come and enjoy the arrival of Spring.

March 2023

Tuesdays seem like a bad day for rain. Last Tuesday’s (21st) storm left its mark with blown down signs and the bee house…plus a lot of water. We’ll wait for things to dry out and repair the damage. Fortunately all the main structures (shed and green house) made it through OK. At least we know that they can withstand a bomb cyclone.

We are recovering from all the rain (I never thought I’d think we were getting too much rain) and getting ready to prepare the beds for the coming spring planting: getting seedlings started, cutting back the cover crops, laying down compost, repairing some of the beds, working with our food partners to see what they would like us to grow the year.

Judy was mentioned in a nice article in the Independence Mar 2 edition concerning her work as a Master Gardener.

 We received a letter from the Culinary Angels thanking us for our 2022 harvest.  They placed a value of $3,200 on our contributions.    Thanks to Elizabeth and Ed Boyd who pick up our harvest for the Culinary Angels.  They donated their outside table to Clare’s Food Garden which we were happy to place next to our shed for help in dealing with our harvests.   Thanks also to Michael Eloia of the Lucky Garden in Dublin.  He donated a number of special potting soil bags to our garden which are very useful for starting our seeds for the spring and summer crops.
      Our winter vegetables -varieties of kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Bok choy, spinach, and Brussel sprouts are growing well and we harvest them on Saturdays for the Culinary Angels.
      Our cover crops in three large beds are also growing nicely which is important to help improve the soil.  We have planted an area of fava beans, another good

February 2023

Work days in February will be Saturday, the 4th, the 11t^h, 18th, and the 25^th.
     Our heavy winter rains washed away some of the mulch we had spread all around the garden and the rain resulted in several large puddles.  Fortunately, the garden beds and the raised beds did not suffer from all the rain and wind.  Our small greenhouse was impacted by the wind and we will be repositioning it.  Our winter vegetables -varieties of kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Bok choy, spinach, and Brussel sprouts are growing well and we harvest them on Saturdays for the Culinary Angels.  We have also planted a lot of garlic and onions.
     Our cover crops in three large beds are also growing nicely which is important to help improve the soil.  We have planted an area of fava beans, another good cover crop, and from those plants we will be able to harvest leaves and the young beans for the Culinary Angels.

January 2023

The rains are over for now and we’re drying off. No damage, just a lot of puddles. We did get a nice note from Culinary Angels thanking us for our food contribution. It translates to $9790.97 monetarily.

January sure came in with a splash(!) with huge amounts of rain over the first two weeks…and more expected. While we in California are always appreciative, I wish Mother Nature would dial it back for a few weeks so we can get back into the garden.

December

Clare’s Food Garden   2022 Report                                                                                        Judy Matthew  Jennifer Whitehouse

This has been our garden’s second year and we have seen an increase in our food production for La Familia and the Culinary Angels.

2022 was a busy year for Clare’s Food Garden:

• We produced 2,738 pounds of food including tomatoes, winter and summer squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, micro greens, fava beans, pumpkins, and a variety of herbs, peppers and winter vegetables from collard greens to cauliflower.  
• The gardeners who tend to the church land give us all the leaves they gather around the church and mowed grass which are both beneficial for our compost production.  
• Kathy Oliver and Shirley Eastman worked with Home Depot to get a discount for a greenhouse for our garden.  The Livermore Amador Velley Garden Club also gave us a $100 donation to help us meet the greenhouse cost.  We have set the greenhouse up next to one of the church’s sheds.  
• During this year we added 10 raised beds to the garden to increase the area for growing food.  
• In October we planted cover crops in our 4 large garden beds to help increase soil organic matter, leading to improvements in soil structure, stability, and increased moisture and nutrient holding capacity for future plantings.
• Now the winter vegetables in the raised beds include kale, collards, broccoli cabbage, cauliflower, Bok choy, spinach, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onions and fava beans.  
• In April and in October we have received two loads of StopWaste compost for use in our garden beds and in the pollinator garden.
• We have added four fruit trees to our orchard area.  This included 2 apple trees donated by a church member, one orange tree and a white guava tree donated by Jennifer Whitehouse.
• With the help of Sarah Lee, a succulent expert, we have created a long bed of succulent plants next to the sidewalk.  This section of the garden will require minimum water.  Some succulent plants will grow flowers to help our pollinators and some plants will produce edible leaves for harvest.
• We have improved our pollinator garden with the addition of new plants, some donated by church members and Jennifer Whitehouse.  
• We have produced 4 large batches of compost from our compost bins which we add to our soil to improve its quality and to save water by helping the soil hold moisture.  
• The garden has received furniture and a nice variety of important tools donated by members of the Livermore Amador Valley Garden Club and St. Clare’s church.
• Shelving for the greenhouse was an Eagle Scout Project by Yash Troop #908

Clare’s Food Garden 2023 projects include:

• Work on our irrigation system to improve it so that we do not waste any water.
• A better production of pumpkins for the church school kids.
• Growing string beans and more cucumbers for an increased food production for the La Familia group.
• Increasing the total amount of our harvest to benefit the Culinary Angels and La Familia.  

Clare’s Garden has settled into winter, which means cover crops and winter vegetables. They are all growing well and we continue to harvest for Culinary Angels

You don’t expect marigolds in the winter, however we have found one, Mexican Bush marigolds (Tagetes lemmonii) which seems to be doing very well and is still flowering and attracting pollinators

Our winter vegetables -varieties of kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Bok choy, spinach and Brussel sprouts – are growing well. We have also planted a lot of garlic and will be planting onion seedlings later this month.  
     Our cover crops in three large beds are just beginning to sprout. They will increase soil organic matter; improve soil fertility and they also raise our soil moisture holding capacity.  We have planted an area of fava beans which are another good cover crop and from those plants we will be able to harvest leaves and the young beans for the Culinary Angels. We have harvested a little more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables this year from May to November.  We are glad to help La Familia and the Culinary Angels.
      Special thank you to Lydia Roberts who donated an impressive variety of gardening tools and items to Clare’s Food Garden. 

November

Here’s something I came across. I think it describes gardeners pretty well.

We finished up our summer crops today by pulling out the rest of the tomato plants (lots of green tomatoes and the last 4 red ones) and harvesting the sweet potatoes from the hugelkulture bed. Now we’re putting in some alliums and cover cropping the beds. All told, we grew and donated 2029 lbs of produce this year–May 7-November 2.

La Familia is hosting a Dia de Muertos event at the Civic Center Library, 1188 S. Livermore Ave in Livermore on Nov 5th from 12:00 – 3;00. Call Lupita Barratino at 925.273-4220 for more information

Today a Master Gardener friend of Judy, Patti Joki, donated to Clare’s her 10 year old special compost bin. She also gave us a nice stack of big cardboard pieces. Judy and her husband put the cardboard next to the palm trees.  Then they placed the compost bin next to our 3 wooden bins. It’ll be fun to see how we can make compost in this rotating special bin.

October

We are near the end of harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash and a variety of herbs for La Familia and the Culinary Angels. In a few weeks we will be removing these vegetables and planting cover crops to help increase soil organic matter, leading to improvements in soil structure, stability, and increased moisture and nutrient holding capacity for future plant growth. We will also be planting winter vegetables in several raised beds.

We have started to plant winter vegetables in our raised beds.  They include varieties of kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Bok choy, spinach and Brussel sprouts.  Garlic and several onion types will also be planted soon. We are preparing our 4 large garden beds for cover crops to help increase soil organic matter leading to improvements in soil structure, stability, and increased moisture and nutrient holding capacity for our future plant growth. 

We were happy to host the TVGC Edible Garden Group today (22nd). We had a great talk by Diane about everything you ever wanted to know about raising chickens (who knew they were good to meditate with!). Bill also talked chickens, as well mulching strategies, and led an interesting discussion about SB1383 which requires all jurisdictions to provide organic waste collection services to residents and businesses. While is is good, it does have a downside because it disallows individuals from composting themselves.

The Livermore-Amador Valley Garden Club is hosting a presentation by Vernon Lewis, Ph.D. this Thursday (OCT 13) entitled “Good insects and bad ones–how do I tell the difference?” The Zoom meeting is scheduled to start at 7:00. For more information, visit www.lavgc.org

Judy has had really good luck with these perennial sunflowers

We have decided to turn an area along the Clare’s Garden front next to the sidewalk into a succulent garden. Some of these plants produce flowers which attract a wide variety of pollinators. They are drought resistant plants and many are hardy easy plants to care for with unique shapes, sizes and colors. Also important to us, is that some varieties of succulents produce edible leaves which we will add to our harvest. Our friend, Sarah Lee, a knowledgeable succulent gardener, will be helping us establish this special area.

With help from Sarah Lee, we have established a special succulent garden in the area right next to the sidewalk.  Some of these plants will produce flowers which attract a wide variety of pollinators.  The succulents are drought resistant plants and many are hardy and easy plants to care for with unique shapes, sizes and colors. Also important to us, is that some varieties of succulents produce edible leaves which we will add to our harvest for the Culinary Angels. 

Clare’s Food Garden gets a nice visit from many birds.  Our pollinator garden has a variety of native plants which local birds love because they provide a great food source year-round including berries, seeds, and nectar.   We do not prune the dead flowers off of the plants – such as sunflowers and scabiosa because they contain seeds that attract the birds.  Yesterday we received a unique gift from a neighbor – a pretty container of bird seeds with a nice note.  Thank you.

We had some extra help today from a church member and her daughters.

September

 Our garden has very nice summer harvesting for La Familia on Wednesdays and the Culinary Angels on Saturdays.  The harvest includes tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and a variety of herbs from purslane to lemon grass.  We just received a very nice set of shelves for our greenhouse as an Eagle Scout project by Yash Sheler.  Our hügelkultur bed is once again proving to be a very productive location for plants.  Pumpkins and sweet potatoes are growing extremely well there.

10 cubic yards (that’s enough to bury a small car) of compost from Stop Waste delivered

The compost bins continue to crank out compost. It was 150^o F in the middle

There was a good article https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2022-09-01/gardening-helps-mental-health in the LA Times about how gardening can extend your life and reduce stress. It’s basically a paean to gardening by the author and references studies showing cortisol reduction in people after spending 10-20 min, 2-3 times a week in a garden or woodland

August

LVAGC Annual Tomato Tasting this Saturday, Aug 27 at the Creekside Barn next to the Eden Garden at Crosswinds Church in Livermore

Zoopoop delivery Saturday. Thanks Rob.