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Nov 9 - Dec 31, 2023

Monterey Bay Master Gardeners

Mission

The Master Gardeners of Monterey Bay, Inc. provide programmatic, organizational, and financial support to the UCCE Master Gardener Program of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties (UCMGMSCC), administered by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and supports the UCMGMSCC by disseminating research-based horticultural information to educate the community about home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices.

The Big Idea

The "Portable Edible Garden / Jardines Comestibles Portátiles" Big Idea proves you don't need yard space to garden! This family friendly project provides opportunity to empower our community with a healthy and wholesome activity and address issues of food insecurity in our local population. We have developed a partnership with the Cesar Chavez library in Salinas providing us with a diverse community eager to create their own edible garden. We provide portable grow bags to attendees to fill with healthy, nutrient dense vegetables, flowers and herb plants. Master Gardeners conduct a bilingual class on how to properly care and nurture their portable garden, including troubleshooting tips to tackle gardening challenges. This is a family friendly project with garden related activities for the children. The family works together to plant their grow bag with the vegetables and herbs they enjoy eating. The seeds we plant today create the fruit of tomorrow.

As a Master Gardener, I was delighted to volunteer this past spring with our Portable Edible Project at the Cesar Chavez Library in the Alisal neighborhood of Salinas. I like how our project helps families teach their children about where food comes from in a very accessible manner. The families loved working together to select the flowers and vegetables they would plant in their own grow bag. It was a sincere pleasure to share my love of gardening with others, and seeing the smiles on the participants faces as they worked to create their portable garden was so rewarding!

- Barbara Davidge