A Big Thank You to our Generous Donors! You can still donate and support our mission to teach our community to grow healthy food, soil, and people in a truly sustainable way! Support our youth in learning to regenerate the land while feeding themselves at the same time. Consider educating the next generation to give a sustainable […]

Our beds are finally set for the summer: the sweet potatoes are taking off, the corn is nearly at the ‘milk-ripe’ stage (good for harvesting as sweet corn), the sorghum is making seed heads, and after several tries, the amaranth and the quinoa are in and thriving! This is the season for harvesting, and we […]

In advance of our class this Saturday (March 19 from 2-4pm) on defending your garden from snails, slugs, and plant-suckers, we have a guest post from the teacher, Teresa Lavell, a certified IPM Advocate who works with water agencies in the Bay Area to promote cleaner waterways by educating home gardeners on less-toxic solutions for […]

February Garden Calendar and To-Dos Spring is nearly upon us- the rain has subsided for the moment, and the weather is glorious for gardening! We are getting ready to flat many spring grains. This year we are growing ancient Egyptian ‘Kamut’ wheat and drought tolerant -and delicious- ‘Sonoran’ wheat. Although the weather is warm at […]

What You Need to Know to Grow Healthy Bare Root Fruit Trees Planting a fruit tree is a rewarding long-term investment. Once you purchase your bare root tree, you can enjoy years of delicious fruit if you care for the tree well from the start. Fruit trees are more maintenance early on, but as the […]

January Garden To-Dos It’s a bit nippy to be direct sowing too much right now in your garden, but it’s time to begin flatting for the new year! There are also some great plants that you can plant directly, including asparagus roots, artichoke roots, roses, strawberry roots, and more! Be sure you are protecting your plants […]

Last update: April 11, 2017 Composting to Jump-Start Your Garden’s Prosductivity and Sustainability In some ways, building compost is the most important thing we do at Common Ground Garden (CGG). Plants need food just as we do, and that food has to come from somewhere. Conventional agriculture feeds plants using synthesized chemical nutrients, while organic […]

What You Need to Know to Care for Bees Chances are, if you are a gardener, you have toyed with the idea of beekeeping. Bees are such an integral part of life in our gardens, it makes sense that many gardeners sport both their gardening cap and their beekeeper’s hat and veil. Expert beekeeper Gwyn Murray […]

What You Need to Know About Foraging Mushrooms Do mushrooms fascinate you? Have you ever wondered how to forage for them? I first met Debbie Viess, co-founder of the Bay Area Mycological Society, at a class where she had a table heaping with mushrooms of all shapes, sizes and colors. At the end of an inspiring hour […]

The Best Cover Crops for Growing Healthier Soil Many people leave their garden to rest over the winter, exposing the soil to the rain and frost for several months. There is actually no ecological reason to do this! In fact, nature doesn’t do this, so why should we? Nature tends toward succession; first filling the landscape […]