THANKS FOR JOINING US.... |
|
|
On October 3rd, 2021, City Farm SLO friends, families, and supporters gathered for a magical afternoon to celebrate a year of transformations at City Farm and to honor Steven Marx on his retirement as Executive Director. To serve more children and students than ever before, we have established the Marx City Farm Education Fund. Thanks to your support, we have raised over $10,000 to launch the fund. To advance this campaign right away, an anonymous donor has offered to match all additional gifts up to $10,000! Please consider making a contribution to help us reach our goal of $30,000 by November 2021! |
|
|
To learn more about the Marx City Farm Education Fund and the impact of your gift, click here For a summary of our October 3rd event, click here |
|
|
FALL YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM |
|
|
Our Youth Empowerment Program Fall Cohort has made it halfway its 8-week session! On the YEP Farm, students have been immersed in regenerative farming methods including farm safety, pests, weeding, compost, and harvesting. Under the pergola (our farm classroom!) students have participated in workshops covering SMART goals, time management, and financial literacy. They've created plans for spending or saving the money that they earn in the YEP course, and have practiced articulating their goals in public speaking exercises. We are impressed with this group of students and are so excited for this opportunity to work with them! Learn more about YEP at cityfarmslo.org/yep and follow along on our Instagram @cityfarmslo. |
|
|
HARVEST WORKSHOP - OCTOBER 23rd |
|
|
Come learn about our regenerative growing methods and harvest a bag of organic vegetables to take home! Farmer Shane will lead this one hour workshop. October harvest includes beefsteak tomatoes, carrots, beets, hot peppers, green beans, celery, basil, cut flowers, and edible flowers. $20 per person, payable by cash/card/venmo at the workshop. *Register in advance, space is limited! |
|
|
A Welcome Guest in the Gardens: We’ve recently started seeing caterpillars of the monarch butterfly munching on our milkweed in the education gardens! These caterpillars are great to see on the farm, partly because they are cool looking, but more importantly, because monarch butterfly populations have been on a consistent downward trend for many years. We’re happy to provide food and habitat for these beneficial insects. The caterpillar’s favorite food is milkweed, which is poisonous to most other animals. Because of their diet they are toxic if eaten, so the birds leave them alone. We have a native variety of milkweed that grows back every year, and it’s probably our favorite “weed” on the farm. It’s only considered a weed because it grows in our vegetable growing areas. When it grows alongside our veggies, we will either leave it in place or transplant it into our food forest areas. Seeing these caterpillars is a great reminder to grow more native milkweed and other plants that attract beneficial insects. *If you wish to grow milkweed at home, make sure to only plant varieties that are native to North America. While the non-native tropical varieties are popular, they can harm monarchs and they can also become invasive. |
|
|
Meet Mason Wong, YEP Farmer Mason manages the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) Farm at City Farm SLO and engages YEP students in the regenerative farming process. He is also a student at Cal Poly, pursuing a degree in Agriculture and Environmental Plant Science. Mason brings a wealth of agricultural experience to his role: he has had internships with a pesticide and fertilizer company on the central coast, grape breeders in Bakersfield, and the Strawberry center at Cal Poly. Outside of work and school, Mason enjoys spending time with friends and family and being outdoors - hiking, fishing, and hunting! |
|
|
Fresh, cured, red, yellow, white, red, big, small.... we've got ALL the onions! We start our onions from seed in containers, then transplant them into our no-till education garden where they thrive. Then we harvest fresh onions (uncured), or wait until their green stalks tip over and harvest them for curing! After a 2-4 week curing process, onions will be shelf-stable for up to 10-12 months! Find these and more at our Farm Supply Farmers' Market booth and on Harvestly. |
|
|
City Farm SLO's monthly newsletter is archived here. Forward this newsletter to a friend! |
|
|
|
|
