VGSD in Action!
Videos, links and stories about our work.
TV news story on SignOn San Diego about VGSD's garden build in La Jolla.
Article in the U/T about this La Jolla garden build.
Story on Jill Richardson's La Vida Locavore blog about the Encanto garden build.
Time-lapse videos of VGSD's volunteer teams
building a garden in a day!
Serra Mesa Garden Build, March 19, 2011
VGSD recently completed an 8-week course helping a group in Serra Mesa start a Community Garden. Here the class builds a Sheet Mulch garden bed.
Campbell Garden Build in Ocean Beach This time-lapse video was shot at the Campbell Garden Build in Ocean Beach, which took place August 23, 2010.
Beth Montessori Pre-school, La Jolla
We built a raised planter and provided organic soil, seeds and plants, a compost tumbler and greenhouse shelving to help Beth Montessori get their edible garden off the ground. They hope to share their produce with underserved families in San Diego as well as teach sustainability in a hands-on way to their students. Many thanks to Mark who helped complete this project.
Garden Education at MAAC Project Youthbuild
In July 2010 we completed our fourth Garden Education Series using grant money from The Johnson-Ohana Foundation. Our mission was to provide four garden education education series for underserved communities in San Diego and our work with the students at Project Youthbuild fulfilled that goal. We may be able to squeeze one more class out of the grant. The students built eight raised beds and our course helped them to plant and irrigate the area. Their goal is to build 17 beds in all and grow food for themselves and others. The MAAC project is partly vocational so the students aged 18-24 were introduced to urban agriculture as a career option. Thanks to instructors Yael, Shelly and Bob for a job well done.
Poway Produce Project
On June 3, 2010 we helped volunteers from the Poway Produce Project build a fence around their garden near Pomerado Hospital. All produce grown will be donated to families in need around the Poway area. As of this writing, this active group has planted their summer garden and it’s growing strong! Thanks to VGSD’er, Michael for helping out.
Joe’s Pocket Farm Cleanup
About 25 VGSD’ers and Community members gathered Sunday, June 6, 2010 at Joe’s Pocket Farm in National City to begin preparing this great site to become a beautiful community garden for nearby residents. Much trimming, cleaning, hauling and debris clearing was accomplished. Next steps include a bit more weeding, cultivating, watering, mulching and coming up with a design for the community to agree on. We hope this site will be a future VGSD Garden Ed location. Stay tuned!
Garden Education at Hartley House
In June 2010 we completed a four week garden education series for 15 gardeners at Hartley House. This was a project done in coordination with Second Chance, a non-profit organization that assists men and women in re-integrating back into society after an incarceration. The class consisted of residents, Second Chance staff and other community members. We created 3 garden beds, compost area and an irrigation system. Now the residents have both the knowledge and produce to eat in a more healthy manner. Thanks to Shelly, Yael, Richard and Carol for their excellent instruction. We also provided direction and materials for Second Chance’s May 15 Volunteer Project.
Fabiani Garden Build
On Wednesday, June 9, 2010, VGSD’ers and Seeds at City College Urban Farm interns created two raised beds, installed irrigation and planted the garden won in an auction for Explorer Elementary School. We were done in a little over 4 hours! Many thanks to all our volunteers.
Garden Build at Angel House
This was another Second Chance Project. On May 15, 2010, Second Chance brought in numerous volunteers and VGSD provided the expertise to install a garden at Angel House. Many thanks to Dorothea our garden guide for this project and Mark, her assistant.
Pomerado Gardens Apartments
On Friday, June 18, 2010, we assisted Michelle Delozier by building two raised bed gardens. Michelle will be working with children who live at the apartments to maintain the garden and learn about healthy food by growing it themselves. We had a reporter from the Poway Chieftain come by. Perhaps we’ll make the news! Many thanks to new VGSD’er Vern for his help on this project. Vern’s wife, Lisa, “volun-told” (a new word for me!) Vern to help. I think he’s glad he did...and we are too!
Gerson Garden planting
On Monday, January 11, 2010, VGSD'ers Bob and Julie met at Charlotte Gerson's home to replant her raised, enclosed garden bed. Mrs. Gerson is the founder of The Gerson Institute which is dedicated to teaching and promoting the Gerson Therapy..." that has helped thousands recover from "so-called" incurable diseases such as cancer." Mrs. Gerson is the daughter of Dr. Max Gerson, the developer of the Gerson therapy which has an emphasis on raw foods.
Julie and Bob planted a variety of greens, onions, radishes and other vegetables suitable for salads. They also set up sonic gopher stakes to discourage the local gopher population and tuned the drip irrigation system to water the veggie starts. Mrs. Gerson treated Julie and Bob to signed copies of her husband's books in appreciation. It was a wonderful day as the pictures attest.
New Roots Community Farm Garden Ed Classes
VGSD taught its third garden education series entirely in Spanish! Classes began on January 23, 2010 and ran through February. Salvador Tinajero and Yael Zaidman taught the Hispanic farmers/gardeners at the New Roots Community Farm how to increase their yields of organic produce.
Our second class began clearing and leveling plots. They were taught how to double dig and began revamping their gardens. Spirits were high as the students saw how much was getting done as they worked together. Once we're past the rains (hallelujah!) we'll focus on effective irrigation, plant propagation, planting and integrated pest management using organic principles.
Each class ended with a polluck and the series concluded with a celebratory pot luck. Thanks to our Garden Education Coordinator, Shelly Stewart for her outstanding organization and to Jaime Garza, our IRC liaison, for his communication link to the class.
Jensen-Elliot Garden Build
Saturday, December 19, 2009, Twelve VGSD volunteers and homeowner Cindy Jensen Elliott double dug, installed a drip irrigation system and cast seed over Cindy's new garden. Cindy was our Garden Guide and is a garden educator at the High Tech High Elementary School at Liberty Station. As the video shows, there was a whole lot of diggin' going on (all video was shot between 10 and 10:30 am).
By 2pm, Cindy's garden was redesigned, double dug, compost enriched, irrigated and ready for seed. Thanks to our super vounteers Devon, Eddie, Cindy Z., Tia, Kyle, Alyson, Richard (our time lapse photographer!), Conroy, Jackie (and daughter Zoe!) and Diana. It's was a very nice holiday gift.
Procopio Garden
On October 17, 2009, under the guidance of Garden Guide Katherine Placey, six volunteers installed a raised bed and herb garden at the Procopio's home in Chula Vista. using a basic raised bed model developed at earlier builds, the VGSD team created a wonderful edible garden. Mrs. Procopio works with the Gerson Institute, an organization dedicated to alternate health therapies for people with cancer and other serious diseases. one of their principle tenets is eating fresh raw fruits, vegetables and herbs. The Procopios subscribe to this healthy diet and may be bringing extra produce to the Gerson Institute in downtown San Diego.
Thanks again to Katherine, Michael, Britta, Ellie, Yvonne, Natalie, and James for their hard work.
Halloween in the Wolf Garden
On Halloween Day, 2009, about 13 (hmmmm!) VGSD'ers "treated" Michael Wolf to a backyard garden, simple drip irrigation system and a compost bin area. After moving soil and mulch up a steep ramp to the backyard, volunteers, dug, planted (cilantro,chives, parsley, brocolli, onions, chard, spinach garlic and more) and built throughout the morning, sustained by treats provided by Donna Wolf, a recent VGSD University of Gardening graduate, and Michael's mom! We were done by about noon. Many thanks to our Garden Guide, Marc Bailey, who both directed our efforts and educated us as well. Thanks also to our volunteersCassie, Yvette, Donna, Pat, Cindy, Julianna, Sara, Patricia, Kevin and Amber for their hard work. You make creating a garden in three hours seem easy...and definitely fun!
Weightman Garden installed
September 20, 2009 found over 13 VGSD volunteers installing two raised bed gardens at Heather Weightman's home in Ocean Beach. A two-bin compost area was set up as well. Volunteers were done by noon!
We're getting faster! Heather treated the group to both a delicious lunch and acoutic music by her very talented family.
Many thanks to Richard Winkler, our Garden Guide, Kyle Hutmaker for dirt delivery and Dace, Shamsa, Conroy, Julie, Christie, Patti, Sarah, Carolyn, Hayley, Christina, and Yvonne for digging, drilling, pounding, planting and much more! The pictures tell the best story!
Bergman Garden completed
Many thanks to all-around hero Richard Winkler for taking the lead in helping Julie Bergman create a small space garden that will emphasize leafy green and tasty cool season root crops.
Many thanks also to Judy, Conroy, Neva and Ulyana for pitching in. You can see how happy they are with their handiwork!
La Vida Del Mar
Rolling Garden Boxes Delivered
La Vida Del Mar, a senior living center contracted with VGSD to build two rolling garden carts that would be easily accessible by the resident gardeners.
Gardening class coordinator Anglo Vitale will be using the boxes to expand the centers garden club activities.
Hope Garden Harvests Success!
Garden Guide, Joelle Budzynowski's and her gardening group's handiwork can be seen in these pictures. The garden was initially funded by the National Charity League, but needed an instructor. that's where VGSD and MHC connected.
The day I visited, the women harvested man pumpkins from the garden. VGSD will be providing future support to the Hope Garden by providing cool season seeds, a cold frame and a compost bin.
Schummer Daycare Garden Completed
August 22, 2009 found 12 VGSD'ers busily cleaning mulch, digging, wheel-barrowing and building a raised bed garden for the Schummer family in Chula Vista complete with a simple drip gardening system on a timer. This project had been scheduled for July, but an illness in the family required postponement until August. No matter! There were so many great volunteers, we finished by lunchtime! Many thanks to Bill Tall at City Farmer's Nursery for donating a cubic yard of soil to the project. Thanks also to the Schummers for keeping us energized with delicious snacks and lunch. Finally thanks to our volunteers Juanita, Dorothea, Marjorie, Yvonne, Richard, Diana, Erin, Ian, Yvette and Karl! As always, the pictures tell the story best!
IRC/New Roots Community Farm Grand Opening
Victory Gardens has been working with the International Rescue Committee at their New Roots Community Farm on 54th St. and Chollas Parkway, just one block south of University. We donated $400 to help buy passion fruit vines, hoses and digging tools. VGSD also coordinated the construction of a shade house and green house with Hoover and Crawford High student interns and volunteers from Lowe's and the Rotary Club.
South Park Victory Garden Completed
July 12th found 15 VGSD volunteers digging, building and planting at the home of Miles Thomas and Julie Lively. Miles is a licensed acapuncturist and very interested in herbal remedies and nutritional health. Julia Dashe was our Garden Guide and created a beautiful edible landscape for Miles and Julie. Their garden features dwarf citrus, a lettuce bed, herbs, corn, onions, goji berries and much more. We also created a two compartment compost bin. Many thanks to Julia and our hearty volunteers Mike, Jonathan, Laura, Yvette, Suzanne, Patricia, Ben, Cindy, Don, Kyle, Jeffrey, Mel and Kasey.
VGSD Graduates First U Garden Class
With much pomp and circumstance, or perhaps many plants and garden plots, our charter class of VGSD's University of Gardening graduated Saturday, July 18, 2009 at Shelly Stewart's home. Having picked, dug, pulled, irrigated, harvested and composted, our first class has earned their U Garden degrees. Many thanks to our Class "professors" Mindy, Julia, Mel, Anita and Bob. We look forward to this class and future classes growing great food and helping others do the same. Congratulations!
VGSD helps Pazzaz get growing!
Saturday June 13, 2009 found VGSD volunteers Nan Renner and Jolie Borboa at the Pazzaz Family Support Center. Adults and kids in the Team Support program put together a beautiful raised bed garden in about two hours from a previously unused area. Tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, strawberries, watermelon, oregano and onions were a few of the plants requested by the families for their garden. Kids learned about different plants and their watering needs. It was discussed how plants and humans need good care to thrive. Click here to check out Pazzaz programs. Many thanks to the Pazzaz staff, Pazzaz families and VGSD volunteers Jolie Borboa and friend Deniece and Nan Renner.