Events - Upcoming

Free Community Soil Lead Testing Workshop

Are you growing food in your yard, an urban farm or community garden, but don’t know if your soil has been tested for lead (Pb)? Do you want to test your soil before starting a garden?

• - Learn about what makes urban soils healthy, about when and why lead in garden soil is dangerous, and how to grow healthy food and keep yourself safe.
• - Sample your own soil after learning how to do it.
• - Return the samples to us for FREE testing for lead (Pb)!
• - Get soil results and recommendations for gardening safely.

The June 9 workshop has been cancelled due to extreme heat. We will reschedule in mid or late July so stay tuned or contact us for the new date.

Soil testing is limited to 30 sites in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Walk-ins are welcome and we will test your soil if possible. Please plan to attend two workshops and take soil samples from your garden..

Workshop website: https://east-bay-soil-lead-testing.weebly.com/
Workshop hosted by Nora and Bonnie, Ashby Garden and Sarick Matzen, UC Berkeley Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Program.

Medicine Making Workshop

Saturday, June 22, 12-3pm- Taught by Lisa Sanderson Fox and Melanie Molina
Learn all about the abundant medicinal herbs in Ashby Community Garden and how to harvest and use them from longtime herbal practitioner, Lisa Sanderson Fox. Learn different herbal preparation methods, such as tinctures, infusions and salves from herbalist Melanie Molina.
$10-20 donation suggested for materials, but no one turned away for lack of funds.
​For info contact Melanie- ​guacamelly@gmail.com

Events - Ongoing

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We have work/play parties the last Sunday of every month, 12 - 3 pm where we maintain the paths and grounds together, do special projects, such as composting, sign painting, seed sorting, planting and share delicious potlucks made from fresh garden produce.

Other ongoing events include:
Surplus Sundays during harvest months, when we welcome guests to pick surplus produce.
A biannual vegan food swap of home-made food, soaps & other plant-based products.
Pollinator garden tours where you can discover the many garden pollinators in season.

Past Events:

• Composting 101- Lori Caldwell from StopWaste taught techniques of making great compost
• Medicine Garden Tour- Herb walk with Lisa Sanderson, tincture making with Melanie Molina
• NorCal Resilience Network workshop on water-saving garden features
• Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness gatherings to build community
• Native Bee Presentation from UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab, learn to support our native bees
• Monarch Butterfly trainings, providing milkweed & training in raising monarchs from caterpillars
• Community Gathering to share ideas and visions about the future of urban gardens and green open spaces in Berkeley
• Soil Workshops Series taught by Rob Benneton from UC Cooperative Extension on how to build healthier soil and test for toxins in the soil
• Natural Dying Workshops taught by Rachel Haight, using plants to make beautiful fabric dyes
• Berkeley Project Days - Student groups from UC Berkeley volunteer and help us with amazing projects and transform the garden.
• Seed Saving with Seniors, we save our seeds each year to replant share them with the community.
• Bees as Muse, an Isadora Duncan style dance performance in the garden, celebrating bees
• Albany Green Fest, we participated in this Fest with sales of pollinator friendly plants
• Soil not Oil Presentation, we were invited to present at this International Conference
• World Renowned Muralist Louis Masai visited to demonstrate his unique graffiti bees
• Permaculture Blitz, we called for volunteers to blitz us a new greenhouse in one day!!

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