Seminar on Tending our Vegetable Gardens in a Drought

calif-drought-28jan2014

Update: This event has been canceled. Hopefully we can put another one together soon.

California is in the midst of a frightening drought, which is why I’m happy to be participating in a one day seminar on Sunday, March 23 on the topic, “Tending Our Vegetable Gardens in a Drought.” Here’ the 411:

Los Angeles is in a severe drought condition and spring planting is just beginning. As stewards of our gardens how can we be respectful of this drought and still have our favorite veggies and fruits this year? Many of our old summer favorites are summer water guzzlers.

And what do we do about our lawns, the biggest water guzzler of all?

With 95% of our state in drought conditions and 91% of which is severe, this rainstorm has done very little to prevent the water shortages we will have this year. What techniques can we use in the urban setting to utilize city water for our gardens without wasting this precious resource? How can we support the health of the soil while respecting the drought?

Step out of your comfort zone and come and join sustainability experts author and blogger Erik Knutzen and Master Gardeners Ken and Jeanne Berry for a discussion on all of this and more. Drought conditions are as old as the Earth and there are cultures that have developed efficient water management techniques for their own environments. There are fruits, vegetables, grains and herbs that have adapted to more drought tolerant conditions than their temperate climate cousins.

Let’s not be reactive to the drought, but be proactive to tending our gardens based on our climate. We will have seeds for spring and summer planting and will have hands on activities.

We are pleased to have seeds for the participants from SeedsNow.com and Bountiful Gardens.

Date: Sunday, March 23, 2014

Time: 10-4


Place: The Berry Urban Farm, Woodland Hills, CA.


Price: $35.00


Contact information: [email protected] or 818-884-6118 or 818-599-5636. Make check payable to Ken Berry, 3506 W Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505. Payment is only confirmation of registration in class. Details of class including address will be sent upon confirmation of registration.

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2 Comments

  1. My sympathies – we went through extreme drought here in Texas a couple of years ago and it wasn’t pretty! We are still recovering from it in many ways. But it’s amazing how much you can still do in the garden, especially if you’ve been working on building your soil beforehand. Be sure to mulch HEAVILY, and water early in the morning. Shade cloth may help too. And the lawn? Let it die. Consider it a good time to take it out and lay out your new permaculture edible landscape beds 🙂

  2. We’ve been in a drought for a few years now and it just keeps getting worse. I attended the New Mexico Organic Farmers Conference a few weeks ago and the two main focuses were drought/high desert food production and the plight of our pollinators. I left the conference incredibly inspired and am excited to implement some new techniques in the garden this year as well as be much more intentional about harvesting and using caught water.

    I hope you find your workshop equally inspiring. Growing food without water is a strange and stressful thing, but it *can be done 🙂

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