Bay Area Permaculture Action Day

Spring into Action at the Gill Tract Community Farm

Join The Polish Ambassador & the UC Gill Tract Community Farm on Sunday March 20th for a day of celebration and planting for the coming Spring season. The UC Gill Tract Community Farm is a gorgeous urban farm in Albany, CA, just north of Berkeley, which grows tons of organic produce that is given away to neighbors, those without adequate nutritious food, and the surrounding community for free and by donation.

We will be digging a swale to capture rainwater and hold it in the soil, planting and beautifying the Ladybug Patch Children’s Garden, planting a hedge around the farm to stabilize the micro-climate and attract pollinators, planting out the biomass zone of the farm with a food forest of perennials, and prepping and planting the organic farm rows for Spring.

We have over 2,000 seedlings to plant!!

We will also have wonderful music and workshops throughout the day to entertain and educate, so check out the schedule below and come ready to take a break from planting and learn something new!

Detailed Workshop Schedule

10:30-11:30am Edible and Medicinal Weeds Under Your Feet
with Baruch Brian Schwardon of WateroftheVine.com

Baruch Brian will facilitate an exploration of getting to know the food and medicine all around us, as well as facilitate discussion on implications for food justice, and ecological health markers.

11:30am-1:30pm Medicinal Herb Garden Tour and Workshop
with Penny Livingston-Stark & Richard Koenig

We will be drawn to some of the 100 varieties of Medicinal Herbs and Plants on display from Traditions around the world. This will be an opportunity to become acquainted with the Herb plants, and experience how they can be successfully grown together. Penny Livingston is a world renowned Permaculturist and Leader of the Regenerative Design Institute near Bolinas California. Richard Koenig is designer and curator of Our Medicinal Herb Garden here on Our UC Gill Tract Community Farm.

12:30-1:30pm Decisive Ecological Warfare: A Workshop on Resistance Strategy

1:30-2:30pm Plant Propagation Workshop in the Ladybug Patch
w. Alexa Levy, Brooke Porter & Mallika Nair of Growing Together
(children encouraged to attend!)

2:00-2:30pm Soil Not Oil: Carbon Sequestration & Moving Away from Industrial Ag
with Miguel Robles

Hear about the connections between food production and climate change, and learn the solutions for the great transition that we are collectively undertaking, presented by Miguel Robles of the Soil Not Oil coalition.

2:30-3:30pm Nutrient Cycling with Microbes from the Wild
with Dennis Dierks

Dennis will present his techniques and experience in the wild harvesting of Lactobaccillis and other bacteria which are essential in nutrient uptake by plants, and the establishment of healthy organic ecosystems for vegetable growing as well as within our bodies. Dennis Dierks is the founding farmer for over 40 years of Paradise Valley Farm near Bolinas Ca.

3:30-4:30pm Seeds & Seed Saving
with Tali Weinberg (of Permaculture Design Course at Urban Adamah)

We’ll have some food and drinks, and please bring a potluck dish or something to share if you can!

We will have the farm stand open all day too! So come grab some produce from this urban, organic, community farm to bring home and cook; and you can even be the one to harvest produce for the streetside farm stand yourself!