Story by Kathleen Cotta ’05, Nikki Justino ’05-Alameda County Master Gardeners
A team of several Master Gardeners headed by June Wallace spent a full day setting up the irrigation for the Sorensdale Recreation Center garden. The school provided the materials and Master Gardeners provided technical and hands-on support. A great job was done by all.
This Garden is located at 275 Goodwin Street in Hayward. The primary purpose of this facility is to provide opportunities for developmentally disabled persons to participate in recreational, educational and daily living skills activities. Food from the garden is used in the on-site kitchen for all who attend the school. South County Master Gardeners have been helping the school for over two years.
Shelly Luchini is the Recreation Coordinator. and exhibits the huge onions in the photo above from the school garden raised beds. Sim Mirande is a Recreation Specialist and an instructor for many programs, including art, computer classes and the gardens.
Photos taken by Nikki Justino
Last April, the Master Gardener Program Coordinator in San Joaquin County, Marcy Hachman, was contacted by a few third grade teachers at Shasta Elementary school in Manteca. The teachers were interested in starting worm composting at their school but had little expertise. Then the Master Gardeners stepped in and taught a series of classes to both the teachers and the children. Two third grade classes started composting their lunch scraps after the MGs talked to the classes about worm composting do's and don'ts and all the benefits associated with it. The San Joaquin County Master Gardener program donated several pounds of worms to the school to get this project going and continues to keep in touch with the teachers involved. As a result of these classes, the kids at Shasta Elementary now understand the biology of worms, how to compost using worms and the Master Gardener Program recived some very nice acknowledgements in the local newspaper about both the program and the impact that Master Gardeners can have in the community. You can read the full story here: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090405/A_BIZ/904040313
