Vallejo People's Garden 

-Pick all your vegetables in the coolest weather you can. Cloudy days, early mornings, and evenings are always best. -Use a clean, sharp knife to cut your vegetables from the plant. Be gentle when you handle your crops so they don't bruise. - Use clean containers to put your crops in. Some vegetables are still good a long time after you pick them. That is why it is important to pick and store these common vegetables first: Cabbage . Pick cabbage when the heads are firm. Keep them cold and moist. Cabbage will spoil after about five months. Carrots . Pick carrots when the tops are one inch around. Take the tops off the carrots. Keep them cold and moist. Carrots will spoil after about eight months. Garlic . Pick garlic when about half the leaves are yellow. Dry bulbs at room temperature for about two to four weeks. Store them under dry and cold conditions. Garlic will spoil after about four months. Onions . Pick onions when their necks are tight and their...

What is National Women's Health Week? National Women’s Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health . It brings together communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups in an effort to promote women’s health. The theme for 2012 is “It’s Your Time.” National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. It also encourages women to take the following steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases: Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings . Get active . Eat healthy . Pay attention to mental health , including getting enough sleep and managing stress. Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet. Why celebrate National Women's Health Week? We all have a role to...

Members of the Vallejo People's Garden at downtown Vallejo's Earth Day celebration. Sister Elvie, Darren, Kimmie, Amanda, and Vilma showcasing re-purposed plastic containers provided by Coca-Cola. Shout out to Coca-Cola and River Network for their support of the Vallejo People's Garden. Coca-Cola provided plastic containers and River Network provided diverter and linking kits for our rainwater harvesting class scheduled Saturday, May 5th. For more information, contact us at info@vallejopeoplesgarden.org Re-purposed plastic containers for rain barrels serve as a blank canvas for VPG volunteers/artists John McGuire and Jessy Chua. Kimmie with her work of art.

Would you believe we harvested over 105 lbs of carrots (tops and all) from the Vallejo People's Garden over the weekend? Here's where some of those carrots went to: Mario Moreno, Navy Marine Corp, served 32 months in Vietnam, Joe Vargas, Air Force, served in Vietnam.

Check out the mother lode of vegetables that we harvested recently--lots and lots of carrots, herbs, cabbages, artichokes. Tom with the HUGE cabbage he started from seed. He doesn't want to harvest this baby because he wants to see how BIG it will get. The record cabbage tipped out at 125.9 lbs from the state of Alaska. Sister Elvie with a bouquet of artichokes harvested from our garden. We have over a dozen artichokes growing from a single plant. And to think last summer, someone chopped down this one artichoke plant thinking it was a WEED!

A community garden wouldn't be complete without a greenhouse. Thanks to dedicated volunteers and master carpenters Jim McCoy, Russell Jenkins, and Dennis Scarla, we can now grow seedlings in our new greenhouse!!!

Beautiful irises in bloom. Did you know that Iris is a genus of 260 -300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a r a i n b o w , referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species. In April, we'll be helping kids from the Mare Island Health and Fitness Academy make coleslaw using cabbage and carrots from our garden. Here's the coleslaw recipe we'll be using: 6 cups shredded cabbage 1 cup shredded carrot 2/3 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons vinegar 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar , or to taste 1/2 teaspoon celery salt 1/4 teaspoon salt , or to taste Toss cabbage in a large bowl with the carrots. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture over the cabbage and carrots and toss to coat thoroughly. Refrigerate until serving time. Serves 6. Can you identify the plants in the pictures above? Pictures, courtesy of Tom Liggett.