Save the date! Our next Urban Farm-to-table event- July 14th at Counterpoint

Save the date! Our friends at Counterpoint will be featuring several tasty seasonal dishes made with our produce on Saturday July 14th. Stop by for lunch, dinner, or a late night snack and drink. 20% of the day's sales will be donated to the farm! Please join us! Better yet, sign up for Paul's urban farming workshop that morning (see below) and stop by Counterpoint afterward!

Summer 2012 -- urban farming Workshops

A series of six 4-hour intensive urban farming workshops will be held this summer  to raise money to provide quality ongoing maintainence for the farm and support the program.Workshops will be held from 8am-Noon on Saturdays.
Instructor for all workshops: Paul Maschka, City College Sustainable Urban Agriculture facultyFee for each workshop is $100. Receive a $20 discount for each additional workshop that you sign up for!
All workshops are tax deductible.
We need at least 10 people registered for each workshop, and reserve the right to cancel any workshops that do not fill.
Download the workshop flier here or see the descriptions and dates below.Please email farm manager, Erin Rempala, for more information.To register, please make out your check to "Seeds@City Urban Farm"
& mail to:
Erin Rempala, Farm Manager
San Diego City College
1313 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92101July 7th- Getting Started: Seasonal Planning & Design: Find out what grows here and when to plant it
Discover the benefits of our simple climate––warm and cool season planting. People are often surprised to find out that we
can grow crops in winter in San Diego. Winter is actually the best time to plant in terms of quantity of produce and ease of
water requirements due to rainfall. Paul will provide a detailed list of what grows best in both cool & warm season. He will
help you analyze the space at your home, plan the layout of your garden for best exposure to the sun, and will include
important design do’s and don’ts. Techniques will focus on appropriate crops for our soil, region and semi-arid climate,
particularly the summer dry season and planning for the start of cool season.July 14th- Water: Rainwater Harvesting, Earthworks, & Irrigation
In this workshop, Paul will guide you through Brad Lancaster’s 9 principles for rainwater harvesting and show you how to
utilize these principles in your own garden. Earthworks techniques––methods for contouring the land to maximize usage––
will allow you to prevent erosion and trap rainwater for your crops. Learn to build berms, basins, and swales with only a
shovel and a level. Paul will also teach you how to utilize slopes and other areas that you might have thought that you
couldn’t grow on. The irrigation component of the workshop will focus on simple high-efficiency, low-volume techniques that
you can install at your home. You will learn both easy-to-find options available at your local hardware store as well as
options available for a small scale farm. Lastly, he will show you how we utilize these tools and techniques at Seeds@City
Urban farm.July 21st- Plant it, grow it, eat it! Organically: Learn how to build a bed, plant, and harvest organic produce
Paul will be teaching an amalgam of tried and true techniques compiled from world experts on sustainable gardening and
rediscovered from ancient farming methods of growing food. Techniques will focus on appropriate crops for our soil, region
and climate, particularly the summer dry season. Participants will also learn how to make their own complete organic
fertilizer (C.O.F.). Among other things, specific techniques covered will include how and when to plant crops appropriate to
San Diego's complex growing seasons; where best to plant specific crops to get maximal harvest; how to evaluate and
amend soil to improve it to crop-bearing and -sustainable levels; what insects and weeds are to be avoided, which are
harmless or even beneficial for crop-growing; and when and how to harvest your crops.July 28th- Locavore Empowerment : Gain familiarity with how to plant, harvest and prepare 5 local crops
This workshop will focus on the history, ease of growing, long-term value, nutrition, and cultural usefulness of several local
crops. Paul will start with a look at how these crops have been compromised by industrial agriculture and contrast that with
how traditional varieties sustained civilizations. The discussion and demonstrations will include: varieties of perennials and
long-season kale and brazing greens; dried, green, and shelled beans; the ease of growing, long-storage capability, and
high value of winter squash; varieties of sweet and flour corn; a look into the history of potatoes and sweet potatoes and
why traditional varieties are super-foods; as well as the benefits and options for multiplying onions. Paul will finish the
workshop with a cooking demonstration, which will provide you with options for quick healthy meals.August 4th- Uncovering the Secrets of Soil Fertility Enhancement
The soil is a diverse ecosystem teeming with microbes. In order to have a healthy garden and maximize production, we
need to become stewards of the soil. This workshop will introduce you to the soil food web, how it functions, and how we
can enhance it naturally, or stifle it with chemical fertilizers. Learn how to mimic cycles of nature––such as how forests and
prairies build soil––and how to employ these techniques in your home garden. In this intensive workshop, Paul will discuss
techniques and tools to build soil rapidly, working with nature. You will learn: the basics of composting correctly, how to use
compost and why it is the cornerstone of healthy organic gardening; the basics of worm farming; a simplified version of
cover cropping; crop rotation for home gardening scale; how to make and when to apply compost tea; sheet composting;
how to make and use complete organic fertilizer (COF) from ingredients available locally, and at half the price! Lastly, Paul
will teach you how to locate and draw on freely available resources in the urban environment to enhance soil fertility.August 11th- Habitat Gardening: creating an abundant food forest
Paul will teach you how to design a lush food forest at your home. This workshop will make use of the permaculture model
of growing food, and will teach you the basics of companion planting, and planting in guilds––food producing trees, shrubs,
groundcover, perennials and annuals mixed together to mimic a forest. These techniques include a mixture of ornamentals
and edibles, will enhance the local biodiversity, and keeps pests in check. You will learn how to provide niches in your
garden for beneficial native wildlife such as birds, butterflies, and other pollinators, as well as lizards and amphibians. Paul
will also discuss and provide you with a list of the best plants for attracting beneficial predatory insects. He will also cover
planning the layout of your garden; analyzing incoming and outgoing energies for your site; working with the topography,
seasonal wind exposure, and water; sun tracking; analyzing your soil; plant selection; and timing your plantings.

Save the date: SprinG Dinner at Sea Rocket Bistro

April 5th, 2012

Please join us during spring break for an amazing 3 course prix fixe dinner from Chef Tommy at Sea Rocket Bistro on Wednesday April 5th. $10 of each meal will go toward supporting the farm and our programs. Please make a reservation for dinner, and if you'd like to eat with the farmers plan to be there at 7pm.
See you in April!

Ongoing Events

Every Wednesday! Veggie Tasting Menu at Alchemy

Please stop by Alchemy for dinner any Wednesday starting Nov. 2nd. Chef Ricardo is now featuring our very own Seeds @ City produce in their weekly Vegetarian Tasting Menu! A portion the proceeds will go towards our Save Seeds @ City fundraising campaign.