The 2024 Spring Garden Blitz is officially over!

And you, Butte County, rocked it!

It takes a village to do a successful Blitz! Thanks to the wonderful folks at Adventist Health Feather River Health Foundation, Chico Natural Foods and the Lundberg Family Foundation via North Valley Community Foundation for making the scholarship program possible. Hands On Tools Mobile Construction Training helped around 85 students total (not included in the final volunteer hours) from Chico Achieve and Ridgeview Schools to make boxes for Chico and the Ridge.  Site hosts, Jessica MacKenzie, Dede Duong and Jennifer Peterson provided spaces for being our dispatch centers in Chico, Oroville and Paradise/Magalia.

We had three tractor operators (Mark, Mark  and Robert) who were so amazing…and didn’t even ding one truck! Thanks to All Star Rentals for donating the tractor in Chico, and to Mark and Robert (again) for donating the use of their tractor and skid steer.

Thanks to the California Olive Ranch Company and California Conservations Corps for sending teams with smiling faces and strong backs. Thanks to the California Climate Corps Fellows who came out in numbers! And thanks to all of you from around the county who braved cold and rain for coming out to make all this possible. Truly would not happen without you!

We have now installed 550 Blitz Gardens since March 2020. Butte County. Wow!

What’s Next?

Free The Food Stand Build and distribution! We JUST got word that California Olive Ranch is going to build FIVE more Stands for the community!!  Go, Team California Olive Ranch!!

What's a Free The Food Stand? A mini distribution center in neighborhoods so folks can share their garden bounty. No refrigerators, no cut produce, just a way for us to be a community that grows (and shares) food together. Approved by the municipalities (we checked) these stands are about 7 feet tall, 3' wide and have a mural on the back. They can also serve as messaging centers for your neighborhood.

The new stands will need homes. Want to host a Free The Food Stand in your yard?  Apply here.

These stands are made possible by the generous support of

Live in Chico’s Barber District?

We’re having our first meetup to find ways to grow food together under our Neighborhood Garden Project. Maybe some of our neighbors have land that others can garden? Maybe someone has excess seeds, plants, tools to share? Maybe we can all do a huge block party canning day later in the summer? You want a Community Composting Center closeby? The sky’s the limit when it comes to creative ways to support each other to grow more food.

And why would we want to start to come together and support each other to grow more food? Have you looked at food prices lately? Although you won’t see it in the “official” reports, did you know that many predict they will continue to rise and maybe even double again by 2025?  We can come together to be more food sovereign! Join us if you live in the Barber on May 5 at 3. Please rsvp here for the location.

Want to get your ‘hood organized to grow food together? Want our help to get you started? Fill out this form and we’ll contact you tell you about how to become a Neighborhood Ambassador.

Community Gardens Everywhere!

We are updating our website, but wanted to share what we have so far with the Community Garden page. Check out all the gardens around the county and join them. Know of any we missed? Reply to this email and we'll get it on the list.  From Gridley to Oroville, Chico, Paradise and Magalia, folks from all communities are starting to grow more food together.

Want to join in the fun? Want to join in on work days?  Reply to this email and we'll connect you to the Some of the ones we are directly involved with:

Paradise Community Garden members have spoken! The new and upcoming Paradise Community Garden will live at a front part of the Déjà vu Nursery 5424 Foster Rd. There have been a few work days and ongoing organizational meetings. Follow the fun, then come out and others in Paradise here.

Magalia Community Garden- Team Magalia is up and on it! Come to their next meeting at 1PM, Sunday, May 5 at the Magalia Community Center’s community room. Find out more here.

Veteran’s Community Garden- the Veteran’s Community Garden is moving fast- the gate is up, the garden plans “bones” are in place and they are slowly starting to plant. The Veterans Community Garden is built to help Veterans with an overall holistic ,therapeutic and educational environment through sustainable gardening. Veterans and their families are invited to participate in this garden. Come to a planting day on Tuesday, May 7 from 9:30 to noon. Contact Rosemary Febbo for more information at rosemary@bclocalfood.org or 530-228-1308.

The Farmers Marketmobile brings food direct from the Chico Certified Farmers Market on alternating Saturdays to Concow or Forest Ranch, then every Sunday in Magalia. Please reply to this email if you want to be on the email and/or text alerts for the Market.

Bring your kitchen scraps on down!!

Events:

Paradise Garden Tour: It’s that time of the year- the Paradise Garden Club’s Garden Tour is June 1 and 2. Our Bumblebee Garden at Allison Denorio’s house (253 Burden Terrace) is on the list. Tickets and info available here. Please stop by, say hi and experience the magic.

Love the Land: (look for our booth and come say hi)

Check out all the Workshops put on UC Master Gardeners here and while you’re at the site, check out all their other information. They are a wealth of how to grow good food and gardening in general.

Like the Blitz and Free The Food Stand projects? Want to see them keep going? The best way to ensure we are able to continue these programs is to make a monthly donation to the work. When we all join in with small amounts, we create a more food sovereignty for all in our foodshed. Please consider, $5, $10, $25, $50 or more, monthly donation and watch us to continue growing!

The Team at BCLFN

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