Staff Writer / Posted: Tuesday, Nov 10th, 2009
This schematic image depicts what a new “Food Forest” project in Paso Robles might look like. The project is supported through a one-year contract agreement between the city’s Library and Recreation Services Department and Transition Town Food Group Paso Robles.
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The Paso Robles City Council has approved the creation of a demonstration “Food Forest” on a 3,500 square-foot piece of lawn in front of Centennial Park Community Center in Paso Robles. Unlike the many community gardens found throughout San Luis Obispo County – where community members continually cultivate different plots on a collective piece of land – the Food Forest demonstration garden will serve as a springboard for local residents who may want to create their own sustainable garden at home.
The project has been carried out through a one-year contract agreement between the city’s Library and Recreation Services Department and Transition Town Food Group Paso Robles.
Transition Town Paso Robles Food Group is made up of eight Transition Town Paso Robles volunteers. The local group of about 35 members is part of the larger international Transition Town movement, which consists of 170 official “transition towns” that attempt to meet the challenges of peak oil, economic instability and climate change through rebuilding community resilience and self-reliance.
In the vein of this spirit, the Transition Town Paso Robles Food Group will host educational gardening workshops on how to mulch, prepare soil, practice alternative pesticide methods, grow fruits, nuts and vegetables and create a successful multi-layered garden ecosystem at home.
The demonstration garden ecosystem will include high, mid and low levels of green life including pistachio, persimmon, apricot, fig almond and plum trees, drought-tolerant perennials and vegetables such as tomatoes, squash, chard and carrots. Grape arbors will also be constructed and guava and pomegranate trees will provide a barrier from the wind.
According to Transition Town Paso Robles Food Group spokesperson Rosalie Wolff, the garden will stand as a prime example of local self-reliance.
“It is important to have local systems in place so that during economic downturns and climate change, you are able to be far less vulnerable,” Wolff said.
TT Paso Robles member and local Food Group volunteer Carolyn Fergoda echoed this sentiment.
“We hope [the garden] will improve the resilience of the local economy by freeing up some money people would normally spend on processed food, or food from the market, so that [gardeners] are able raise that food at home for less money,” Fergoda said. “We also want to include local businesses as they get on board with the project, whether they donate fence materials, trees or become involved with the workshops.”
The first public workshop is slated for January when the group plans to begin the tree-planting process, local TT Food Group member Terri Knowlton said.
According to Knowlton, the group is currently hoping for donations to help support the cost of an attractive fence, which will be erected around the garden to shield the food forest from hungry deer and possible vandals.
“The first thing we are going to do, after the fence, is go ahead and put down sheet mulching, which is a combination of cardboard and compost mulch material. As it rains during the winter, it will decompose and create a nutrient base,” Knowlton said.
As spring arrives on the Central Coast, the volunteers will begin planting the shrubs, edible plants and ornamentals. Knowlton said that in addition to utilizing drip irrigation, the group would host a workshop teaching community members practical ways to save, not waste, precious water.
“The whole project is going to take less water because of the methods we use. It really is common sense, but [the public] doesn’t always think like that when it comes to gardening,” she said. “Planting trees and bushes help to shade the soil so less water is needed. We will also put depressions in the soil so that any water that does fall, doesn’t run off.”
Paso Robles City Manager Jim App said he has high expectations for the project. “The garden is highly anticipated as a catalyst for home, neighborhood and even community development,” App said. “One yard at a time, we can transform the way we live, lessen our demands on the planet and create a more sustainable way of life.”
Fergoda said she hopes the garden’s high public visibility will help transform the piece of land into a shared and valued community space.
“The garden will help us get to know more people in Paso Robles that love to garden, who may not be members of a garden club but are interested in gardening in their backyard,” Fergoda said. “We hope that with the garden being in a public area – it will draw people from surrounding neighborhoods. We hope the garden will become a community gathering place and really influence people.”
According to Knowlton, if community members also choose to take the knowledge gained from the garden back home into their own backyards, life in Paso Robles could eventually include more food sharing within individual neighborhoods.
“What [Transition Town Paso Robles Food Group] is trying to educate the public about is that you can take out your front lawn and plant a garden. The ideal would be that the whole neighborhood could take part and share the fruits and veggies,” she said.
“Transition Town Paso Robles is an exciting group to be apart of because it isn’t about stating what is wrong and asking who will fix it. Our group is more interested in creating a vision of what we want to see in the world.”
For more information about TT Paso Robles or to donate funds, call Rosalie Wolff at 237-8972. Checks should be made to Institute for Sustainable Living, 615 Nicklaus Drive, Paso Robles, CA 93446.
For the complete article see the 11-10-2009 issue. http://tinyurl.com/yeglutt
