Erda Gardens and Learning CenterMay Events
Posted on May 1, 2013
Starting this month, the Erda newsletter will come twice a month. We will post all upcoming events at the first of the month, followed by farm news, recipes, and reflections around the middle. Volunteers are always welcome and needed, so please please call us if you wish to volunteer, or if you wish to bring a group to the farm. As always, thank you!
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A Biodynamic Process
Posted on April 26, 2013
Spring Fever
At the center of Biodynamics is the Stella Natura calendar. This year, it advises us to be wary of “Spring Fever” and to hold true to “devotion [becoming] the force of sacrifice.” I try to meditate on this idea as we devote several hours to transplant spring seedlings into the ground. In two weeks the greenhouse will release thousands of starts: lettuce, kale, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy and strands of onions, thin as hair. Each bed needs mulch to retain water, and shade cloth to prevent frost and damage, and to keep those tender leaves safe under the sun. The cloth also acts as a barrier from the lovely but ravenous cabbage moth, who would be too happy to lay her eggs on any available brassica, and leave her hungry caterpillar kin to munch and carve hallways into the heads of our sweet cabbage crop.
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Help the Farm Plant Spring Seedlings
Posted on April 7, 2013
First, A HUGE thank you
to all the volunteers who helped with César Chavez Day of Service Learning!
With the help of La Plazita Gardens and Bernalillo County Open Space, we brought over 350 youth from local schools onto our Sanchez Farm site for a fun-filled day of hands-on learning! A special shout out to Jessica, Maya, Mick and Pete for making our stations run smoothly and going the extra mile to help our farmers, Moon, Jimmy and April facilitate.
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April Events
Posted on March 28, 2013
Erda Work Party!
Come help the farm get ready for another amazing season. We will be composting, prepping beds, feeding our perennial herbs and cleaning up our distribution area. Meet new people and learn gardening skills at the same time! Please wear sun protection, we will provide tools, gloves and water. Bring a potluck dish to share if you’d like. Always kid-friendly.
Sunday, April 14th | Potluck: 12:00 pm, Work Party: 1:00 pm–4:00 pm
Erda Gardens & Learning Center | 1305 Blake SW
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Volunteer Opportunities
Posted on March 22, 2013
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March Events: FREE Workshops, Work Party at the Farm and more!
Posted on March 5, 2013
A HUGE thanks to all who made our Annual Soup-er Supper Fundraiser and Membership Drive an amazing success!
The weather is warmer and we are planting! Hope to see you this month at a FREE Workshop, for one of our Work Parties or at our forum: Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves: A Conversation on the Intersections of Spirit and Land Stewardship later this month.
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Erda Gardens Top Bar Beekeeping Classes
Posted on February 19, 2013
Bees have been worshiped by ancient Egyptians and tended by honey lovers all over the world. Their recent decline has lead to an international movement that seeks to teach “natural beekeeping” methods. Hives are popping up in backyards, gardens and even on rooftops all over Albuquerque. Did you know that our city is a great place to keep these tiny winged wonders? Come get the skills and information you need to keep your own hive. This season we are offering both an introductory course as well as a five class hands on intensive.
Introduction to Topbar Beekeeping
Saturday, March 2nd 1:00pm – 3:00 pm
Learn the basics of beekeeping with Megan Mahoney. This introductory workshop will cover everything you need to know to get started! Brought to you in partnership with the Albuquerque Old School.
Location: Erda Gardens & Learning Center 1305 Blake SW
Cost: $15 space is limited!
Register here!
Hands on Topbar Beekeeping Intensive
Every third Saturday, April–August 10:00 am–12:30 pm
Each class will build on the knowledge gained in previous classes so participants must enroll for all five classes, this is not a drop-in class! There are only ten spots to ensure hands-on work in the hives and therefore participants will leave with a real working knowledge on how to maintain their own hives.
All participants are encouraged to take Megan’s Beekeeping Basics class on Saturday March 2nd to learn about equipment, life cycle and general honey bee information.
April 2
0th – Hiving New Colonies – Learn how and where to purchase bees and boxes. Megan will be bringing boxes of live colonies and we will be placing them in new top bar hives. We will also cover how to begin watching for and catching swarms.
May 18th – Swarms and Spring Hive Maintenance – Learn to identify the signs of a hive about to swarm and how to prevent swarming by splitting and other techniques. We will cover important things to remember at the beginning of beekeeping season.
June 15th – Food, Forage & Water – Learn how to keep your bees healthy through the hot summer months, what plants can be used to enhance your bees forage crops and different methods for providing water.
July 20th – Trouble Shooting – Explore common problems hives face in the Albuquerque area. Learn the signs of stress and methods of remedy. We also will cover mites and other pests in this workshop.
August 17th – Honey Harvesting and Processing – The bounty the bees give us in return! Learn the best methods for harvesting honey and ways to separate, store and use beeswax.
Location: Erda Gardens & Learning Center 1305 Blake SW
Cost: $250 for all five classes
Register here
Megan Mahoney is currently the co-chair of the Albuquerque Beeks and purveyor of Mahoney Apiaries. Megan fell in love with bees over 10 years ago when she worked at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab. She has been keeping bees ever since in Top Bars, Langstroths, Wine Barrels and pretty much anything else a colony would move into. She has lots of experience
ce with live bee removal and trapping, commercial queen rearing as well as teaching adults and children alike about these intricate insects. She can be found winning blue ribbons at the state fair, peddling honey and comb at local farmer’s markets and most recently traveling to Jamaica to spread the love and knowledge she has on these important pollinators.
Erda Gardens SOUP-er Supper Fundraiser and Membership Drive
Posted on February 12, 2013
It’s that time of year again!
Come eat delicious home-made/home-grown food, listen to Eileen and the In-betweens and support local agriculture all in one lovely evening.
Erda Gardens and Learning Center is a non-profit and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project whose mission is to provide fresh, healthy produce in a manner that preserves and enhances local farmland, builds community through shared work, play, education, and food, and to be an evolving model of sustainable agriculture that connects humans, wildlife, and the environment.
The SOUP-er Supper is for Erda members—past, present or future—and members of the larger Albuquerque community who want to support local food and farming. We encourage you to buy your tickets in advance.
GREAT DEAL ALERT: If you sign up for the 2013 season and pay in full at the door, not only do you eat gratis, you’ll get $50 off the total price of a share. This year there are many exciting distribution locations to choose from, and for the first time we are offering delivery! So why not make this the year you commit to supporting local food? Not only will you and your family eat much better, you will have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your food was grown with care and intention, and without pesticides, chemicals or GMOs.
Soup-er Supper Fundraiser and Membership Drive
Children’s area, seed blessing, community-building, live music and FUN!
Sunday, February 24th from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Mennonite Church 1300 Girard NE
Meat, Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten Free options are available!
$15 – $20 suggested donation; $5 kids
No one turned away due to lack of funds!
Backyard Farming Series: Free Fruit Tree Care Workshop 2/2/2013
Posted on January 26, 2013
Erda Gardens Community:
The Backyard Farming Workshop Series is back! This series is free and open to the public and is a collaboration between Bernalillo County Open Space, The Hubbell House Alliance and Erda Gardens and Learning Center. You can find the complete 2013 Workshop Schedule here.
We are kicking off the season with our most popular workshop, Fruit Tree Care on Saturday, February 2nd. We must limit the number of attendees this year due to the limitations of the space, so please pre-register! Please see below for the flyer and registration information.
We are also regularly updating our workshop schedule for the season. Please visit the Erda Events Calendar to see all the upcoming opportunities, including the Soup-er Supper Fundraiser and Membership Drive, February 24th. Get your ticket for it now!
Fruit Tree Care Workshop
February 2
9 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Gutierrez-Hubbell House
6029 Isleta Blvd. SE (3 miles south of Rio Bravo on Isleta Blvd.)
Tree Care 2013 Flier: Click for Full-Size Verison
Learn correct techniques for pruning, what fruit trees thrive best in your landscape, when to plant, and proper planting guidelines. Space is limited to 50 participants, so sign up today. Additional opportunities for small group hands-on pruning exercise will take place later in the month. Registrants are eligible for a raffle prize at the end of the workshop.
To register, email Colleen at calangan@bernco.gov or call 505-314-0398.
A fresh start on an awesome website
Posted on January 15, 2013
Hello, Members and friends of Erda Gardens, it is I, Adam, your new web… person!
We thought it would be good for me to introduce myself.
I’ve worked with words and images for about ten years, with a design focus primarily on books. I’ve worked with the Downtown Action Team, the National Poetry Slam, the Harwood Art Center, 516 ARTS, and a host of individuals and small businesses. Like Amanda, I’m a poet. I ran a small poetry press for 9 years, where I served up 100% of the design, and about 90% of the editing. I was for a short while deeply into slam poetry; in the divorce I got the performance chops, it got the scoring mechanism. I also publish, design and frequently write for a certain foul-mouthed guide to the Duke City.
I got into web work two years ago.
I’m a staunch composter, reuser and recycler. I ride my bike for transportation (sold my car in 2012), am slowly moving my rented casita off-grid, and I’m eager to learn the basics of farming. I believe capitalism is a necessity only insofar as it’s how the majority operates. I relish the opportunity to help groups like Erda, who incubate off-the-charts heart and integrity. My goals with the farm’s marketing and design are to leverage its wonderful features to help it meet its needs, in ways that feel true to Erda’s mission.
If you’d like to vet me a little, here are a few of my projects:
- An Underground Guide to Alburquerque (the guidebook)
- Destructible Heart Press (the press)
- The Dredge Cycle (my book-in-progress)
- Gourmet Book Design (my portfolio)
