Seed Swappin’

One of the goals of our Mother Garden Biodiversity & Nursery program is to conserve agricultural biodiversity and share it with the broader public through seed saving and Plant Sales. At the seed exchanges we host each year (such as at the Ecological Farming Conference or the Sebastopol Grange), OAEC gives away over 100 pounds of seed and […]

Former School Garden Program Director to Teach 2016 Teacher Trainings

We’re thrilled to announce that OAEC’s former School Gardens Program Director Tina Poles will be leading our two flagship School Garden Teacher Trainings this year. Tina has been working in the school garden movement since 1984. As the Director of the School Garden Program at OAEC (now called the Resilient Schools Program), she was able to […]

OAEC Daughter Garden for People Living with HIV/AIDS

What if a food bank distributed not just canned and donated goods, but fresh, organic produce grown right onsite? The Food For Thought (FFT) Food Bank in Forestville, one of OAEC’s Strategic Partners, is doing just that. Their robust one-acre garden—which OAEC Mother Garden Program Director Doug Gosling helped to develop in 1999 and still […]

Perennials You Can Plant Now

If you’re an avid gardener, you are probably about to get your Fall and Winter annuals into the ground, or have already done so. However, there are also many perennial food crops, culinary and medicinal herbs, ornamentals, pollinator-friendly and drought tolerant plants that you can begin to nurture in your gardens and landscapes now through early Winter. Join us […]

Drought Action

These are extraordinary times in California–especially in the Dutch Bill Creek Watershed, where OAEC is located, and the watersheds surrounding it. The water in our creeks is so low that the already threatened coho salmon species is in great peril. In response to this mounting issue, OAEC’s WATER Institute helped found the Russian River Coho Water Resources […]

OAEC Nursery Staff Spotlights

Behind the scenes at OAEC are dozens of talented hourly and part-time staff members. Here are some of the wonderful people who give their time, energy and love to the OAEC Nursery, our 100% California Certified Organic nursery specializing in heirloom and often rare annuals and perennials, many of which are drought-tolerant. Come meet them (the people and the plants) at our Fall […]

Last Summer Plant Sale Weekend

Saturday and Sunday are the last two days of the Summer Plant Sale until our Plant Sales resume for our Fall Plant Sale! We still have an incredibly wide array of beautiful heirloom varieties of 100% California Certified Organic seedlings for your summer garden: dozens of varieties of tomatoes hot and sweet peppers eggplants cucumbers summer and winter […]

The OAEC Cookbook is Here! Plus: Sample Recipe

We are thrilled to announce that the long-awaited Occidental Arts & Ecology Center Cookbook has arrived! Published by Chelsea Green and with a foreword by Alice Waters, the Cookbook shares the abundance of the OAEC Mother Garden through delicious recipes, stories and photos. Congratulations to the book’s facilitator and co-author, Kitchen Manager Olivia Rathbone, who kneaded love, seasonal know-how, […]

It’s Spring! What To Be Planting Now

Annuals Gardeners — the days are getting longer and warmer, so we know you’ve got the itch to start playing in your garden beds! There are many crops that you can start planting now. At our Spring Plant Sale (first 2 weekends in April), we will have hundreds of 100% Organic seedlings of the following annuals: Brassicas such […]