January Skills Share Recap
What a beautiful morning of knowledge exchange, community, and a delicious farm-to-fork meal at Three Sisters Gardens’ (TSG) first event of the year, the January Skills Share on Saturday January 18th. Topics covered were TSG Mission & Vision, Winter Crops, and Seeding.
We started off with an opening circle led by TSG Director Alfred Melbourne sharing the mission & history of Three Sisters Gardens along with upcoming projects. “Just like the Native American legend of the three sisters (corn, beans, squash) companion plants, Three Sisters Gardens believes that when the youth, adults, and elders work together, we can begin to heal and thrive.” - Alfred
Farm Manager Kat Burce did a farm tour identifying Winter Crops and speaking on our regenerative practices:
Winter Crops (the gist)
Sacramento - Hardiness Zone 9B
What we grow: peas, root veggies, brassicas, alliums, leafy greens
Root veggies are better direct seeded and others are better transplanted
Can also plant CA native plants in winter
Practice crop rotation - prevents loss of soil fertility and pest infestation
Read seed packets for plant requirements
One of the skills share attendees said you can hear cauliflower grow 🤷🏾♀️
Attendees got their hands in the soil with a seeding activity led by Kris Burce. Ten trays (72 cells) of flowers were seeded. That’s over 800 plants we started! Flower starts will be kept in the hoop house where the temperature is regulated, and the plants will be able to establish themselves better in a more controlled area away from harsh climates and gardens pests/animals. Incorporating flowers in your garden is not only visually appealing painting the field with their vibrant colors, but more importantly, flowers attract pollinators and beneficial bugs/insects. Seed list below:
CA Giant Zinnia
Thumbellina Zinnia
Gomphrena
Statice
Flowering Pollinator Blend (Arroyo Lupine, Baby Blue Eyes, Five Spot, Gum Plant, Chinese Houses, California Poppy, Globe Gilia, Tansy Phacelia, California Blue Bells, Gold Fields, and Lupine Bicolor)
There’s no better way to end the morning than breaking bread together. Shout out to Chef Pau for preparing the nutritious and wholesome farm-to-fork butternut squash soup and Indian tacos. She included our current winter crops (broccoli, peas, lettuce, butternut squash) and some of our preserved summer crops (tomatoes & corn) into the meal.
Here’s what our attendees had to say:
“The food created by chef Pau highlighting garden grown, produce is always amazing, the hands on skill sharing is great, the vibe is fantastic and empowering.I learn more every session I attend and incorporate what I learn into my own practices.Whether you want to learn for yourself, or your family and friends, or even on a community scale, these skill share sessions are a great place to be.”
-John Berchielli
And of course thank you to the community for showing up and sharing space with us.
With gratitude,
Three Sisters Gardens Team
