River Garden Farms Co

Halloween is just around the corner which means it was time to harvest our pumpkins! The pumpkin patch did so well this season we were able to extend an invitation to our partners at the Yolo Food Bank to grab some for families and volunteers. As with all our food bank collaboration thanks to Aliyah Moreno from the food bank for coordinating with the farm, and thanks to all the volunteers that showed up on a Saturday morning to Knights Landing and filled 3 pickup beds and 2 trailers full of squash and gourds. We are pleased also that we could thank all the hard workers with pumpkins as well. Looking forward to the next project with the food bank!

We experimented for a second season with a sun hemp and buckwheat cover crop. Both were planted mid-August following a winter wheat crop. River Gardens goal is to increase some habitat value, protect and improve our topsoil in areas that traditionally would have been left bare soil for months on end. Anecdotal monitoring had pollinators hitting the field hard once the buckwheat bloomed, the timing was such that the buckwheat bloomed before the sun hemp really took off. The b...looms were at the top of canopy. If any other growers in the Sacramento Valley have any experience with these cover crops, we’d like to discuss some of the success you have had so we can have an even better result next season.

The totals are in! We worked with volunteers from the Yolo Food Bank and were able to donate: 1,643 pounds of zucchini and 5,968 pounds of melons during the month of September.

Excited to be a part of the Virtual Day in the Country! Thank you to Yolo Land Trust for all that you do for our community. Click the link to see how you too can support those in need. http://theyololandtrust.org/a-virtual-day-in-the-country/

Wrapped up the second zucchini harvest for the Yolo Food Bank !!! River Garden Farms staff and Yolo Food Bank volunteers filled an entire trailer that will go to families in need. We are grateful to be able to provide locally-grown and healthy foods to people in our community. We also want to say thank you to Tauzer Apiaries for donating the bees and pollination, to Lark Seeds for donating the seed, and of course the volunteers from the food bank for harvesting the crop!!

Another great day harvesting sweet corn for the Yolo Food Bank - Volunteers were able to pick 3,890lbs of corn for families in need. We are proud to be a partner and supporter of the food bank.

The third year of surveying of the SALMON SHELTER PROJECT is in the books and we can't wait to reveal the results later this year. Early signs reveal young salmon are using the structures which is great news for their health and growth before heading down stream! WATCH HOW IT WORKS AND WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO SALMON. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLqy3tBYr7k

We are excited to announce this is our second harvest where we have grown and produced crops for the Yolo Food Bank . Volunteers from the food bank picked sweet corn, filling two large bins in a matter of a few hours. The corn will go directly to those in need in our community. Even with the pandemic, we have worked diligently to follow county guidelines to keep our staff and volunteers safe while planting and harvesting the fields. We want to give a special thanks to Aliyah ...who has organized this wonderful program. Lark Seeds for providing the seed for the plots, and to River Gardens employees that did the work raising and caring for the crops. We were even able to increase what we will be providing the Yolo Food Bank this season and we look forward to more sweet corn, zucchini squash and watermelons over the coming weeks and months. We are thrilled to play a part and look forward to the next harvest!

It's that time to save the duck eggs once again. So far this summer we've collected 100 mallard eggs from our wheat fields!! This program is a partnership with California Waterfowl and the Rancho Esquon Hatchery. We believe it is important to farm in harmony with nature and this is a perfect example of how we can help protect local wildlife. https://youtu.be/qVz8wWTqkUI

Conservation is more than just making an effort to help wildlife on our farm - it is also about helping salmon upstream. This project - led by Reclamation District 108 Bureau of Reclamation California Department of Fish and Wildlife helps provide much needed spawning ground in the north state. We are proud to be a member of RD108 who values projects like these. https://youtu.be/00yekVhd0B0

We are working with universities and conservation groups to help the endangered salmon and to find solutions to bring their population numbers up. The partnership includes California Trout UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences California Rice Commission and many others in the Sacramento Valley. https://caltrout.org/article/the-fish-food-story

Khara Strum with Audubon California details our involvement in the Healthy Soils Program. This project reveals the soil building benefits of planting cover crops which also create bird and wildlife habitat. #Conservation #Audubon #HealthySoils #RiverGardenFarms https://youtu.be/qIymBTAe03A

The work continues to help find ways to increase salmon populations!

Collaboration is the key!

We think it is important to give back to the soil that provides so much to us. This is why we take part in the Healthy Soils Program.