Now Accepting Applications for Tour Host Gardeners

We are currently looking for a new crop of residential gardens to feature on next spring's Bay-Friendly Garden Tours. Host gardeners are native plant enthusiasts, urban food growers, permaculturists, do-it-yourselfers, landscape professionals and more. Gardeners interested in

Windy Hollow Farm: Taming the Land

"Ben and Jen hiked up over a steep hillside covered with poison oak, their new baby strapped to Ben's body. He and his wife were building a deer fence around 4 acres of their new property that would one day be their farm fields." So starts the story about Bay-Friendly advocates and regular blog contributors, Jennifer Ketring and Ben Duggan, in Sunday's Home & Garden section of the San Francisco Chronicle. Read this article, part of a 3-part series by Tara Duggan, posted on SFGate.

Chicken Tractor Power

Free ranging chickens can do many good things for garden beds. They eat bugs and other pests, scratch up weeds, cultivate the soil, and leave behind fertilizer. But, they will also eat greens, tear up seedlings, and scatter mulch everywhere. Chicken tractors can harness the positives of chickens, while controlling their down sides.

Loving Lavender

Purple spikes of lavender grace the garden this time of year, reminding us why Lavandula angustifolia is a mainstay in so many gardens. Of its many virtues, lavender’s drought tolerance satisfies the water-conscious, pollinators welcome those small purple flowers, herbalists and crafters appreciate its many uses, flower growers love its fragrance and beauty, and foodies capture its bold flavors.

Farm Camp

Farm Camp is becoming an annual tradition here at Windy Hollow Farm. It’s a chance for kids to spend focused time outside gardening, crafting, and cooking. This past week 22 farm campers, ranging in age from 5-9, made scarecrows for their home gardens, took walks identifying wild plants, planted vegetables in the garden, and cooked fresh