The Latest Dirt - July 2023

Water Conservation Garden is Grateful

By Liz Rottger and Liv Imset

The Co–Leads of the Water Conservation Garden, Liv Imset and Liz Rottger, thank all the UC Master Gardeners who have been coming out and kick–starting our second season of this new pilot project. We would like to recognize the West County UC Master Gardeners who have been helping us to convert a dead hillside into a vibrant eco–system: Pam Austin, Titania Buchholdt, Trish Clifford, Linda Garcia, Lorene Holmes–Dees, Brian Kerss, Dan Lent, Lauren Maghren with Baby Benjamin, Rachel Maldonado–Aziminia, Ken and Molly Ong, Val Simonetti, Mary Stewart, Barbara Turunen and Vivien Williamson.

 Titania Buchholdt and Vivien Williamson deserve special recognition for taking on leadership roles. Titania has taken on the maintenance of the pollinator garden as well as anchoring the weekly watering schedule. Vivien has shown up every workday and volunteered to jump–start composting at the Garden, a critical component in the success of any garden.

But we’ve not only had wonderful support from West County UC Master Gardeners, several CoCoMGs from ‘over–the–hills’ have also made the extra effort to drive to El Cerrito to give us a hand: Michele Jones from Pittsburg is a steady presence, and Marian Rule and Eric Wendlandt, first–year Master Gardeners from Walnut Creek, have dug in…to the weeds. We appreciate their willingness to make a long drive to volunteer.

With the commitment and support of these UC Master Gardeners, we are building community along with a beautiful new project demonstrating sustainable gardening practices with limited resources. We appreciate the enthusiasm around our shared vision!