Victory Garden Workshop in San Luis Obispo
The Victory Garden workshops consist of a series of four workshops that teach beginning gardeners the basics of starting a vegetable garden. We spoke with UC Master Gardener, Becky Bednar, about her experiences and inspirations that led her to begin this program in SLO. Becky was a Master Gardener volunteer in LA County and transferred to the SLO County program in December 2019. And we are grateful to have her.
Q&A with MG Becky Bednar, Victory Garden Workshop Organizer
When did you first learn of the Victory Garden workshops?
In 2017 a Master Gardener in my neighborhood encouraged me to attend the Grow LA Victory Garden workshop at the Venice Learning Garden. I had been doing ornamental gardening for years but wanted to learn more about edible gardening. I enjoyed the classes so much I enrolled in the Los Angeles County Master Gardener program and helped start a new Grow LA Victory Garden workshop at my neighborhood in 2019.
What inspired you to organize this workshop series in SLO?
I wanted to take the program that works so well in Los Angeles County and model something like it in San Luis Obispo County. The Grow LA Victory Garden program is a neighborhood-based series of hands-on workshops designed to give beginning gardeners the basic skills and science-based knowledge to start their own edible gardens in their yards, on their patios or in community gardens. I had the template from my experience in Los Angeles and there was nothing like it in San Luis Obispo County. We were in the middle of a pandemic when Heidi Harmon, the Mayor of the City of San Luis Obispo, was asking our program coordinator, Maria Murrietta, for help with Victory Gardens in SLO, and the timing seemed right.
During this time of Covid-19, was is difficult to get people to sign up for the workshop?
Was it difficult to teach these workshops with masks and social distancing guidelines in place?
This was the first organized event permitted in a public park by the City of San Luis Obispo Parks and Recreation Department since the pandemic began in March. The most challenging part of the project was waiting to get authorization to hold the workshops in a San Luis Obispo community garden. Once the project was approved, we had no difficulty getting people to sign-up. The class was full within 48 hours of posting on social media. We sat in a semi-circle under a large pine tree next to the Rotary Community Garden. The class size was limited to eight participants and two Master Gardeners and we wore masks and stayed six feet apart. I think everyone was so grateful to be doing the classes in person they were accepting of the Covid requirements.
This quote from one of the participants sums it up, “Look forward to attending! A welcome relief to the smoke, isolation and lack of fun in our lives!”
The MG program of SLO County doesn't typically charge for workshops. Why was it important to charge for this workshop series? Did those funds go back to the MG program to pay for supplies?
We charged a registration fee for the workshops to raise money for the community garden where the classes were held. Most of the supplies were donated by a local nursery so almost all the fees went back to the Rotary Community Garden. The fees also help hold the participants accountable to attending the classes. Discounts were given to community garden members.
Do you have any plans to continue offering these workshops? Either in SLO city or beyond?
My hope is that the Victory Garden model will be used as an outreach program for other communities of San Luis Obispo County. I would like to see Victory Garden workshops offered every spring and fall by Master Gardeners for their local neighborhoods. The local Master Gardeners could start community gardening circles of Victory Garden graduates offering ongoing support in edible gardening geared toward their local microclimate.
What advice would you offer to people just getting started in the garden and interested in growing edibles?
Start small with a raised bed, container, or small plot. Pick a site that gets at least 6 hours of sun a day and is near a water source. Grow things that your family likes to eat. Plant in good soil using high quality raised bed soil or compost amended soil. If using seeds, follow the instructions on the packet. Water according to the needs of the plant. Pay attention - go out and look at your garden every day to catch the first signs of pest activity, improper irrigation, disease, or anything else that could affect plant health. Don't give up if a plant fails. Try to learn from your mistakes. Your garden will teach you a lot!
Thank you, Becky, for all you do for SLO County.