Learn how to grow edibles

CARLSBAD — Pointing out the success of the Vista Farmers Market, Mark Wall hopes to increase the local food creation in gardens by creating more gardeners.
“For too long, farmers markets have been just about business and downtowns … it is time that they were about food and neighborhoods, too,” Wall said.
Three beginning Food Gardener classes are planned from 2 to 4 p.m. April 4, April 11 and April 18 at the Carlsbad Community Garden, 750 Laguna Drive (north of City Hall).
According to Wall, more than 10 percent of the shoppers at the Vista Farmers Market have expressed interest in learning more about gardening. In a move to make the classes varied, the Carlsbad community garden was selected as the site for the series of classes. The Carlsbad Community Garden, with a three-year-long waiting list, is a diverse group of gardens.
With the rocky economy, there is likely to be an increased interest in gardening, and backyard livestock. Recent food scares have increased the interest in local food —both from local farmers markets and home gardens. “There is no fresher food, nor better tasting food, than that you grow yourself,” Wall said.
He added there has been a 16 percent increase in sales of food-producing plants at the Vista Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.
This series of three two-hour classes will cover the basics of planning, soil, and water and cost $5 per class.
The project is part of Just Balance, a new nonprofit and volunteer-led organization, with the mission of “Educating and stirring people to know about and care for themselves, each other, and the greater natural world by restoring a sustainable balance of economics, humans, nature, and spirit.”
For more information, contact Mark Wall at [email protected] or call (760) 945-3900.