Fruit Tree Pruning Demo in Salinas

  FRUIT TREE PRUNING DEMO — FREE & HANDS-ON 
📅 Sunday, January 11, 2026
⏰ 9:00 – 11:00 am
 
📍 Native Plant Garden at Santa Rita Park, 290 E. Bolivar St., Salinas
 
🚗 On-street parking only — weekend parking can be tight.
Tara Keyser from the UC Master Gardeners of Monterey County will lead a hands-on demonstration covering fruit tree pruning and ongoing care—perfect for home gardeners of all levels.
🌱 Volunteers welcome!
Help care for the native plant garden—bring gloves and a trowel or shovel if you have one. Other tools are provided.
🥤 Snacks and water provided
🎟️ Free and open to the public
📧 **More info:** Robin Lee   mailto:rlee@csmc.eco
Fruit Tree Pruning - 1-11-26 flyer
By Catherine Crockett, ago

Native Garden Preparation Day

🌿 NATIVE GARDEN PREPARATION DAY! 🌿

Volunteers! Join Monterey Adult School and Seaside community members as they kick off a new native pollinator habitat that will come to life this spring!

🗓 Tuesday, December 16
⏰ 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
📍 Monterey Adult School, 1295 La Salle Ave., Seaside

(Please check in at the front office before heading to the corner work site.)
No experience needed—just bring your enthusiasm to help create a thriving habitat for our local pollinators! 🐝🦋🌻

📲 RSVP by scanning the QR code on the flyer below.

Can’t make it? Scan anyway to join the mailing list for future volunteer days!

PrepDay Dec 16, 2025
By Catherine Crockett, ago

Monterey County’s First Miyawaki Forest Has Taken Root!

Exciting progress is underway at Del Rey Woods Elementary School in Seaside, where students, parents, teachers, and community volunteers came together on October 17 to plant Monterey County’s first-ever Miyawaki Forest!  Students had already laid the groundwork, turning a patch of dead dirt into nutritious soil – ready for planting.  They prepared the soil by layering cardboard, manure, mulch, and wood chips to build a rich foundation for native trees and plants.  

This project is part of CSMC’s community-funded “Big Idea” for 2024-2025, which involves creating Miyawaki-inspired microforests in local schoolyards and public spaces in Monterey County.  Each rapidly growing forest will become a lush, dense, vibrant habitat that
💚 Boosts biodiversity and wildlife.
💚 Fights climate change by capturing carbon.
💚 Improves air quality and cool urban areas.
💚 Restores soil health and fosters community connections, 

🌳 The students are experiencing the power of regeneration by growing the forests of the future! 🌳

Read about this project in a Monterey County NOW interview by Katie Rodriquez with CSMC President, Janette Leonidou:  A Microforest is Underway at Seaside’s Del Rey Woods Elementary School

Photo by Eyoel Kahssay on Sunsplash Unsplash.com/@eyoelkahssay

By Catherine Crockett, ago