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2525 N Avenue
National City, CA
619-434-4281 |
 Contact Us
Executive Director
Healy Vigderson
Gardens and Facilities Manager
Leonard Vargas
Nutrition Program Coordinator
Cherianne Barry
Coordinator of Volunteers and Outreach
Cristina Juarez
Development Coordinator
Claire Groebner
Garden Educator
Ananda Gunasekara
Schools Coordinator
Corrie Madueño
Garden Support Staff
Adan Teposte
Michael Ramirez
Reyna Rodriguez
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Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center was created by the
International Community Foundation
to further its mission of ensuring healthy communities and healthy economies in the cross-border region.
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Board of Directors
Chair:
Sam Dychter, M.D.
Vice
Chair: Trish Watlington
Treasurer:
Jacqueline Reynoso
Secretary:
Cathe Burnham
James Clark
Dennis Doyle, Ph.D.
Anne McEnany
Susana Villegas
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VISIT OUR FRESH
PRODUCE STAND!
Visit us during the Open House on November 22 from 10am to 1pm and take home seasonal fruits, & veggies freshly harvested from the garden
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| Pilates Class at the Gardens |
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| Volunteers at the Haunted Garden |
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Thank you to our sponsors for your recent grants to support our programs!
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Giving Tuesday is a Global Day of Giving celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. This day celebrates the amazing work achieved in our community as a partnership between generous donors and community members, community partners, companies and foundations, and nonprofits.
We are excited to participate and hope you will consider making a gift to Olivewood Gardens this holiday season to support healthy families and a healthy environment. You are the drivers of change and together we can continue to improve our community.
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Gardening for Butterflies and Birds
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Looking for a way to both reduce your water usage and create a low maintenance garden that attracts
wildlife
? Bring life and birdsong to your yard and garden by using native plants and a
wildlife
friendly design. By using native plants that are adapted to our climate you will encourage helpful insects and discourage disease and infestation problems. Best of all, birds and butterflies are naturally drawn to these plants. During this course, you can start planning your own native plant garden - one that benefits both people and
wildlife
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This
workshop
will be taught by San Diego Audubon Society's (SDAS) Board President, David Kimball, and is a collaboration between SDAS
and Olivewood.
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Upcoming Events and Programs
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Olivewood Combo
Tuesday, November 22nd from 10am to 1pm
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Looking for a fun way to help our community become healthier? Why not volunteer with Olivewood Gardens?
We have a role for you!
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Use LED lights to brighten your home this holiday season & save money!
California's energy rates are changing! Find out how you could potentially save on a Whenergy plan today.
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☆Kitchenistas- Eight Generations☆
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What We're Up To...October and November
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- It's been a busy fall for Olivewood! With field trips underway for our local partner schools, as well as schools from throughout the County, we are keeping on our toes!
- In October, we hosted a meeting for the San Diego County Mayors and representatives. We welcomed mayors and their representatives from throughout San Diego, introducing many of them to our programs and facility for the first time.
- We hosted our third Cultivating Conversation: A Dine and Learn Series. We featured an amazing (and completely vegan!) meal created by Executive Chef Victor Jimenez and Chef de Cuisine Chris Osbourne of Cowboy Star Restaurant and Steakhouse. Dr. Shidfar Rouhani of Bastyr University spoke about naturopathic medicine and using food to heal.
- With experts Tommy Gomes from Catalina Offshore and Kat Humphus from Savory Made Simple, we held our first family class for our Kitchenistas. They learned about sustainable fish, how to prepare a fish using all the parts, and to make a meal together as a family.
- Chef Matt Gordon and his team at Urban Solace hosted a Pop-Up Shop, inviting local artisans to sell their wares on the Urban Solace patio, with tray passed appetizers and delicious cocktails. Partial proceeds from the event benefited Olivewood Gardens and we appeared with Chef Matt and some of the vendors on the CW.
- We attended a number of community events both as vendors and representatives for our community including the Gardening with Class conference, A Place at the Table conference, National City's State of the City Address held by Mayor Ron Morrison, San Diego Food Systems Alliance meetings, the Live Well San Diego Advance Conference, and the Soil Shindig at Wild Willow Farm.
- We began a collaboration with the Healthier Living Program coordinated by the County to host "Tomando Control de Su Salud" workshops at Olivewood to helping community members manage chronic health conditions.
- We hosted families from San Ysidro Health Center's Salsita Program for a family field trip.
- In October, community members visited Olivewood for a gardening workshop, an Open House tour and Yoga at the gardens, generously provided by OG Yoga.
- The Kitchenistas met for their monthly meeting and took the annual group picture.
- We had 900 children and their families join us for our Halloween Healthy Haunted Garden. THANK YOU to our amazing team of volunteers!
- We started our first series of six Pilates Classes for National City Residents!
- Kitchenistas and volunteers completed a food handling certification.
- Kitchenistas took three art classes with Artist Roberto Salas.
- We welcomed High Tech High students for a special field trip that featured food justice and food as culture activities.
- An amazing group of volunteers from Scripps supported our garden programs by working on garden beds and propagating dragon fruit along the east hillside of our property.
- A fun and enthusiastic group joined us for our Healthy Holidays Cooking Class where we cooked up a storm, making a complete holiday meal.
- We will be closed 11/24 - 11/27 for the Thanksgiving holiday.
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Warm welcome to our new team member
Corrie Madueño
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| Corrie Maudeño |
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Corrie Madueño is the Schools Coordinator at Olivewood G
ardens. She works closely with schools and educators to coordinate our field trip program, school outreach, and educator support. We are so excited to have her on the team!
Corrie studied Spanish and Sustainability Studies at Point Loma Nazarene University where her passion for food justice blossomed.
After graduation, she served as a Food Corps Service Member at the San Diego Unified School District and gained experience from one of the country's most progressive Farm to School programs. Corrie is looking forward to partnering with others in the community to improve the health of San Diego and beyond.
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Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Candied Pecans
Created by Cherianne Barry
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
4 sweet potatoes (soft sweet potato with a copper skin and deep orange flesh), peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups pecans
2 tablespoons almond milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon coconut oil
salt and pepper
Optional: 1 tsp nutmeg or cloves
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Dice potatoes into 1" cubes and toss with cinnamon, olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, toss pecans with brown sugar and coconut oil.
3. Remove roasted potatoes and let cool. Place roasted potatoes and almond milk in food processor and pulse to desired consistency.
4. Pour sweet potato mixture into a 9x13 or 8x8 baking dish. Top with toasted pecan mixture.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are bubbling and pecans are toasted. Be careful not to burn the pecans!
Roasting sweet potatoes brings out the vegetable's natural sugars and sweetness, no marshmallows needed! Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are rich in iron and antioxidant vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene. Studies show that heat processing methods for sweet potatoes, such as roasting, not only releases beta-carotenes, but also makes them more accessible to the body.
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For more recipes, go
HERE
Participants of the Healthy Holidays Cooking Class
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