Olivewood Gardens in National City, CA

View of Mt. Miguel from Olivewood Gardens

During the last six months we have been were so busy restoring and renovating our fixer-upper that I forgot to talk about our lovely new neighborhood.

We live in a town called National City that has been nicknamed Nasty City and National Sh*tty. Basically, it's known for being a bit on the ghetto side of things, but there does exist a little pocket called Olivewood Terrace that has lots of history and a few Victorian homes.

One such home was owned by a Mr. Oliver Noyes who picked this Princess Anne style out of a Sears catalog!

The home is now part of Olivewood Gardens, a community garden with a focus on school field trips that teach and promote organic gardening and healthy cooking. When Isaiah's mom was in town last week, we participated in the organization's weekly tour (every Tuesday at 10 am) and learned all about the great things they're doing in our community.

Students learn to cook healthy foods using greens from the gardens on the property, and since Olivewood Gardens is so busy with school programs, Specialty Produce supplements their needs by donating fresh produce!

(We also just learned about Specialty Produce's CSA-type service in which every Thursday we can pick up a Farmers' Market Box at Olivewood Gardens for $20, $2 of which goes to Olivewood Gardens as a donation. This is our first week trying out their service, so I'll be sure to let you what kind of goodies we get in our box.)

I'm thrilled that Olivewood Gardens is part of my neighborhood and look forward to learning about volunteer opportunities with them when I attend their volunteer meeting next month.

Here's to healthy, organic eating!

The Education Garden

You'll find various types of composting at Olivewood Gardens, including WORMS!

Lots of green things and different types of boxes. These raised boxes are senior-citizen friendly.

Chicken Butts! One of the things the students learn to do in the kitchen is crack an egg! The eggs come from these free-range chickens that roam around the gardens.

A monarch butterfly chrysalis