Time to Plant Big Bear’s Community Garden

Big Bear, Ca April 1, 2011 5:00 pm – The ground-breaking for Big Bear’s Community Garden was last September.  Gardeners everywhere dream and plan during what seems to be a never-ending winter.  Big Bear gardeners are no different.  Now that spring seems to have finally arrived, they are excited and hopeful about planting in the China Gardens site for the first year.  The donations of dirt and soil are waiting and the volunteers are ready to go.  What is needed is wood for the frames to create the raised beds, a chain-link safety fence, and wire mesh to keep gophers and ground squirrels from digging into the growing fruits and vegetables.  What is needed is donations and money to make the dream a reality.  A local building supply company has offered the wood at cost, but the garden organizers must raise the money to cover the cost.  Your help is requested to get the Community Garden ready for planting.  Donations may be made through the Lighthouse Project and at the Taco Night fundraiser at Sonora Cantina on Monday, April 11 from 11:00 am until 8:00 pm.  The Community Garden offers 44 plots for organically growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers, as well as fruit trees, an education amphitheater, and a xeriscape demonstration garden.  Located behind CVS on Fox Farm Road, requests for plots continue to be accepted and added to the growing waiting list.  To see more about the garden, including a brochure with the garden’s layout, go to the City of Big Bear Lake website.

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What Grows in a Big Bear Garden?

Community Garden Groundbreaking: Monday September 27th

Big Bear, Ca, September 23, 2010, 2:00pm - The Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project will have their groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, September 27^th, at 3 PM at the “China Gardens” site located on Fox Farm Rd. behind CVS Pharmacy. Interested community members are invited to join the Community Garden Committee, city officials, and county supervisor Neil Derry, as the first shovel is pushed into the soil.  To date, 24 people have signed up for one of the 34 available garden plots that will be constructed in spring 2011. In addition to the individual plots, there will also be a raised handicapped accessible plot, community fruit trees, and a common growing area for local food banks.  The winter months will be spent writing grants, gathering donations, and securing materials for the spring 2011 build. Donations and support have already been received from Supervisor Derry, Butcher Block, Park & Recreation, the Big Bear Group Sierra Club, A Garden Club and a number of individuals in Big Bear Valley.  For more information or to contact materials, contact Committee Chairman Robbie Bos at 909-486-7676.

8th Annual Xeriscape Garden Tour is Saturday, July 24th

Big Bear Valley, July 20, 2010, 12:07pm – The Sierra Club hosts the 8th annual Xeriscape Garden Tour this Saturday, July 24th featuring seven homes where the owners have created beautiful landscaped gardens that highlight drought-tolerant and native plants.  Unique to the tour this year, one home will be showcased where the homeowner has combined defensible space with xeriscape landscaping to create a garden that is both water and fire wise.  At this home, attendees can enter a drawing towards $1000 in gift certificates to our local nurseries; learn about creating defensible space and talk to fire prevention experts from the Big Bear City Fire Department.  The free, self-guided tour begins at Eminger’s Mountain Nursery at 41223 Big Bear Boulevard where participants can stop by anytime between 9am and noon to pick up a tour booklet.  The tour continues until 4pm.  One of the stops will take you to Hunter’s Nursery on Fox Farm Road where a native plant expert can provide detailed information on Big Bear native plants.  The City of Big Bear Lake, the DWP, BBARWA, Big Bear City Fire, Big Bear Marina, Big Bear City CSD, Hunter’s Nursery, Eminger’s Nursery, Master Composters, TSL Landscape and Maintenance, Nativescapes, Stalcup Landscaping and USAA sponsor the event

69th Annual Flower Show Presented by the Woman’s Club of Big Bear Lake

Big Bear Lake, CA, July 15, 2010, 6:26pm – Although we have a short growing season in Big Bear, especially this year, annually the Woman’s Club of Big Bear Lake presents spectacular results.  The 69^th Annual Flower Show begins Friday, July 16^th through Saturday July 17^th at the Performing Arts Center at 39707 Big Bear Blvd at the Civic Center in Big Bear Lake.  This year’s theme is “Birds and Blossoms”.  Entries must be submitted between 8 and 10am on Friday.  Flowers must be from your garden, your neighbor’s garden or the forest.  Judging will be from 10:15am to 12 noon.  This year’s special judges are Vicky Roney and Trudy Brown from the “A” Garden Club of Big Bear Valley.  The event is open to the public from 12 noon to 5pm on Friday and from 9am to 2pm on Saturday, July 17^th.  Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Plans Grow, and Permits Approved, for Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project

Big Bear Lake, CA — A community garden will soon be sprouting in Big Bear Lake, given the efforts of the grassroots group the Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project and the recent permits approval from the Planning Commission. As a June 16 decision from the Commission will allow for the development of a garden at 42050 Fox Farm Road, on the nearly half acre of County property between CVS and Medical Arts Pharmacy, garden committee member Robbie Bos tells KBHR, “We are thrilled with this opportunity to move forward. As we see it, this will be our first community garden, with more to come in different locations throughout the Big Bear Valley.” The garden will allow for individuals, or groups, to have their own plots to grow produce. As outlined by Bos, “We’re going to have over 36 dual garden plots, so everyone who participates will have two 4’x12’ plots with raised beds, which will be ADA compliant. We’ll also have a three-stage compost pile, and a staging area to be used for weekly talks by gardening experts. Probably the most important thing is that we plan to have a raised water tank in the center of the garden, which will then gravity feed into the garden plots. The garden will also include a cute, little residential fence around the perimeter and, in the future, we’ll have a fruit tree grove and a storage shed. We are going to go full blast with everything we wanted to do.” The community garden plots will be available to all Big Bear Valley residents on a first-come, first-served basis, and Bos anticipates there will be a waiting list—but, again, the plan is to have this be the first of many community gardens. “People will be able to grow their own food,” he adds, “and if they want to donate to food banks, that would be terrific. We’ll also have some open garden areas that we will use to grow specifically for the local food banks and the community.” Plans are to begin construction of the garden this year, to allow for planting in 2011—and, in the meantime, likely a community art contest to come up with a sign for the garden. Those interested in participating in the efforts of the Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project can call Robbie Bos for more information at 486-7676.

Affordable Apartment Complex Project Goes Before City Council; School Board and Planning Commission Also Meet This Week

Big Bear Lake, CA — The proposed affordable apartment complex, slated for a nearly three-acre site on Jeffries Road across the street from Big Bear Middle School, once again goes before the City of Big Bear Lake; this round, the developer, National Core, Inc., goes before the City Council for conditional use permit approval, during this evening’s 5:30pm Council meeting in Hofert Hall. Other items to be addressed during this evening’s (June 14) City Council meeting include budget adoption, vacancies on both the DWP Board and the Planning Commission, and a presentation on Forest Care. The Planning Commission for the City of Big Bear Lake also meets this week, on Wednesday at 1:15pm, and also in Hofert Hall in the Big Bear Lake Civic Center. The June 16 meeting will address permit approval for the Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project, potentially designated for 42050 Fox Farm Road, and a discussion item regarding design standards for signage within the City.
The school board for Bear Valley Unified School District also meets this week, with a special meeting planned for 12:15pm this afternoon (June 14), during which time tentative agreements with the two unions, BVEA and CSEA, are expected to be ratified.
The Board of Commissioners for the Department of Water and Power will not be meeting for their regular, monthly meeting tomorrow (Tuesday), due to lack of a quorum.

No Outdoor Watering for DWP Customers This Weekend; Conservation Measures in Place for Summer Season

For water customers of the Department of Water and Power, there will be additional water use restrictions over the Memorial Day weekend, so you may want to plan to do your outdoor watering in the meantime. On Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend, DWP customers serviced in Big Bear Lake, Sugarloaf, Fawnskin and Lake Williams are asked to refrain from watering, in order to allow for adequate water flow, should it be needed for fire suppression. As all DWP customers are under either Stage I or Stage II conservation measures, all outdoor watering is to be done on the odd/even schedule (as the date corresponds to your address), and either before 9am or after 6pm. That said, watering will need to be done today or Friday if your street address ends in an even number, on Thursday or Monday if even. The DWP will allow an exception; if planting new plants or shrubs over the holiday weekend, customers will be allowed to water them at that time. Any questions on this weekend’s outdoor watering restrictions can be directed to the DWP at 866-5050.

Big Bear’s A Garden Club Springs Into Action, Starting With Monday’s Kick-Off Luncheon

Big Bear Valley, CA — As it hasn’t snowed in, now, over a week, the Big Bear Valley’s “A” Garden Club is ready to spring into action, starting with a kick-off luncheon to be held on Monday, May 10. A Garden Club President Vicky Roney says that whether you have a postage-stamp sized garden or acres to plant, the garden club offers a wealth of information, including tips on composting, birding, xeriscape, soil preparation and plant selection, and many other topics that are covered during second Monday meetings, June through October. But, first, the kick-off luncheon, which takes place at the Sizzler Restaurant (on Big Bear Boulevard, just east of the Moonridge Y in Big Bear Lake) on Monday. Attendees are encouraged to come early to purchase lunch, as the meeting will get underway at 11:30am and continue until 1pm. Garden Club members are asked for a $15 registration fee, which covers the group’s insurance and workshops offered through the summer season. The first regular meeting in June will be held at Copper Q in the Village, from 10am to noon on the 14th; subsequent second Monday meetings will be held at the Big Bear Discovery Center, and also from 10am to noon. For more information on the A Garden Club, contact Vicky Roney at 866-9817.

The Big Bear Community Rocks Out for Big Bear High School

A Thank You from the Lighthouse Project

Big Bear High School Principal Mike Ghelber simply wished that Big Bear High could “look like a school in the mountains.”  The barren land at the front of the campus was incongruous with the energy of the staff and students within, not to mention the forested surrounding areas.  With no funding coming in the foreseeable future, it seemed as though this might not change.  But the power of community came through on Saturday, April 17, as over 70 community volunteers descended upon those barren slopes to create a rock riverbed feature for a xericape that will soon grace the campus.
In Big Bear, it appears that our motto is: “Just say yes.”  I am always overwhelmed with the generosity and cooperation of our community.  For starters, Reverend Jean Sweet, the expertise and driving force behind the success of school vegetable gardens, created a design for the area.  The San Bernardino Forest Association (SBNFA) signed up immediately to help with labor, organization and coordination with the US Forest Service.  They recruited the help of J & J Restorations, experts in the field of native landscapes.  The Lighthouse Project recruited volunteers who worked diligently, harvesting rock from other parts of the campus to complete the rock riverbed.  The work crew started at 8:00 a.m. and, to the surprise of all involved, the feature was nearly complete by 3:00 p.m.  Big Bear High School students, who comprised about one third of the volunteer work force, were among the hardest working and most enthusiastic.  Many volunteers complimented them for their hard work and positive attitudes.  Parents, teachers, students, administrators, district staff, counselors, and a School Board member could be found maneuvering wheel barrows, wrestling with rocks and placing them with care in the riverbed.
A true hero in the project was Gary McCord of McCord’s Tractor Service.  When other resources fell through at the last minute, Gary didn’t hesitate to fill in.  He loaded, hauled and placed the beautiful boulders donated to the project, and in the process treated volunteers to a show of his finesse with a tractor.
While volunteers at the riverbed enjoyed a perfectly warm, sunny day, another small cadre diligently cleared mounds of snow from the garden beds at Big Bear Elementary School to prepare them for spring planting.
The next phase of the xeriscape project, which will take place in September, will include the planting of pine seedlings and native plants to complete the project.  When complete, the area will be maintained by Mother Nature and will require no watering or irrigation.
The satisfying end result of the volunteer day can be gazed upon for years to come, but those present would say that being involved in the spirit of that day, working hard for a good cause with delightful people of all ages, was the greatest gift.  The Lighthouse Project extends an enormous thank you to all of the volunteers involved, and especially Reverend Jean, the San Bernardino National Forest Association including Alison, Stacy, Marco, Joe, Monica and Diane, the US Forest Service, Principal Ghelber, Jerry Vantine and the City of Big Bear Lake, and our amazingly giving and caring community.  Please stay posted on future opportunities to experience a day of fun in the sun.  Volunteer to help with school vegetable gardens, including this year’s addition at Big Bear High School.  We are in wild anticipation of liberty and vegetables for all!

Beth Gardner
for The Lighthouse Project

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