Dinner in the Grove
Join us Saturday December 7
for an ALL-INCLUSIVE evening of
Delicious Food, Live Jazz, Wreath-Making,
Local Beer, Wine, and Fun.
This annual benefit supports the good work of
Noyo Food Forest
Location:
Mendocino Grove
9601 N Hwy 1, Mendocino
Buy your tickets now!
Join us SATURDAY DECEMBER 7 from 5-9pm at MENDOCINO GROVE for an ALL-INCLUSIVE evening of Delicious Food, Live Music, Wreath-Making, Local Beer and Wine, Live Auction, and Fun. This annual benefit supports the good work of Noyo Food Forest.
5-6pm Live Music, Wreath-Making, Welcome Drinks
- Wreath-making with Golden Coast Florals
- Music with Gabriel Yañez Trio
- Appetizers, Drinks, Beverages
6:30-9pm Three-Course Dinner, Dessert, and Live Auction
- Chef Marc Dym
- Menu TBA with Vegetarian option
- Complimentary Beer and Wine
- Live Auction with Auctioneer Tom Allman
Auction Highlights:
- Garden Packages – full-season garden support: inspiration, consultation, seeding, weeding
- Adventure and Travel Packages – dinners, wine tasting, and hotel stays
- Much, much more!
Please note: dinner and activities are under a HEATED TENT
The event will be held under a huge circus tent with plenty of open space and just the right amount of heaters to keep us warm.
BUY TICKETS NOW
Special Opportunity
Mendocino Grove has offered us fully-furnished standard GLAMPING TENTS for a discounted rate of $125. Enjoy the evening’s food, wine, and fun without worrying about driving home. Call 707.357.7680 or email admin@noyofoodforest.org to reserve.
Rain? We’ve got you covered.
Your donation directly contributes to Noyo Food Forest and The Learning Garden – our center for education in community-based agriculture since 2006. NFF provides organically grown produce to our community and Fort Bragg Unified School District, and offers students education in sustainable gardening, land stewardship, and our local food system.
Come to our Community Garden Workday, September 28
Join our 8 week CSA program and get your Summer CSA Box now!
Get a box of just-picked organic vegetables, fruits, and more while supporting Noyo Food Forest’s student internship program.
Salad Mix | Zucchini | Peas | Onions | Garlic | Chard | Beets | Tomatoes | Arugula | Cucumbers | Radishes | Apples | Fresh flowers & herbs | and MORE!
- Thursdays: July 11, 18, 25 and August 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29
- Get all 8 weeks of produce for $224, or week-by-week for $32 per box
- Delivered to your door (Fort Bragg residents) or pick up at Noyo Food Forest
Summer is here, and so is our CSA program. During the school year, we focus 100% of our garden production on growing fresh produce for the Fort Bragg School District cafeteria programs. With school on summer break, we shift gears to our Community Supported Agriculture program, providing boxes of sustainably-grown produce, flowers, fruits, and herbs to our community.
Get more information and sign up NOW!
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THANK YOU!
OUR Hearts are FULL after celebrating NFF’s 15th Annual Earth Day Festival
We are thrilled to share with you the incredible success of our 15th Annual Earth Day Festival, held at Noyo Food Forest’s Learning Garden on April 20. Thank you for your support, contributions, and dedication. This year’s event was nothing short of remarkable.
Over 1,200 people in our community showed up to celebrate the Earth! Pomo and Yuki Elder, Edwina Lincoln, spoke again this year, guiding us into a moment of loving stillness with our land. She was joined by Ui Wesley with a powerful chant. Our entertainment acts were Seaside String Sisters, Boomdrums, Gwyneth Moreland & Morgan Daniel (of Foxglove), Circus MECCA, and local favorite, 2nd Hand Grass (featuring Gene Parsons).
The sun was out! The celebration included 28 local non-profit organizations & their earth-friendly activities, NFF’s BBQ with Fort Bragg Rotary, a live bio-char demonstration with Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc, creative banner making with artist Janet Self, 8 local artisans, a vibrant plant sale staffed by NFF’s core volunteer crew and Garden Manager Ryan Schnirel, a raffle of Cold Creek Compost, NFF’s famous pedal powered smoothie bike, and our interactive up-cycled NFF Earth Day t-shirt press. Student volunteer participation was off the charts!
We are delighted to announce that we raised over $18,000 (net) for Noyo Food Forest, a testament to the generosity and commitment of our community. These funds will go directly to support:
• Supporting our Summer Intern program, which begins June 18
• Sustaining our summer and fall garden programs
• Continuing our partnership with Fort Bragg High School, supporting student involvement and education
We THANK our generous sponsors, and the 50+ volunteers who spread wood chips, baked cookies, set up art projects, chain-sawed tree limbs, ran the plant sale, peddled the Smoothie Bike… and so much more.
With your support, we will continue to provide garden education and healthy food to our kids, and promote food sovereignty and sustainability in our community.
With love and gratitude
Your Noyo Food Forest Board of Directors and Staff:
Teresa Raffo, President
Ericka Lutz, Vice President
Tracy Wolfson, Treasurer
Jill Eldridge, Secretary
Anne Harvey, Board Member-at-Large
SA Ephraim, Board Member-at-Large
Beth Horkman, NFF Director of Operations & Earth Day Event Planner
Alicia Gilbert, Event Volunteer Coordinator
Celebrate the planet. Be a part of the fun.
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THANK YOU to everybody who made our annual benefit Dinner in the Grove such a roaring success!
What an amazing evening.
So many people came together to make this night happen, and we appreciate each of you. we enjoyed music by Ira Rosenberg on piano with Sally Wells singing vocals. Golden Coast Florals led another brilliant wreath workshop to start the evening. Chef Heather King and her amazing team put together a beautiful farm-to-table dinner, which include wines by Panthea, Bee Hunter, Bonterra, and more! North Coast Brewing provided our beer.
This year, we had a live auction. Thank you, Tom Allman, for leading an auction to remember! Thank you to this amazing community who donated the many goods and services for the auction packages.
Thank you to the student volunteers of Fort Bragg and Mendocino High School for your help and hard work. We couldn’t have done it without you! And to all our volunteers, we are here because you continue to show up, we appreciate you!
Event photos by the talented @nik_z_photo.
It was a beautiful night, and we were incredibly happy to celebrate with our beautiful community. Can’t wait to do it again next year!
DINNER in the GROVE
Saturday, December 2
5pm-9pm
Mendocino Grove
9601 N Hwy 1, Mendocino
Join us Saturday December 2
for an ALL-INCLUSIVE evening of
Delicious Food, Live Jazz, Wreath-Making,
Local Beer, Wine, and Fun.
This annual benefit supports the good work of
Noyo Food Forest.
5-6pm Live Music, Wreath-Making, Hot Toddies
- IZ Jazz – Ira & Zida Piano and Vocal Jazz
- Wreath-making with Golden Coast Floral
- Appetizers, Winter Cocktails, Beverages
6-8pm Family-style Dinner
- Chicken Tagine* with preserved lemon, almond couscous…
- *Vegetarian Tagine option
- NFF Mixed Greens with pickled beets & shallots
- Apple Cake with Creme Chantilly
Complimentary Beer and Wine from
- North Coast Brewery
- Handley Cellars, Panthea, & Bee Hunter
Live Auction Highlights
- Garden Packages – full-season garden support: inspiration, consultation, seeding, weeding
- Anderson Valley for Two – dinners, wine tasting, and two nights at Anderson Valley Inn
- Much, much more!
Please note: dinner and activities are under HEATED TENT
Click Here for Tickets
Special Opportunity
Mendocino Grove has offered us 20 of their fully-furnished glamping tents for the night. Enjoy the evening’s food, wine, and fun without worrying about driving home. Offered at the incredibly discounted rate of $125 while supplies last. All proceeds go to Noyo Food Forest.
Call 707.357.7680 or email admin@noyofoodforest.org to reserve.
Rain? We’ve got you covered.
OLDER UPDATES BELOW
Late Summer Update 2023 –
New Team Members, Interns, CSA!
We have been busy in the gardens this summer. The Learning Garden is thriving with new NFF team members, our Summer Intern Program, and CSA boxes of fresh produce. The connections between our programs and our supportive community are strong.
Introducing NFF’s New Team Members
We would like to introduce and welcome Elizabeth Horkman as NFF’s Director of Operations and Ryan Schnirel as our Garden Manger. Their combined experience, skills, education, and passion will continue to drive NFF’s longstanding mission: ‘to cultivate a healthy local food system by creating opportunities for Mendocino Coast youth and community.’
Elizabeth Horkman’s education and background in communications and event planning steered NFF’s 2023 Earth Day Festival, which raised over $20,000 and attracted 1,200 coastal community attendees. She continues to use her interpersonal communication skills and passion to grow food sustainably, accessibly, and locally. Since her hire in February 2023, she has managed the organization to continue the NFF founders’ vision, effectively leading daily operations, programs, and projects.
Ryan Schnirel has years of regenerative, biodynamic and organic farming experience on the Mendocino Coast. Most recently, he taught Architecture Field and Materials at the University of Oklahoma. Ryan says, ‘I want to provide solutions, empower students and be a contributing voice in our local food systems.’ In his role as NFF Garden Manager, Ryan will tend NFF’s Learning Gardens and aid Fort Bragg Unified School District (FBUSD)’s Career Technical Education (CTE) classes as, beginning in Fall 2023, we collaborate to bring high school students into the Learning Gardens for classes.
Summer Intern Program
During our summer internship with students, the connection between education and nature flourished. Our eight interns embraced the hands-on experience of planting, cultivating, and nurturing the gardens. Guided by experienced mentors, the interns had lessons in seed sowing, compost development, and harvesting with sustainable practices. The summer internship showcases the profound potential of the Learning Gardens as a catalyst for education, growth and positive change. We are thankful to the Fort Bragg Garden Club for sponsoring this program. Their continued support allows students to learn the importance of growing food for themselves and their community.
PHOTO: Interns in the Learning Gardens with NFF Garden Manager, Ryan Schnirel
CSA
At the core of our CSA program is a dedication to sustainable, localized food to our community. This summer we delivered fresh produce to 16 community members. Our boxes were filled with NFF salad mix, sungold tomatoes, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, flower bouquets, garlic… the list goes on.
Stay tuned for more updates soon!
Apply NOW for our Summer 2023 Intern Program!
June 19-August 4
(We do not meet the week of July 4)
The internship at The Learning Garden is an opportunity for high school students (age 12-17) to learn about sustainable gardening, gain valuable job experience, and explore our local food system. The SUMMER 2023 Internship is a paid opportunity with CA Department of Education work permit required, provided in the application. The Learning Garden is located at 300A Dana Street on the Fort Bragg High School campus.
The Noyo Food Forest intern program has demonstrated an ability to increase student interest in agriculture. We engage students who have never been exposed to garden production, while expanding the curriculum for returning interns to include more advanced skills in garden planning, propagation, soil / water management, and local food production.
When can I apply?
Apply NOW until June 12.
Who is eligible to participate?
Students ages 12-17 are eligible to participate, and will be required to complete a CDE work permit. ALL students who live in and around the communities we serve are encouraged to participate.
How much will interns be paid?
Interns who complete the full 60 hour program (ten hours a week for six weeks) will be paid a stipend of $420 on completion.
What is the work like?
Every day is a little different. Interns participate in all areas of sustainable gardening – seeding, planting, weeding, composting, harvesting, etc. with a focus on our summer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.
What are the dates and schedule of program?
The intern program runs June 19-August 4. (We do not meet the week of July 4.)
We will meet 10 hours a week, schedule TBA.
What should interns wear for work?
Be ready to get dirty. We work in all weather, including rain. It is important to dress comfortably, wear layers and adapt to the changing weather conditions near the coast. Our classroom (The Shade House) is a covered but open-air/outdoor workspace. Please bring sunscreen and/or something to protect your face. Close-toed shoes are mandatory.
How does one apply?
Click here for our online application and CDE Form B1-1 (work permit). Applications will also be available in the Career Office at FBHS and at the Noyo Food Forest office. Due to limited enrollment, all applications are reviewed and students will participate in an interview process prior to placement.
Who do I contact with questions?
NFF Staff – admin@noyofoodforest.org
707-357-7680
If you have more questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to answer any questions about this opportunity.
This summer internship is sponsored by the Fort Bragg Garden Club. We thank you for your generous support!
Thank you for making Earth Day 2023 such a success!
We are grateful for your support and participation in Noyo Food Forest’s 14th Annual Earth Day Festival & fundraiser.
More than 1,200 people attended Saturday’s event and the sun was out. We were honored to have Pomo and Yuki Elder Edwina Lincoln open the festival with a moving ceremony, and main stage entertainment by MC Dred Scott, Lavender Grace and the Honey Hive Ensemble, Keeter Stuart, and 2nd Hand Grass.
We hope you enjoyed the day with delicious food, fun activities, aerial feats by CircusMecca, a lively Farm Panel with local farming celebs, 26 non-profits, artisan crafts, informative workshops, mural painting, bustling plant sale, a peddle-powered strawberry smoothie, and so many happy, smiling faces.
Thanks for showing up and being generous. We raised over $21,000 (net) for the Learning Gardens! These funds will go directly to support:
• Expanding our summer intern program
• Promoting food sovereignty through plant propagation & sales
• Continuing to grow good food for the cafeteria at Fort Bragg High
Thank you to our generous sponsors, and 50+ volunteers who spread wood chips, baked cookies, set up art projects, chain-sawed tree limbs, ran the plant sale, peddled the Smoothie Bike… and so much more.
With your support, we will continue to provide garden education and healthy food to our kids, and promote food sovereignty and sustainability in our community. We are also thrilled to let you know that Fort Bragg High School has hired a teacher to lead a CTE program in the Learning Garden, beginning Fall 2023. This will further expand Noyo Food Forest’s impact.
Once again, thank you for showing up. We could not have achieved this success without you.
In love and gratitude,
Teresa Raffo, Board President
Tracy Wolfson, Board Member
Ericka Lutz, Board Member
Jessica Scribner, Board Member
Beth Horkman, Festival Organizer
Michelle Wieloch, Event Volunteer Coordinator
Earth Day Festival 2023
Saturday April 22nd, 12-4pm
FREE EVENT!
Noyo Food Forest proudly announces our Earth Day 2023 festival Saturday, April 22. We are excited to bring back this community event and fundraiser – our 14th annual! – for the first time since 2019.
Earth Day is an international celebration. Our multicultural and multi-generational event brings people and organizations from all across our community to celebrate the earth with our love and knowledge of sustainable farming and gardening, the environment, and local food sovereignty.
Earth Day 2023, hosted at the Learning Garden on the Fort Bragg High School campus, offers fun kids activities, informational workshops, a Spring plant sale, educational panels, artisan crafts, delicious food, live music, local vendors, community nonprofits, and our famous bicycle-powered smoothies – all with a focus on sustainability and cultivating community.
Click here for more information….!
PAST EVENTS……
December 2022
Join us Friday, December 9, for
Dinner in the Grove!
Join us for our fall fundraiser at Mendocino Grove for a fun and delicious evening to celebrate Noyo Food Forest, honor our volunteers, meet the new board members, and raise money to help fund our 2023 season!
More information and tickets…
The Learning Garden at Noyo Food Forest is a one acre garden located on the Fort Bragg High School campus. Founded in 2006, the mission of The Noyo Food Forest is to cultivate a healthy local food system by creating opportunities for Mendocino Coast youth and community to learn about, grow, and access sustainably grown, garden-fresh foods. Produce from the garden is harvested and delivered to the local school nutrition services, food bank, and senior center. Noyo Food Forest is supported financially by plant and produce sales plus donations and grants, and operated by staff, board of directors, students and volunteers.
Now more than ever, our community needs the Noyo Food Forest; our mission is not just about growing good food and showing the next generation how to do it, it is about hope, community, persistence, and offering all people a place to come and be a part of something that is wonderfully alive.
The Noyo Food Forest has been a part of the community for over seventeen years and in these times, we especially feel a renewed sense of purpose, drive, urgency. If you would like to be in touch, members of the board are available via email at admin@noyofoodforest.org or noyofoodforest@gmail.com.
Noyo Food Forest is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, donations are tax-deductible. EIN 76-0842972. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
AUGUST 2022 Update
WE LOVE OUR AMAZING COMMUNITY!!!
THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO CAME OUT SUNDAY
WHAT A TREMENDOUS SHOW OF SUPPORT!
There were 42 enthusiastic participants contributing ideas and supporting the effort to ensure the Noyo Food Forest remains a vital and thriving part of our community.
Special thanks to the Garden Friendly Community for helping to spread the word, NCO for attending and offering so many great ideas, and Fort Bragg High School, represented by the new Superintendent Joe Aldridge, who is exploring the prospect of formally bringing NFF into CTE curriculum. There is so much here to be grateful for. Thank you!!!
Next Steps:
1. Building a Strong Board:
Thank you to all those who expressed interest in becoming a Board Member on Sunday and others who were not able to attend Sunday’s meeting. We are taking applications now. If interested, please email admin@noyofoodforest.org for more information.
2. Volunteer Now
In this period of transition, we need volunteers. You can contribute by:
a. Working in the gardens – Veronica needs help in all aspects of a production garden including: weeding, mulching, planting, harvesting, pest control..repeat. We promise to send you home with a bag of something fresh and delicious.
b. Office Administrative Assistance – grant billing, office organization, day to day follow up..etc.
c. Community Outreach – social media, website maintenance and old fashioned letters.
To Volunteer: admin@noyofoodforest.org
3. Fund Raising
Stayed tuned…once we get settled as a board, we will need lots of help planning the fall fundraiser and Earth Day in the Spring. Until then, your financial contributions will be used well and much appreciated.
SPRING and SUMMER 2022 Update
Our Mission
We are doubling down on the important Farm-to-School component of the founding mission. Garden productivity will be 100% focused on providing fresh produce to the Redwood, Dana Gray, Middle and High School cafeterias. The goal within this year is to supply over half of FBUSD nutrition services high demand produce items like lettuce, broccoli, peas and tomatoes. Pricing is not and will never be a barrier for getting locally grown produce into the schools and we will continue to match the commercially grown competition. Ultimately our goal is to become one of FBUSD’s leading produce providers.
How
NFF remains in close communication with Pilar Gray, FBUSD Nutrition Services Director, and our partnership continues to strengthen while navigating continuous changes together. The first action item is the re-implementation of standing orders which we received last week and will take us through fall of 2022.
Given our close proximity – NFF Garden is just a short walk across campus to the FBHS cafeteria – our Farm to School partnership allows for gardener and student participation in cultivating, harvesting, and delivering the freshest produce directly to those preparing school meals.
We are grateful that one of NFF founding members Veronica Storms is leading the mission as our Garden Manager. She is an extraordinary gardener, originally from La Tierra de Perez Zeledon, the rich agricultural foothills of Montana de Chirripo of Costa Rica. She’s been living on the coast for over twenty years, and is vastly experienced in farming the various microclimates of this region. She is currently completing the Permaculture Design Course at the Permaculture Institute of Santa Cruz.
Veronica has been actively working in the Learning Garden since December 2021 – cover cropping the main outdoor beds, prepping and planting the hoop houses, and propagating specific for the school cafeterias.
Students in The Learning Garden
After much deliberation, we have decided to pause our regular intern program for the spring and summer 2022 sessions while we focus on school food production. There are students in The Learning Garden, via independent study partnerships with Fort Bragg and Noyo High Schools.
Your Support
We need your support now more than ever. Please be part of the Community Support Meeting, Sunday, August 28th, 11am at NFF.
Volunteer
Please consider volunteering! Tasks include, but are not limited to: seeding, planting, weeding, infrastructure. It’s a great opportunity to share this rewarding work in an inspiring environment, and to take home fresh grown food! Email for more information.
Donate
Financial support helps offset the cost of growing and delivering organic fruits and vegetables to the schools ~ Your contribution directly impacts local, healthy food reaching the children in our community.
Stay Tuned
Coming soon: fundraising activities schedule and job opportunity information.
Sincerely,
NFF Board – Teresa Raffo, Steve Lund & Tracy Wolfson
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Mendocino County Public Health Department COVID19 Information
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