LifeGarden, a Contra Costa-based nonprofit educational organization formed in 1999. We promote sustainable land use and ecology education through classes, tours, publications, an informative website, and a variety of community projects. We offer special events for our members and maintain a sustainable gardening library for their benefit.

LifeGarden actively collaborates.. We have sponsored and/or participated in the two-county Bringing Back the Natives garden tour in past years. We cosponsored the 2007 Contra Costa County Creeks and Watershed Symposium and were instrumental in the creation of the Walnut Creek Watershed Exploratory Committee. Our Iron Horse Corridorhabitat restoration program is receiving increasing notice and praise.

We are seeking volunteers to help with our administrative needs, represent us at community events and participate in our habitat restoration efforts. LifeGarden is a membership organization. If you like what you have just read, please join our nonprofit and get involved!

Mission:

Board Members:

President
Judy Adler has been actively involved in environmental education in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than two decades. Since 1992 over 25,000 K-12 students have participated in her educational field trips in Mt. Diablo State Park. She has been honored for her conservation work by Save Mt. Diablo and the Contra Costa County Commission for Women. As District 3 representative to Contra Costa County's Iron Horse Corridor Management Advisory Committee, Judy initiated LifeGarden's Sustainable Trails Initiative. She participates in the Contra Costa County Watershed Forum.

Terry Byrnes, a designer, writer and consultant for environmental education and outreach, was one of LifeGarden's founders. She is an environmental scientist currently at work on the Eco-wise Certified Integrated Pest Management program funded by the State Water Resources Control Board. Terry is a UCCE Contra Costa Master Gardner and produced the County's Watershed Education Calendar for 2006.

Tanya Drlik of Tanya Drlik and Associates, Integrated Pest Management Specialists, is also associated with the Bio-Integral Resource Center Associate (BIRC). She is an environmental writer and project manager for the BIRC team of the EcoWise Certified IPM program for pest management professionals funded by the State Water Resources Control Board.

Michael Thilgen is a landscape architect and landscape contractor, and co-owner of Four Dimensions Landscape Company, an Oakland based design and construction firm. His practice includes a diverse range of landscape projects, including private gardens, commercial landscapes, and public parks. He approaches landscape work with an ecological perspective, striving to integrate human habitat with the natural systems that support us.

Saundra Tickner is our bird enthusiast. When not teaching for Diablo Nature Adventures, she is kayaking to observe birds associated with watery environments, rescuing birds for the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in her backyard aviary or watching them visit her backyard pond. Pacific tree frogs also inhabit the pond. This new water feature is a source of endless fascination for her already inquiring mind.

Advisory Council:

Michael Ableman
Michael Ableman is an author, educator, and organic farmer. He founded and serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, Goleta, CA. His latest book, Pastures of Plenty; A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It is described briefly under What's New. His book, On Good Land: the Autobiography of an Urban Farm and videotape, "Beyond Organic," describe the evolution of Fairview Gardens from farm to model for urban agriculture.

Fernando Agudelo-Silva, Ph. D.. is an instructor in Biology and Environmental Landscaping at College of Marin. He has a background as a soils engineer and is working on the application of life science principles to the promotion of sustainable community development.

Ruth Bancroft
Founder, The Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek.

Bethallyn Black
Director, Contra Costa County Master Gardener Program

Rosalind Creasy
Garden Author and Designer

Owen E. Dell, RLA
Sustainable Landscape Designer, Author and Lecturer
Owner County Landscape and Design, Santa Barbara

Jan Enderle
Garden Consultant and Naturalist; California Certified Nursery Professional; Yoga Instructor

John Finger is the owner of Finger Art & Design and an active member of the California Watercolor Society. His current projects as a designer, illustrator and fine artist include Save Mount Diablo’s 35th Anniversary “Moonlight on the Mountain” invitation and the Contra Costa County Watershed Program’s 2007 Calendar.

Betsy Flack
Program Director, The Garden Conservancy, S.F.

Kate Frey knew at a very young age that being out in nature was where she was happiest. Kate joined the gardening team at Fetzer Vineyards in 1986, when the garden was just in the conceptual stages. She was named Garden and Landscape Manager in 1996. She has since redesigned the original gardens into 7 different theme gardens reflecting biodiversity, appropriate gardening for California in a variety of design styles. All the gardens are filled with insects and birds as well as plants to smell and taste. In May 2003, Kate’s garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, whose theme was a springtime organic vineyard, won a silver/gilt medal and was visited by the Queen. In 2005 her garden won a gold medal. She is a contributor to Organic Gardening, Organic Style, Pacific Horticulture, Garden Design and other publications.

Bobby Gendron is the owner and founder of ButterflyEncounters.com, a company that offers a wide variety of milkweed seeds to people who wish to provide habitat for monarch butterflies. This business is a weekend hobby for Bobby, as he spends his weekdays working for a web marketing team in the Silicon Valley. For more information on ButterflyEncounters.com, please visit www.butterflyencounters.com. For milkweed inquiries contact Bobby at bobby.gendron@butterflyencounters.com.

Katherine Greenberg is a garden designer specializing in California native plants and waterwise gardens. She is past president of the International Mediterranean Garden Society and is on the executive committee of its Northern California Branch. She founded the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden and is a board member of Pacific Horticulture. She was involved in planning the Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies symposia and leads garden and natural history tours to Spain, Greece and Morocco. Her own garden is a habitat for wildlife representing the major plant communities of California.

Jeff Gustafson is manager of the San Ramon Valley High School Native Plant Garden and was Chair of the Student Recycling Committee. He is a member of the Mt. Diablo Group of the Sierra Club's Executive Committee and is employed by Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority as a Waste Prevention and Recycling Assistant.

Jim Hale Ph.D.
VP Friends of the Creeks; Wildlife biologist, researcher of the cultural history of California's indigenous people

Susan Handjian is a Water Conservation Representative for East Bay Municipal Utility District specializing in residential landscapes. She was part of the team who created the EBMUD book, Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates of the San Francisco Bay Region, which is available on www.ebmud.com. Susan was co-recipient of the 2005 Annual Award from California Horticultural Society for her contribution to water-wise gardening.

Dave Henson is a founder and the Executive Director of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, an education and training institute set on 80 acres or organic gardens, orchards and wildlands in western Sonoma County. Dave's responsibilities include coordination of OAEC's 25 staff, program development and fundraising, and directing OAEC's Ecological Agriculture Program. Dave is a founder of GE-Free Sonoma County and co-founder of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture, a statewide coalition of farming, food safety and public health organizations. Working as project director for several national environmental and social justice organizations over the past 25 years, Dave has led over 400 traing programs for community organizations and spoken to community, government and university audiences in more than 40 US states and 20 countries.

Barbara Hill
Certified Public Accountant specializing in nonprofits.

Glenn Keator, Ph.D., is a free-lance botanist, writer, and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. His specialty is identifying and growing California native plants. He grew up in the Bay Area and received his PhD from U.C. Berkeley. He currently teaches at Regional Parks Botanic Garden, San Francisco Botanic Garden, and Merritt College in the landscape horticulture department. He has written several books on natives, including his two latest: "The Life of an Oak: an Intimate Portrait" and "Introduction to Trees of the San Francisco Bay Region." A new book on gardening with native plants in ecologically appropriate ways, co-authored with landscape designer Alrie Middlebrook, is being published and should see the light of day in spring, 2007.

Kathy Kramer
Over the past twenty years Kathy has developed a number of programs that involve teachers and the public in, and educate them about, local environmental issues. Kathy is the founder of the Aquatic Outreach Institute (known as AOI, now The Watershed Project). In 1998 she received the National Wetlands Award for Education/Outreach; in 2007 she received the National Wildlife Federation's Conservation Achievement Award. Kathy founded the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, and continues to coordinate this successful event.

Ken Lavin
Interpretive Specialist, National Park Service, Muir Woods; Naturalist, Diablo Nature Adventures; Program Director, Sierra Club

Ron Lutsko
Landscape Architect exploring sustainable landscaping practices; Designer, Menzies Native Plant Garden, S.F.

Arlene Mornick served as the Assistant City Manager for the City of Walnut Creek for many years. She is currently the Assistant City Manager for the City of Antioch. She is a financial consultant to various municipalities and is a college instructor on topics in the field of public administration.

Renee Shepherd
Wholesale Garden Seed distributor

Tyler Snortum-Phelps
A cofounder of LifeGarden, Tyler is currently the Operations Director at the Gardens at Heather Farm in Walnut Creek (tyler@gardenshf.org). He has led home composting workshops throughout the area for 10 years. Active in the Green Party and the Diablo Post-Carbon Group, Tyler can often be seen riding a bicycle as an alternative to driving a car.

Lesley Stiles
Chef/Caterer, Community Relations Director for Contra Costa Certified Farmers' Markets, Inc., Board member, NEAR, Founder Strandwood Salad Bar Program and Pleasant Hill Middle School Memorial Garden

Peg Steunenberg
Design/Scientific Illustrator; Board Member, Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden

Richard G Turner, Jr. is editor of Pacific Horticulture, one of the country’s top garden journals. He escaped his home state of Michigan for California nearly thirty years ago. His small, chemical-free San Francisco garden provides habitat for birds, butterflies, snakes, and an occasional skunk, while serving as a test ground for Mediterranean-climate plants.

Carol Venolia
Eco-Architect, Author, Columnist for Natural Home and Garden Carol Venolia is a pioneering ecological architect and author based in Santa Rosa. She has designed homes of straw, earth, and wood and consulted on schools, healing centers, and eco-villages. Her latest book, Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House, will be available in July, 2006. Carol gives workshops and lectures nationwide, and she codirects the EcoDwelling program at New College of California’s North Bay Campus. She is on the Advisory Board of Green Fusion Design Center (green building/home supplies) and on the Technical Advisory Council of the Green Home Guide (green home remodeling information).

Gail Wadsworth is currently an active member of the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust Agricultural Enterprise Committee. In 2001, she founded Eat Outside the Box, a community supported agriculture project in Walnut Creek. Gail now works as an independent consultant to farmers, consumers, educators, and wholesalers concerned with alternatives to the current food system. Gail is a sustainability advisor at Los Medanos College, a member of the Kaiser Permanente Community Food Committee and member of the California Food and Justice Coalition. She has a Master of Science degree in International Agricultural Development from UC, Davis.

Alice Waters is a well-known chef, educator, author, and owner of one of the country's premier restaurants - Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Here and through her writings, public speaking engagements and school projects, she advocates for the use of fresh, local and seasonal and sustainably grown foods She was instrumental in the creation of the Edible School Yard at Martin Luther King Middle School and has had a major positive impact on food policy nationally.

Past Funders: