Saturday, May 13 • 10am - 4pm

This year's Garden Tour's brand-new name, Climate-Friendly Garden Tour, reflects Napa RCD and the City of Napa's dedication to helping you create climate-appropriate and water-wise landscaping in gardens.

Working with our longtime partner, the UCCE Master Gardeners of Napa County, and new partner, the Napa County Seed Library, we are bringing you 11 fabulous gardens to kickstart your climate-friendly gardening goals!

What is Climate-Friendly Gardening? We're talking about gardening techniques that embrace our current and future climate. Gardening with native and other drought-tolerant plants, and a focus on soil health, wildlife habitat, stormwater collection, food security, waste reduction, and beauty are all techniques that help us make the most of every drop and space.

What's special about this event? 11 gardens in Napa and Yountville will have the owner available to answer questions and share their practices. We've got a compost giveaway at Las Flores Community Center and 5 mini-workshops: sheet mulching, firewise landscaping, seed saving, drip irrigation conversion, and integrated pest management.

How do I attend? This self-lead tour is on Saturday, May 13, from 10am-4pm. You can purchase your $5 brochure/ticket online or on the day of the tour at the Las Flores Community Center. Note: if you purchase your brochure by May 7, the brochure will be mailed to you. If you purchase online after Sunday night, your brochure will be available for pickup at Las Flores on May 13.

Questions? Contact Ashley!

Ashley@NapaRCD.org

707-690-3117

Volunteers Needed - Climate-Friendly Garden Tour - May 13

Would you like to help inspire Climate-Friendly gardening in Napa County? Then join us during the May 13 tour as a volunteer greeter!

What are the volunteer greeter's duties?

• Greet visitors and make them feel welcome
• Check that folks have a brochure / ticket
• Fill out the Visitor Tally Sheet

There are two volunteer shifts: AM (10 am – 1 pm) and PM (1 pm – 4 pm).

If you would like to help, email Ashley@NapaRCD.org and include a shift preference and cell phone number. 

Volunteers may enjoy the rest of the tour for free!

New Oak Planting Guide

GrizzlyCorps Fellow Gabe Seidman has been hard at work making one of Napa RCD's long-time dreams a reality! For the last few years, we've been wanting to provide you with a comprehensive oak planting guide that details the process we use to plant oaks from acorns here in Napa County.

Not only has Gabe created this guide, he also created a video of the process for those of us that are visual learners. The guide links directly to relevant parts of the video. Thanks to staff member Ruby, we are also providing the guide and video in Spanish!

The Oak Planting Guide is now available for all to view and use on the Napa RCD website.

Huichica Creek Vineyard Request for Ideas

The Napa County Resource Conservation District (Napa RCD) is excited to announce a Request for Ideas for using its Huichica Creek Vineyard (HCV) in Los Carneros AVA in Napa County. Historically, HCV has been used by Napa RCD to demonstrate and promote cutting-edge research on vineyard soil health and sustainable farming practices that demonstrate how to coexist and enhance the natural environment. We are now looking for partners to help shape the property’s future.

We invite individuals, for-profit businesses, and non-profit organizations to submit proposals that meet one or more of the following objectives:

1. Increase appreciation and understanding within the winegrape industry of how to coexist with and enhance the natural environment.
2. Demonstrate the feasibility and value of diversified agriculture in the Napa Valley in the face of increasing climate-related soil salinity and drought.
3. Engage the community to increase understanding of ecological resilience, watershed function, sustainable agricultural practices, etc.

Proposals are due Friday, June 30, 2023, at 6 P.M.

More information about the Request for Ideas is available on our website.

Napa Firewise Cost Share for Defensible Space

Napa Communities Firewise Foundation (Napa Firewise), through a grant from CalFire, is offering a cost sharing reimbursement for defensible space work around homes in Napa County.

If you live in Napa County and your home is in or close to a High or Very High Fire Severity Zone, you should apply before funding runs out!

Planning For Not-So-Rainy Days: Water Conservation Video Contest Entries Due May 19

Drought is part of California life. Despite wet years, worsening drought will continue to be a public concern in our state.

We're looking to Napa County's 9-12th grade students to help us think through planning for those not-so-rainy days by responding to this prompt in a video: How can we effectively use outdoor water most efficiently to plan for long-term water conservation?

Videos should be no longer than 30 seconds, and are due Friday, May 19. Cash prizes of $1,500, $1,000, and $500 are being offered for the top three videos. Teachers of participating students are also eligible for prizes!

Rainfall Summary is on Vacation This Month

Stay tuned for the April Rainfall Summary, which will be shared on our Facebook or Instagram feeds in the coming weeks.

Connecting to Resilient Forests Field Day at Linda Falls

May 6 | 9 - 11:30am

Pollinators & Wildflowers

Hike at Newell Preserve

May 7 | 9:30am - 12pm

Climate-Friendly Garden Tour

May 13 | 10am - 4pm

3rd Saturday Hike @

Napa River EcoReserve

May 20 | 10am