Howdy Hunky Happy Homesteaders
Welcome to JUNE. School’s out, summer solstice, long days, dry dirt, honey flow, berry bonanza, egg-stravaganza. Get in the swing of summer and join us for classes and our fab Urban Farm Tours.

Urban Farm Tours The Best of Berkeley June 11, 2016 10am-3pm
Urban Farm Tours is a self-guided tour where you are invited to visit home-scale urban farms throughout the day. Tours start on the hour at each location and last about 40 minutes, allowing time for you to get to the next location. You will see backyard fruit orchards, vegetable gardens, composting systems, rabbits, goats, bees, ducks, water-wise irrigation and more in spaces that range for 700 to 40,000 square feet. Ask questions, get advice and sample some of the bounty these farms are producing.

Option #1 Purchase your ticket in advance— ticket link below. We'll send you the locations, directions and other details the week before the event (on Wednesday June 8 and later to be precise). The addresses are not published anywhere on the web--so look for that important email! Once you have the locations, plan your itinerary and bike, drive or walk yourself there. Visit as many of the sites as you have time or interest for. Your advance purchase ticket supports the valuable work of urban farmers and the educational mission of the Institute of Urban Homesteading, enabling us to continue to offer sliding scale options while paying teachers and farmers a living wage. Purchase a "Friend of the Farm Tour" or "Patron of the Farm Tour" ticket and get perks!Adult $30/ $50*/$75**, Child $18

Option #2 Pay-As-You-Go. $5 per site, per tour. $3 kids. No one turned away for lack of funds. We’ll send you the locations the week of the event, starting Wednesday June 8. If you already receive our newsletter, you will get the info automatically. If you do not already receive our newsletter, sign on using our contact form, or send an email to iuh@sparkybeegirl.com requesting a one time email with farm tour details. Put "farm tour" in the subject line. You may also buy a day pass on the day of the event at the first site you visit.

PARTICIPATING SITES
TICKETS Advance ticket sales end at 6pm Friday June 10.
FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE ~ Please share!

Seeking Farm Tour Volunteers
We need folks to help the farmers at their welcome tables. Volunteer half the day and attend the tour free the other half day.

Vallejo-Benicia Farm Tour Success!
In the news http://www.timesheraldonline.com/article/NH/20160523/NEWS/160529946
Photo Gallery https://www.facebook.com/urbanfarmtours/photos/?tab=album&album_id=471443809710858

June in the Garden Winter Squash, Beans,Sunflower and Corn
With our long warm season extending into October there is still plenty of time to grow these fabulous warm season crops from seed. The three sisters (beans, corn & squash) don’t neccessarily need to go in the ground together but now is the time to plant them if you haven’t already. Maximize Winter squash by growing them vertically in a cage. Your beans can grow up the cage wires as well. For dry bean just let the beans grow til they are finished, pull the dried pods off the vines and shell. Cook a portion and save a portion as seed for next year. Corn should be planted densely (every 6-8 inches) in blocks of no less than 4’ x 4’ for best seed set. A grain of pollen must land on each silk to get a full ear of corn. Once the tassels start shedding their pollen get in there and act like the wind—shake shake shake.

June in the Garden: State of the Union
Berries and cherries are demanding daily picking and garlic is nearly ready to be dry cured in the bed and pulled, making room for a summer crop of sweet corn. Oriental poppies, are falling and waning, their globular opiated pods bursting with seeds in a promise of a next year to come. Love-In-A-Mist (aka Nigella) is also going to seed with a variety of spaceship shaped pods. The fabulous show of dahlias and zinnias is just starting, ever hearty and colorful.

What’s Next? Cliffhanger...
Well…honestly, I don’t know. July 9th I will be taking to the road for 4- 6 weeks looking around the Northwest to see if there is a spot that calls to me, my love, our 3 cats, 6 dogs, 40 rabbits, 3 chickens, 5 pigeons, 8 beehives, 3 betta fish and assorted sheep. Maybe we land, maybe we don’t. Certainly I believe we’ll be back for at least a season of classes in Mid-September thru Mid-November and our annual Winter Open House. We’ll continue to send newsletter and Updates. The Fall schedule should be out on August 1 or so. Either way…the Institute will continue….Are you interested and do you have the skills? Looking to partner and pass the reputation and non-material assets on to the right person for a small start-up fee. Please inquire.