The air was cool, skies gray and winds brisk; typical summer weather pattern for Richmond.  Gardeners’ Guild teams set up tents, tables; chairs and before 8am the barbecue was grilling chicken and beef samples for the early taste testers.

This wasn’t just any company picnic – it was Gardeners’ Guild’s annual Safety Jamboree.

It is an opportunity to gather all of us together on site to share food, conversation, and laughter and to remind each other of the importance of Safety.

So far, this spring, we are planting tomatoes, celery, carrots, eggplants.

Next we will add beans, beets and zucchini.

It’s a team effort with Jeanne Phelan, our Purchasing Administrator, leading.  She has been ordering the plants and actually been the main driver of this project.  The goal is to provide each other with fresh and healthy food.  Planting and tending to the garden are done on an informal basis.  When we have new plants Jeanne will send out an email letting us know that she needs help.

When plants are harvested we put them in our main lunchroom and let people know they are available.

We had a table featuring Lady Bugs and free sample bags of worm castings.  Both were a hit!  For those who don’t know, worm castings are 100% natural, odorless and have the appearance of coffee grounds.  They slowly release nutrients that plants need for growth.  They are one component of an array of organic products that we use in our LivingSolutions program.  An important fact about our worm castings.  They are 100% pure  –  high in minerals, they contain natural soil microbes with high bio-diversity

The pie chart represents a survey performed by Lawn & Landscape Magazine.  It shows us that a only a small percentage of companies our industry actually offer health benefits.

National Survey of Employers and Employees

When asked which benefits are an important factor in employee loyalty (2007-2008), “salary/wages” decreased in importance by four percent while “other insurance benefits” (life, dental, disability, vision) climbed in importance by 18 percent (51% to 69%).

MetLife’s 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends

The study found that employees who report that they are very satisfied with their workplace benefits are about three times as likely to indicate that they are highly satisfied with their current job and feel more loyal toward their employer compared with those who are very dissatisfied with the benefits program.

It is of interest to us because we view part of the reason why our employee retention is so high is due to the benefits we offer.  Not having to worry about how to pay our medical bills should sudden illness occur is a huge factor.

The North Bay Veterans Resource Center, Santa Rosa, provides much needed services including transitional housing for homeless vets.  One of our employees, Daniel Levy, has been involved in installing a healing garden at one of the housing units.

Experts give guidelines for how a garden needs to be designed to have a therapeutic effect.  Being “healing” means it has a calming and restorative effect.  These gardens should be functional to accommodate physical limitations of the user.  They should also be easily maintained, environmentally sound and plants which have medicinal value are especially beneficial.

About twelve to fifteen volunteers have been actively involved in doing the work, along with Daniel.  One of them is Fernando Delatorre, a Crew Leader who works with Daniel at one of our sites, Spring Lake Village, Santa Rosa.  Spring Lake Village was the catalyst who got Gardeners’ Guild involved

Daniel says they are in the beginning stages of the project which includes:  installing crushed rock, brick pathways; apple, pear and plum trees and, irrigation.  Plans also include 140 feet  of hedges to attract beneficial insects and pollinators.  They will also be planting vegetables, strawberries and herbs. To engage the senses further, a water feature installation is being installed.

The photo is of Daniel and his crew.  Daniel is top left.  Fernando is bottom middle.

On Wednesday, May 18, all 150 of us converged on the grounds of the GGI Richmond headquarters to participate in the company’s 8^th Safety Jamboree, a yearly training event focused on equipment safety protocols. The action-packed event kicked off with a succulent feast of traditional Mexican fare including tangy and tender barbequed carne-asada, chicken, home-made rice and beans, warm corn tortillas and a salsa bar with three different kinds of freshly made salsa that would put even the best Mexican taqueria to shame.

Following the food fiesta, the 2011 Safety Jamboree training-event began with a few words by GGI President Kevin Davis, who commended the staff for a nearly perfect safety record for this year. This is a testament to our rigorous safety policy and procedures, and it made our insurance company happy.

Mowers, and Blowers, and Chainsaws – oh my.  The jubilant jamboree continued as landscape professionals, decked out in bright orange safety vests hats broke into small groups where they toured the yard, learning proper operating procedures and safety recommendations on the inherently dangerous heavy and not-so-heavy equipment used.

GGI experts manned the stations to demonstrate the operating procedures and safety protocols of Rider Mowers, Walk-behind Mowers, Standard Mowers, High-weed mowers, Aerators, Chainsaws, Hand Tools, Weed-Eaters, Stick Edger’s, Gas-powered shears, and Power Blowers.  At 10 minute intervals, a horn would signal time to move on to the next station. You could say that when you hear a horn blow at GGI, a gardener has gotten his or her wings.

The event wrapped up with everyone gathered around the Safety sign as company President, once again took the stage, applauding the staff on another successful and enjoyable GGI event.  He also honored some long time employee-owners with a plaque commemorating their length of service with GGI.  Well done, GGI!

Northgate Park is a brand new park in Vallejo and Gardeners’ Guild is proud of its work on this large commercial project.  Our contribution included extensive site development, layout, concrete work, site furnishings, play structures, plant and tree installation, drainage, slope work, erosion control and irrigation.

See the dramatic before and after photos!

Northgate Park - BEFORE

Northgate Park AFTER

Bella Vista is beautiful apartment complex in Richmond.  It is the winner of the GEMM (Greater Excellence in Management and Maintenance) Awards of the Greater East Bay.  The property is 40 acres and much of the landscaping is turf.  When Gardeners’ Guild started its service, May, 2009, Bella Vista had high water bills and the management also wanted to build a greener community.

We began work to make Bella Vista’s irrigation more efficient and were successful in lowering water consumption by performing the following:

• Rigorous irrigation monitoring and adjusted controllers to meet seasonal needs
• Fixing irrigation breaks
• Repairing broken hardware
• Capping irrigation in places that didn’t require watering

The results were dramatic!

Bella Vista enjoyed a 53% reduction in water usage from 2008 to 2010 and saved approximately $45,891

It is a testament to the advice we have given over the years to our clients.  The first step in water conservation is to do a thorough irrigation diagnostic to ensure that it is running efficiently.

To learn more about

Bella Vista, see their website:  http://www.bvapartments.com/

The Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency has started a program called “Lawns be Gone!”    This program provides rebates to customers with specific criteria to replace lawns with drought resistant landscapes.  In order to be eligible, one must be a customer in a participating agency.  These agencies include:

Alameda County

California Water Service Company

City of San Bruno

and more.  See this link for complete listing of participating districts:

http://bawsca.org/docs/LBG_Participants_Feb2011.pdf

The program includes clearly stated terms and conditions that specify the type of landscape replacement to lawns is acceptable.  Additionally there is a wealth of resources for courses on drought resistant planting, mulching; as well as data on invasive plants.  This link explains the process and has details on resources for more information:

http://bawsca.org/water-conservation/residential-water-conservation-programs/lawn-be-gone/

Rebates will be issued on a first come, first serve basis.  They are based on the number of square feet of turf replaced.  The program is effective through June 30, 2011

We now have the final tally:

$100.00 food contribution from Gardener’s Guild

$50.00 food contribution from our 2011 Super bowl fundraiser!

And various and generous contributions from our staff here at Gardener’s Guild

About the Food Bank of Contra Cost and Solano Counties

The Food Bank is a centralized warehouse that stores and distributes donated and purchased perishable and nonperishable food items. They distribute directly to low-income people and make food available for other nonprofit organizations serving the ill, needy and infants.

The people they serve include children, seniors and the working poor.

Some eye opening facts about hunger in our area -

• 33% of the people they serve are children
• 1 out of 10 children in these two counties live below the federal poverty line
• In the summer only 27 out 100 children receive lunch from federal programs
• Seniors are one of the largest groups who rely on community services
• 50.5 % of all client households had monthly incomes less than $1,000.
• Almost one out of every two adults using the food program included at least one employed adult