WELCOME 
The Larkspur California Community Garden provides Larkspur residents space in 73 small garden plots, a tool shed, a compost area and a communal orchard. This Organic garden located in Piper Park was established in 1982.
If you eat fresh and inexpensive organically-grown vegetables, and have only a small deck with little room for planter boxes, or redwood trees shade your yard leaving no sun to plant homegrown tomatoes, peppers, string beans, broccoli, or flowers; and live in Larkspur, Calif., the community garden may be your solution.
​We "grow" in learning about mulching and watering, other gardeners' techniques, sharing harvests, and building community in an ongoing year-round opportunity. We participate in community garden projects, which keeps our garden looking nice. We share good old garden know-how and receive recreation and therapeutic hands-in-the-soil benefits. Sign up today - the wait is worth it.
If you are interested in joining the garden community and if you live in Larkspur or Greenbrae, contact and sign up with the Larkspur Recreation Department.

                                                                               See the Contact Us page for details.

May 2026.
​The Larkspur Community Foundation has put out an article highlighting our community garden  by Maryann Thompson.
Go to link:  https://www.larkspurcommunityfoundation.org/2026/05/15/stephen-conner-reveals-how-the-larkspur-community-garden-grows/
​March, 2026
Hello Readers,
We are inspired as a community of gardeners who care very much about building and nurturing relationships as well as our garden soil. Garden amendments, organic fertilizer and compost improve our soil. As organic gardeners we feed the soil, not the plant. The soil serves as the reservoir for water and the vital nutrients that the plant requires for growth.
In an Organic garden the soil is the foundation of a healthy eco system.
​Also, weeds love bare soil. Cover your soil- mulch, mulch, mulch!
-------------------Hello Gardeners,            
I offer you this informative article about controlling Bindweed and Bermuda Grass. We seem to have more this year.
Please take your time to read this.
"Bindweed is the kind of garden visitor that looks sweet at first, then quietly wraps itself around your best intentions. One week it is a few heart-shaped leaves. The next, it is stitching your perennials together like it pays rent.”
"Bindweed is a perennial weed with deep, spreading roots plus creeping roots and rhizomes (underground stems) that send up new shoots. 

• Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis): smaller leaves and flowers, often the classic “stringy vine everywhere” problem.
• If you inherited a vine that appears in the same spots year after year, survives winter, and pops up far from where it started, you are likely dealing with bindweed.
• I know the temptation. You see vines and think, “I will just till this bed and reset.” With bindweed, tilling is like taking a pair of scissors to a spool of thread and tossing the pieces around your garden.
• When you till or aggressively chop the soil:
  • You cut underground runners into pieces, and many of those pieces can sprout into brand new plants.
  • You distribute fragments throughout the bed, increasing the number of growing points.
  • You often miss the deep root system, which means the plant rebounds quickly with fresh growth.
  • Bindweed control is less about one heroic afternoon and more about calm, repetitive pressure. If the roots are so deep, you are aiming to try to get it all out.
    In our garden, Blocking it with layers of cardboard or covering it over, even for a full season, has only encouraged it to thrive and spread under the covering. This also restricts your planting area. Wood chips and leaves do not work.
    Method 1: Repeated removal: This is the most “hands in the dirt” method, and it is wildly effective when done consistently. The key is not to yank once and celebrate. The key is to never let bindweed keep a set of leaves for long. Once the leaves appear try to dig it up.  I suggest using a large shovel, not a small hand tool, to get to the lower part of the root (the mother root).
    If you don’t get the entire root and only remove the green growth, the plant root spends stored energy to double in size and re-sprout.
    Often, to get to the Bindweed root, temporary removal of a plant is necessary if it is threaded through roses and perennial plants roots. Do your best to remove Bindweed from the roots and replant. 
    The persistent removal of leaves and vine and spraying with vinegar and salt mix will take numerous, multiple attempts to eventually starve the roots. Think of it as draining a battery.
    How often should you do it?  For active infestations, aim for:
    • Every 7 to 10 days during peak spring and early summer growth.
    • Every 2 weeks later in the season, as long as you are not letting it flower and leaf out heavily.  Do not let it set seed.
    • Dispose of vines - they can crawl back-(because they can)- never put into compost use green cans.. 
    If bindweed is creeping in from a neighbor’s border, an aisle, or a neglected strip you do not control, your plan needs a border strategy. Otherwise, you are basically bailing out a bathtub with the faucet on. 
    • Edges are the “on-ramp.” Speak with your neighbor about your concerns. Working together will help you patrol edges weekly in spring and early summer.
    • Natural control is absolutely doable, but it is rarely instant, and results vary with species, soil, watering, and reinvasion pressure.
      • After 4 to 6 weeks of consistent removal, you may see thinner vines and fewer long runners.
      • By the end of one growing season, many gardeners see major reduction.
      • The win is not perfection. The win is shrinking the bindweed footprint until it is just another quick garden chore, like deadheading or refilling the birdbath.
      • If bindweed is overtaking a large area and you cannot keep up with repeated removal, it is okay to seek coordinator guidance and advice. To stay chemical-free, a realistic assessment, (and a plan to stop re-invasion, can save you years of frustration.
      • Quick do and do not list.
        • Remove bindweed growth regularly before it flowers and sets seed.
          • Mulch and plant densely to reduce bare soil.
            • Watch borders and pathways where it creeps in.
              • Dispose of removed vines so they cannot re-root on damp soil. Use green cans, not compost.                                                                              
        • Do not. Till bindweed patches unless you are prepared for more sprouts and a long follow-up campaign.
        • Do not. Let vines climb your shrubs and perennials “until you have time.” It gets harder fast.
        • Do not. Expect one weekend of weeding to solve a perennial root system."                                                                    

                            See you in the garden,
                            Stephen

TOMATO DISEASES
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT TOMATOES??!!???
1. Tomato diseases are very contagious and, in many cases, live through the winter in the soil.
2.  Some Community Gardens in the Bay Area can no longer grow tomatoes because the soil is contaminated with tomato diseases. (Remember, you are a member of a Community garden.  Your practices affect all of the other gardeners.)
3.  If we want to be able to continue to grow tomatoes in the Larkspur Community Garden, we ALL need to abide by these simple rules:

• NO TOMATO PLANTS (or any part of a tomato plant) IN THE COMPOST.  EVER.
• ALL tomato plants must be completely removed from the garden by the Garden Work Day

4.  Follow these best practices in an ongoing way:

• Choose disease resistant varieties for planting
• Keep it clean - remove dead leaves, harvest promptly when ripe - strict sanitation is a must
• Remove any plant that shows symptoms of disease (see below)
• Familiarize yourself with symptoms of tomato diseases (see below)
• Rotate your crops

TOMATO DISEASES - Please google these and familiarize yourself with the symptoms. (For your convenience, we have also posted this information on our website: [email protected]) 

• Fusarium Wilt
• Verticillium Wilt
• Late Blight
• Blossom End Rot

I hope this is helpful.
Please ask any questions so there will be no misunderstandings.
See you in the garden,
Stephen  

We recently replaced our rotted wooden borders and want the new ones to stay dry and uncovered so they last as long as possible. Your garden care and maintenance is required. Prevent plants from growing over your borders. Remove any soil or mulch covering them. 
Experience shows that plants placed far enough inside your borders won't grow to cover over your border and into the aisles or into your neighbor’s plot.    --If so, act appropriately. Move them or trim them back.  --------
_____________________________
When Leaving the Garden:
-We miss you when you leave, and we want to remember you for your care in keeping our garden looking so nice 😇  even when you need to go and grow in other ways.
-Please don’t leave us to clean your garden.​
A reminder:  Our garden rule #3 j. 
"When leaving, all gardeners are expected to completely clean their plot of everything, all weeds, all plants, stepping stones, tomato cages, wood, debris, etc... You may either accomplish this yourself or pay someone to complete it before you leave. Do not leave anything in the tool shed. “
-We trust you will return the garden and aisles to us in the same way you received it, even better, so we can start new gardeners with a clean garden palette to plant.
-Please remember to notify Larkspur Recreation of your decision.
See you in the garden,
Stephen

Organic gardeners feed the soil and not the plant.

"BARE- BONES-MINIMUM"  OF GARDEN PARTICIPATION
The Larkspur Community garden is a community of gardeners who grow organically.
Good stewardship is a requirement for every single garden.
The following is a list of the bare-bone minimum of garden participation.

• Every gardener has the responsibility of preparing their garden plot for Spring planting and again for Winter clean-up; and the weeding of their aisles prior to our March and October workday gathering.

• As a gardener you need to show that you are making some sort of an effort to be present at your garden and cultivate and care for your plants."Failure to care for your plot will result in termination of your lease."

• A garden plot: needs to be developed and used.

                         : needs to be planted and tended to.

• Regular garden maintenance is necessary.

• Weeds need to be kept in check.
• Weeds : should not choke other plants

             : should not grow under borders to other gardens or aisles
             : should not reseed or spread

• Invasive plants require vigilant maintenance

• Unchecked plants are offensive, dangerous and a nuisance to everyone else.

• You need to be concerned about everyone else.

• You don't own your garden plot, you just lease it with the understanding that it will be gardened, used, weeded, pruned as necessary, watered and cared for, (hopefully with loving hearts, hands and enthusiasm). The appearance of your garden effects the community.

• It is not fair not to use it. We have a waiting list of hopeful gardeners who want your plot.

• We strive together to grow as community as we continue to enjoy our garden as much as we can. We all can creatively grow organically, therapeutically reduce stress and renew ourselves through recreation in the soil. We endeavor to do this more easily together than alone and share more abundantly as community than as individuals.

Begin the season anew. Renew yourself again in the garden.