Join us for a compost tea demonstration & garden tour of one of Montclair’s most visited ecological home gardens.

Date: June 17, 2023.

Time: There will be two garden tours and compost tea demonstrations, the first starting at 4:30pm and the second at 5:30pm.

What to expect:

Jose German-Gomez, environmentalist, gardener, and urban farmer, has been experimenting over the past 15 years with different organic fertilization techniques including compost tea. Jose will provide a demonstration of how to make compost tea and discuss customizing compost tea recipes to your yard’s needs, the use of beneficial nematodes. and other sustainable and eco-friendly gardening tips.

Due to space limitations, only 20 tickets will be available. The tour will be divided in two sessions to accommodate 10 people per tour.

Garden profile:

Located on a 130’x 45’ lot on Grove Street near Montclair Center, the garden is a sanctuary for pollinators and other wildlife. The homeowners started the garden 22 years ago, and it now features over 120 different species of plants native to the Northeast. During a site visit a few years ago, an entomologist from the New York Museum of Natural History identified 16 different species of native bees in the garden, the most ever counted at a single site in Essex County. The garden is a certified Wildlife Habitat and a Monarch Waystation. Its vegetable garden supplies the homeowners with most of the veggies they eat in season. Over the years, this garden has inspired visitors to create their own backyard habitats and vegetable gardens.