Fall Companion Planting Workshop with Tandi Family Farms

Key Takeaways

• What: A free hands-on workshop on fall companion planting, led by the Tandi Family Farms crew

• When: Saturday, September 19, 2026, 1:00 to 2:00 PM

• Where: Evergreen Nursery, 350 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577

• Why: Learn which vegetable plants pair well together, and which monarch plants belong nearby, for a healthier fall garden

• Reserve Your Seat Now via Eventbrite.

A fall vegetable bed rarely thrives on its own. Tuck the right neighbors around your tomatoes and squash, and you get fewer aphids, better pollination, and less reason to reach for a spray bottle. Join us for a free, hour-long workshop with the team from Tandi Family Farms, San Leandro's own nonprofit urban farm school. Bring your questions. This one is built for gardeners at any stage, from someone who just bought their first trowel to someone who has been rotating beds for twenty years.

About the Workshop

Companion planting means placing certain vegetable plants next to each other so they do each other favors. One confuses the pests looking for the other. One draws in the bees the other needs to set fruit. One simply uses the space the first plant leaves empty.mon

Tandi Family Farms built their reputation on this kind of ecosystem thinking, and it shows in their Victory Garden Project. At the workshop, the team walks through pairings that hold up in our East Bay fall weather, then shows how to shrink the whole system down for a patio or a small yard using grow bags (fabric pots) and Happy Hippy planting mix.

What You'll Learn

• Which fall vegetable plants grow better as neighbors, and which ones need distance

• Organic ways to keep common garden pests off your plants without chemical sprays

• How thoughtful pairings pull in pollinators and other beneficial insects

• When to get fall edible plants in the ground, whether you garden in San Leandro, Oakland, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Alameda, or Hayward

Plant for Pollinators: Where Monarch Plants Fit In

Pest control and pollination sound like two different goals, but they usually come from the same bed. If you're already thinking about which vegetables to pair, this is the moment to add a few monarch plants into the mix.

Monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay eggs and complete their life cycle, full stop. No milkweed, no monarchs, regardless of how many other flowers line your fence. Native milkweed varieties such as narrowleaf milkweed and showy milkweed do well in East Bay gardens and hold up fine next to a fall vegetable bed. Around them, nectar rich monarch plants like asters, goldenrod, and California fuchsia keep adult butterflies fed once they've passed through your yard.

The payoff extends past the butterflies themselves. A bed ringed with monarch plants pulls in a wider mix of pollinators and predatory insects, the kind that eat the aphids and whiteflies your kale would otherwise deal with alone. Tandi Family Farms weaves pollinator support into their broader companion planting method, and the workshop covers where these plantings fit around your existing vegetable rows without crowding them out.

Ask the team during the session about spacing milkweed near root vegetables, or which monarch plants tolerate the partial shade some East Bay yards get in fall. They've fielded both questions before.

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026

• Time: 1:00 to 2:00 PM

• Location: Evergreen Nursery, 350 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577

• Cost: Free

• Good to know: All ages welcome, free parking on site

RSVP: Space is limited, so reserve your spot ahead of time on Eventbrite. Walk-ins are welcome as space allows.

About Tandi Family Farms

Tandi Family Farms is a San Leandro nonprofit urban farm school that teaches local residents how to grow more of their own food through ecosystem-based gardening. Their programs, including the Victory Garden Project, are detailed at tandifamilyfarms.org.

Read more: Fall Companion Planting Workshop with Tandi Family Farms

FAQ

Do I need to RSVP?

It's free and space is limited, so we recommend reserving a spot via Eventbrite ahead of time. Walk-ins are welcome if space allows.

Is parking available?

Yes, free parking is available on site at Evergreen Nursery.

Can I bring my kids?

Absolutely, this workshop is suitable for all ages.

Do I need any gardening experience?

Not at all. This talk and demo is designed for gardeners of all experience levels, from first time growers to seasoned pros.

Want a head start before the workshop? Browse the current veggie seedlings and herb starts on the tables inside our shade tunnel, or read our guide to fall vegetable gardening in the East Bay to start planning your beds. While you're there, ask a staff member to point you toward our milkweed and native nectar plants so you can pick out monarch plants that suit your yard.

Stop by Evergreen Nursery in San Leandro before or after the workshop. Our staff will help you find the vegetable plants and monarch plants that make sense for your space.