Celebrate the planet at Ground’s Earth Week Festival

Earth Day is April 22 this year, but one day is not enough for Beth LaDove, a landscape designer and the co-founder of Ground, a home and garden goods store in Tiburon.

“Every day is Earth Day for us at Ground, so we extended the celebration into a whole week so that we can offer more fun and free information to more people,” says LaDove, referencing the store’s inaugural tribute to the health and well-being of our planet.

She says that guests “can expect lots of on-demand plant and garden advice and a fun and relaxing time in our beautiful gardens, and, of course, great plants, gifts and pour-over coffee for sale.”

There will also be pie.

“We’re very excited by the return by popular demand of (East Bay’s) A Pie in the Sky on April 21,” she says. “Many of the people who came to our last pop-up with them said it was the best pie they ever had.”

Among the choices will be apple streusel pie with caramel; strawberry rhubarb pie with oat crumble; lime cream pie; sunchoke, tomato and zucchini galette; orange and pineapple galette; and banana, almond and Nutella galette.

Pies will be available whole or by the slice and customers may also pre-order pies. A pre-order link, along with pie choices and prices, will be available on Ground’s website starting Tuesday.

There will also be children’s story times and a children’s treasure hunt happening on demand every day.

So far, Tora Rocha and Terry Smith, co-founders of the Pollinator Posse, and Dana Swisher, the founder of Refugia Marin, are among Ground’s special guest speakers.

The Pollinator Posse is an educational organization that develops and encourages pollinator-friendly landscaping and Refugia Marin is an educational organization that promotes the use of native plants and creates wildlife habitats.

LaDove is adding more events to Ground’s website but here’s the schedule so far. Some of the hours are tentative, so it’s best to call and confirm before you go.

April 21

• LaDove answers garden questions, plus gives a tour of Ground’s gardens, from noon to 4 p.m.

• Tora Rocha and Terry Smith discuss “Meet the Local Pollinators and the Plants That Attract Them” from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Mini-microscopes will be on hand to observe bees and butterflies close-up.

• Ground’s Emily Caponi puts on a garden story time for kids from 2 to 3 p.m.

• Ground’s Greg Taylor discusses planting edibles in sub-irrigated containers from 3 to 4 p.m.

• A Pie in the Sky’s pop-up sale is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

April 22

• LaDove discusses Earth-friendly gardening from noon to 1 p.m.

• Author Kier Holmes shares how to make wildflower seed balls from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

April 23

• LaDove discusses how to work with a garden designer from noon to 1 p.m.

April 24

• Caitlin McVarish, Ground’s co-founder, shares how to upcycle vintage fabrics into fashionable accessories from noon to 1 p.m.

• Sophia Kingman, the founder of Poco & Elle, shares an Earth-friendly candle-making demonstration from noon to 1 p.m.

April 25

• A garden party for Barbara Seidel’s art show with live handpan music by Gary Muszynski is from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

April 26

• Susan Gouveia, a personal chef and farm owner, shares how to cook fresh from the garden from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

April 27

• Michelle Bryant, the garden coordinator at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, discusses gardening with kids from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

• Gouveia discusses cooking with kids in the garden from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

• Bill Hansell plays live acoustic guitar throughout the day.

April 28

• LaDove answers garden questions, plus gives a tour of Ground’s gardens, from noon to 4 p.m.

• Dana Swisher of Refugia Marin discusses the benefits of planting California natives from 1 to 2 p.m.

• Laura McDonnell of Next Steps Liaison Project discusses the environmental stewards internship program from 3 to 4 p.m.

• Details: Ground’s hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays at 1520 Tiburon Blvd. in Tiburon. Admission is free. Call 415-797-6057 or go to groundgoods.com.

Mushroom milestone

It’s been five years since San Rafael resident Adrienne Biggs founded the first Gerstle Park Earth Day Mushroom Hunt.

Born out of the pandemic-driven boredom that had set in for her, the musician and artist eventually remembered painting champagne corks she had collected during her bartending days, so she pulled them out again and started painting.

They resembled mushrooms to her and a friend suggested she take the 100 biodegradable corks she had painted with water-soluble paint — and covered in sequins and glitter — and start a mushroom hunt to cheer up her neighbors.

The caveat was that if you spotted a “mushroom” you were asked to leave it where it was planted so others could continue to enjoy seeing it.

This year, in advance of the fifth annual Earth Day Mushroom Hunt, Biggs and a group of her friends have been decorating more than 300 of the “mushrooms” to hand out.

“The event has become a beloved annual event for kids of all ages,” she says.

Biggs invites Gerstle Park residents to choose their favorite cork mushrooms from 10 a.m. to noon April 20 at 26 Marin Street, at Clorinda, in San Rafael, and then plant them where they can be seen and enjoyed by others in the Gerstle Park area in celebration of Earth Day.

More information at gerstlepark.com/420-earth-day-mushroom-hunt.html.

Show off

If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.

Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the very best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.

Don’t-miss event

• Learn how to create your own homemade lettuce tape and listen to a garden discussion when the Mill Valley Public Library launches its Seed Library from 3 to 4 p.m. April 20 at the library at 375 Throckmorton Ave. in Mill Valley. Register by calling 415-389-4292 or going to millvalleylibrary.org.

PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.