Community Restoration Projects
Learn more about our Community Restoration Projects here!
Madre Fire at 10% Containment. Don’t wait until it is too late to evacuate.
Head-on-a-swivel time in the Cuyama Valley. #sbbucketbrigade #communityselfrescue
“1-hour fuels” dry out quickly and can be a real fire hazard this time of year. Most “fuel modification” projects don’t address the core problem: type conversion to non-native grassland in disturbed areas. We can’t just weed-whack our way out of this problem. We need to replace the flashy fuels with appropriate plantings to retain topsoil, prevent erosion and reduce fire risk. We are planting a nopales cactus farm on this hillside to replace the flammable non-native grasses and weeds with highly fire-resistant edible succulents that are native to California. Climate adaptation - Bucket Brigade Style. #sbbucketbrigade #bucketbrigadeacademy #bbhumanitariangarden
Our Community Restoration Projects reduce fire risk, restore native habitat, preserve endangered species and grow food for local food aid. Can you get to that? Learn more about Bucket Brigade Academy - click the link in our bio. #bucketbrigadeacademy #sbbucketbrigade #communityrestorationproject #bbhumanitariangarden
Bucket Brigade Academy Level 1 Week 1 is on the books.
Don’t sweat the technique.
#bucketbrigadeacademy #sbbucketbrigade #communityrestorationproject #bbhumanitariangarden #bbhumanitarianfarm
Join us on June 8th for a celebration of volunteers and the spirit of community! Ticket only $5 for BB Members and Volunteers. You are invited! Click the link in our bio to get tickets.
This World Hunger Day, you can Double your Impact to strengthen local food security. Thanks to a generous matching gift from Steve Hanson, all donations to the Bucket Brigade Humanitarian Farm will be matched, up to a total of $30,000!
Youth leaders and community volunteers are getting their hands dirty to break down barriers and build direct connections between volunteers, local food-aid partners and food insecure neighbors. This year, youth leaders will:
💪🏽coordinate an estimated 2,500 community volunteer hours at 42 farm work days
🥕 harvest over 17,000 pounds of produce for our local food-aid partners
Support the Farm - now through September 1st - and Double Your Impact!
Donate at Link in bio! #sbbucketbrigade #bbhumanitarianfarm
THIS SATURDAY IS THE DAY! Help us complete our Monarch butterfly habitat restoration project at the MAIN BUTTERFLY GROVE at Ellwood Mesa! We need your help to complete the drip system installation to make sure the THOUSANDS of native seedlings we planted this spring thrive during the dry summer months. To sign up - click the volunteer link in our bio! #sbbucketbrigade #ellwoodmesa #bucketbrigadeacademy #habitatrestoration
Did you know that 215,000 people are food insecure in Santa Barbara County? These people do - and they are doing something about it. They are growing fresh organic produce for local food aid! This harvest went to the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. Come give farming for charity a try at the Bucket Brigade Humanitarian Farm! Click the volunteer link in our bio!
Climate change and natural disasters have taken a toll on our local ecosystem. Repeated wildfires, record-breaking droughts and short-duration, high-intensity rain events have caused all kinds of problems in the past 10 years. The Bucket Brigade has been working to restore ecological damage since our first deployment in 2018. Our restoration work began in the debris-flow damaged areas of the Ennisbrook Open Space and the Casa Dorinda Open space where we spent a whole year removing man-made debris, digging out native oak trees, rebuilding trails and replanting areas that were struggled with post-disaster invasive species pressure.
This work really resonated with volunteers, with the neighborhoods where we worked and with communities served by these restorations – so we stuck with it. To carry our our mission to train volunteers and volunteer leaders, we found a damaged area of a beloved local park and began a 7-acre Community Restoration Project: The Bucket Brigade Humanitarian Garden.
The garden sits in the heart of a vital watershed ecosystem that was badly damaged by failed agricultural ventures and a decade long drought. For this reason, it seemed like the perfect place to teach restoration leadership…by actually restoring the whole area together. The work began with weekly volunteer projects to remove flammable invasive plants to reduce fire risk and to clear areas for restoration. We then replanted the area with endangered native trees and an edible native cactus grove. We also created a 1-acre buffer area with 72 species of native nectar-producing plants to create a native pollinator demonstration garden.
In 2022, we launched the Bucket Brigade Academy at the Humanitarian Garden where we have trained 66 local students to lead volunteer deployments and restoration projects. Many of those students have gone on to lead flood-relief and sandbag assistance projects in the community. 8 elite students have become professional volunteer coordinators for the Bucket Brigade and lead local restoration projects at open spaces, schools and trails.
Our current restorations projects include The Humanitarian Garden (ongoing), Ellwood Mesa Butterfly Preserve (on behalf of the City of Goleta) and The Bucket Brigade Humanitarian Farm – a 1-acre urban farm restoration where we grow produce for local food-aid.
