A friend asked me recently about what I thought was a Community Garden at Dover Park. I discovered that this garden is run by Phat Beets to benefit the community. The Garden, known as Healthy Hearts Youth Garden, is an ongoing and evolving project, and the organizers welcome community volunteers who can help out on Wednesdays and Sundays. There is also breakfast at the garden once a month, and other activities are planned throughout the year.
More about Community Gardens and some related local resources:
A list of Community Gardens in Oakland run by the Oakland Parks and Rec -- the volunteer hours for them are here.
A comprehensive list of community gardens and other garden projects in Berkeley.
A local organization that is connected to Community Gardening (but has other gardening-related projects as well) is Planting Justice. I keep running into their volunteers, spreading the word and collecting donations, at Berkeley Bowl.
- One of the efforts of Planting Justice is to create a 5-acre farm in El Sobrante. I received a very informative email this week about a work day coming up on Tuesday, September 22, with the focus on building swales*. (Email them at plantjustice@gmail.com or call 510-290-4049 for more info.)
- Another project is their collaboration with the Insight Garden Project at San Quentin Prison. (There are similar programs in other places -- see this article and this one, for some examples.
- Planting Justice's "Transform your Yard" program, for people who are interested in back yard gardening but need help getting started, is another of their efforts to weave together many strands to build a better community.
*not a link to PJ, just information about swales.
