The Community Farm

The Community Farm is located on the northwest side of Sacramento and Oregon Streets, somewhat hidden behind the storefronts on Sacramento Street. It is dedicated to food production. In contrast to our Nursery and Produce Stand, this food is not for sale. The harvest is shared between the volunteer growers, low-income senior residents in the adjacent apartments, and other neighborhood folks who need it. While we are actively encouraging people in the immediate neighborhood to come work on the farm, anyone is welome to volunteer, gain skills and share in the harvest.

Community Farm Fall & Winter Hours:

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Saturday
10am until 5pm

We will close for our Winter break beginning on December 23 and reopen on Tuesday, January 26 at 10am.

The Community Farm provides direct access to land and the skills necessary to develop a self-sufficient life in an urban environment. Given access to land, information, and tools, people can feed themselves and their communities or supplement their diets with the highest quality organic food with very little capital input. A typical annual yield from a well cared-for 400 square-foot mixed vegetable garden is 360 pounds (National Gardening Association). Backyard gardens were credited with the production of 41% of the nation's vegetables as a result of the US Government’s Victory Garden social marketing campaign during World War II. Now, as then, empty lots can become a resource, enabling people to overcome hunger and malnutrition and to focus on the rest of their lives.

The community volunteers annually plant and harvest at least one ton of produce. We also tested plant many new varieties of food plants to determine their productivity in our area. The addition of chickens and ducks to the farm has been wildly popular with neighborhood moms and kids as well as older community members- many of whom make a visit to the farm a part of their daily routine- increasing the value of the farm as a community gathering space. The chickens are also providing a steady flow of eggs (which are also given away), and have become major recyclers of green waste and soil builders.

 

Volunteers from Rebuilding Together work on building raised beds for food production. Although lab tests determined the existing soil is probably safe to grow in, we decided to import soil just to be sure. Also, since the site is a former railway, the existing "soil" is mostly hard-packed gravel. We are using woodchips to contain the garden beds because they are free and will eventually become soil too.

One of the most recent photos of the food garden as seen from the far end. "Red Velvet" sunflowers and newly made bean trellises rise before a long stretch of foodscape.