In the upcoming months, we will be conducting more mentorship visits and getting residents ready to plant their fall/winter crops. Here’s a list of some plants that will be available for residents to grow:
· Peas (snow peas, shelling peas, sugar snap peas)
· Mustard, bok choi, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, arugula, radish, turnip
· Carrots, parsnips, parsley
· Lettuce, mesclun salad mixes, spinach, beets, chard.
This summer we revamped our community garden at Columbia Park Manor with funding support from Los Medanos Community Health District, including building four raised garden beds. The old beds were on the ground, and our residents were having difficulty bending down to tend to their garden.
Last spring, in partnership with City Slicker Farms, Alameda County Public Health, and our generous resident volunteers, SAHA revamped our existing gardens and added three new gardens this year. SAHA's Community Gardens are just a small part of our Resident Services Program that works to provide activities and opportunities for meaningful engagement with each other, our neighborhoods and our cities.
SAHA’s goal is not to only provide a safe space for our residents to garden but also to provide the tools and resources for our residents to succeed. At all of SAHA’s community gardens, residents receive garden mentorship and supports by SAHA’s staff and outside resources. SAHA partners with City Slicker Farms to provide support to some of our gardens. SAHA is able to fund these supports through SAHA’s Community Engagement Program, donations, and other agencies. SAHA is a recipient of the community garden grant through the Alameda County Area Agency on Aging and the Los Medanos Health Care District. In addition to the garden support, SAHA’s residents also benefit from Nutrition Education Workshops provided by Alameda County Public Health and Contra Costa Nutrition Services. SAHA also provides water conservation tips to educate our residents on ways to reuse water in the garden. These tips are especially important now that we are experiencing a serious drought.
We have gardens at the following locations:
