Hercules Sustainable Community Garden Foundation
The Hercules Sustainable Community Garden Foundation will be a resource for community gardeners and will be staffed by volunteers and interns who will support an network of community garden projects throughout the city. The mission of the Community Garden is to promote community and school gardens in Hercules and the surrounding communities.
Description:
Community gardens are a "common ground" on which diverse members of the community can meet, sharing knowledge and building relationships, while enhancing the environment for all community members. Many of our neighbors reside in apartments, condominiums, or even houses that simply don't have adequate land for gardening. For some, establishing and maintaining a garden by themselves is simply too daunting a task. Community gardens create opportunities for people to work together in a space that minimizes effort and maximizes results.
Our Concept: The Community Garden will begin with developing vegetable and flower gardens. These will encourage Gardening Education, Teen Involvement, Senior Citizen Involvement, Cultural Diversity, Feeding the Hungry, Civic Involvement and Garden Themed venues for community events. The Garden will provide paths where residents will enjoy walking and observing natures passage from seed to harvest. As the Garden progresses there will be accessible garden plots for seniors or disabled gardeners, as well as demonstration gardens featuring native plants, an orchard, a small vineyard, cultural heritage plantings, and water conservation techniques.
History:
Spring of 2008 an advisory committee was formed to agree on the vision and mission of the Hercules Sustainable Community Garden Foundation. During this time, we developed a formal proposal which included our implementation plan and submitted it to Hercules Community Services and the Hercules City Council. They approved our plan and we began to identify property sites suitable for development of the Hercules Sustainable Community Garden.
During the Summer of 2008 a design plan including all proposed phases for the Community Garden was completed. We elected the Officers and Board of Directors for the Hercules Sustainable Community Garden Foundation. We also completed the research and paperwork for filing to become a California Corporation and a 501(c)3 organization.
The Officers are:
Nita Sexton, President
Mark Eley, Secretary/Treasurer
Pedro Jiminez, Director
Marsha Guerrero, Director
Honorary Board Member, Bill Prather
During the Fall and Winter of 2008 a budget was developed and we began securing funding. Our efforts focused on including, but not limiting, Hercules City funding, grants, local business involvement and resident donations. Additionally, we began work with school groups to identify and plan initial programs to be tested then ultimately implemented at various educational levels.
In the Spring 2009, the first "trial basis" school garden was implemented at Hanna Ranch Elementary School. There has been very favorable response to this trial garden by the students and teachers.
Volunteers were recruited and a committee was formed to begin recruiting additional volunteers and gathering items needed to begin the construction of the Hercules Community Garden.
We have made great progress with the help of our volunteers. The area for raised garden beds is moving along quickly. Many beds are in and some have been planted. Some of the demonstration gardens are formed and others are still needing to be made. We still need volunteers so please contact us. Your help is greatly appreciated.
The site of the Hercules Community Garden is:
Ohlone Park, off of Turquoise Avenue, behind the Ohlone Community Center.
Contact people:
Office fax number: Not available at this time
Address:
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NOT THE SITE ADDRESS
244 South WildwoodHercules, CA 94547(See a map) |
Web Site: http://sites.google.com/site/herculesgardening/home
Directions:
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From Rodeo, Take San Pablo Avenue to the intersection of Sycamore and San Pablo Avenue. Turn left on Sycamore Avenue. Go to the second stoplight which is Turquoise Ave, turn right on Turquois Avenue. Go up the hill. . . (more)
Nearest Bus Stop: Westcat to Ohlone Center, 5 min. minute walk |
| Last updated on November 3, 2009 |
