Tag Archives: food

Spiral Gardens Nursery in Berkeley

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Daniel Miller, executive director of Spiral Gardens in Berkeley.

Spiral Gardens is a non-profit nursery, produce stand, and community farm located at 2850 Sacramento near Ashby Street in Berkeley. It’s been around since 1993 but it was new to me when I happened to drive by it back in April. A community treasure, it’s easily the best Bay Area nursery I’ve visited.

What makes the nursery so good is that every herb and vegetable is grown on site for our climate. The Bay Area’s unusual cool summer weather requires special varieties that big box nurseries don’t offer. The prices are affordable and the selection is huge. What other nursery has 19 varieties of tomatoes grown especially for our climate? Lettuces, beans, squash, corn, peppers, greens, carrots herbs and hard-to-find perennial vegetables that last multiple seasons such as tree collards, burdock, and cape gooseberries are offered. A plant geek’s heaven, everything is well labeled and often comes with a free history lesson. Berries and fruit trees are also sold (though not grown on site due to lengthy growing times) as well as non-edibles including natives, bee friendly and drought tolerant plants.

The experienced staff grows the plants and knows the plants. They are there to answer questions and offer advice. Volunteers are welcome to drop in anytime they are open. Monthly free workshops are listed on Facebook. Spiral Gardens also sells starts at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers Market. Excess produce grown on site is also given away to the local community seniors.

Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project 510. 843.1307 Summer Hours: 11am to 6pm  Tues-Friday, 11am to 5pm Sat and Sunday

Kanchan Hunter of Spiral Gardens shows a neighbor how to transplant.

A sample of edible starts at Spiral Gardens. (clockwise from top left) corn, tree collards, tomatoes, burdock, five star lettuce mix, apples, mint and speckled lettuce

A neighbor harvests tree collards growing at the nursery.

 

Donald Theard, Community Gardener

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It’s amazing what one person can do for the community. Last year I met Donald Theard the main volunteer gardener at the People’s Grocery garden at 7th and Market. Called Free-er Way Garden because it’s right next to the freeway, it’s open to anyone to come by and pick vegetables. It provides a crucial service to the West Oakland neighborhood where healthy foods are hard to come by, though it wouldn’t be possible without a dedicated volunteer growing the food.

Not long ago the garden was a weed-filled vacant lot but People’s Grocery got permission to  grow vegetables as part of their food justice program.  When I talked to Donald last year he told me he’d never grown vegetables till the year before when he started volunteering at the garden. He said he comes twice a week tending the garden growing  everything from carrots, collard greens, peppers, kale, tomatoes, beans, chard, squash, watermelons and more. His latest experiment was growing okra. There’s newly planted fruit trees, an arbor, a greenhouse for starting seedlings and a beautiful mural. Across the street there’s a McDonalds but there’s no place nearby to buy produce. While I was there several neighbors came by and picked their own vegetables, including senior, Cloteal Davis who was picking  up some collard greens and peppers for dinner.

I stopped by the garden a couple of weeks ago and it’s still going strong, even though People’s Grocery has closed. I wonder if Donald is still at work, keeping the community healthy with fresh organic produce. If anyone knows please contact me so I can check in with Donald Theard, I’d love to hear how last year’s okra crop went.

Read an in depth story about Oakland’s Right to Grow program and four other American cities working to fix the broken food system in Fixing Food: Fresh Solutions from Five U. S. Cities by The Union of Concerned Scientists, 2015.

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Cloteal Davis, a neighbor, stops by to get some vegetables from the People's Grocery garden at 7th and Market in West Oakland that Donald Theard, a volunteer tends.

Cloteal Davis, a neighbor, stops by to get some vegetables from the People’s Grocery garden at 7th and Market in West Oakland that Donald Theard, a volunteer tends.

PeeWee and Veronica, neighbors stop by and talk to Donald Theard the volunteer gardener at People's Grocery garden at 7th and Market in West Oakland.

PeeWee and Veronica, neighbors stop by and talk to Donald Theard the volunteer gardener at People’s Grocery garden at 7th and Market in West Oakland.

Donald Theard, 510.238.8946, volunteers at the People's Grocery garden at 7th and Market in West Oakland. He never grew vegetables before working this vacant lot. Before working here, he never grew vegetables. He's worked here one year.