In order to acknowledge such outstanding performance, the Office of Parks and Recreation (OPR) features a spotlight on our services, programs, facilities, parks and recreation centers, which may be in conjunction or collaboration with a sponsor or partner.

Community Gardening
The Community Gardening Program of Parks and Recreation provides a unique opportunity for urban residents to share, learn and enjoy the art of gardening. Program participants of all ages, cultures and backgrounds cultivate equitably distributed plots of land and grow vegetables, fruits and flowers. Spring and Fall gardening classes offer essential gardening tips for the Bay Area climate and soils. And special program events like Earth Day and Open Garden Day are an opportunity to celebrate and connect with the urban gardeners of the East Bay. This program empowers participants and visitors to meet their needs for recreation, good nutrition, physical activity, gardening basics, and natural beauty.

The Community Gardening Program offers Oakland residents a measure of self-reliance: elementary school children participate in hands-on science lessons, youth have an environment for job-training, seniors grow vegetables to supplement their food budget and neighbors have a place to strengthen the bonds of their community. The following brief community gardening history provides some details on why urban community gardening has become a nation wide pursuit.

Today, urban community gardens, while often used for practical vegetable growing purposes, also have other goals. Consciously or not, they are part of a widespread attempt to regain the "sense of place" lost when people began moving from rural homes and small towns to gigantic cities. The continuous strong interest in urban gardening is one example of an individual's search for connectedness within a natural environment. For city-folks, the practice of organic gardening, i.e. preparing the soil, tending vegetables and flowers, and harvesting a crop, offers extra satisfaction, because it provides relaxing recreation which draws upon one's creative abilities and simultaneously beautifies a place in the neighborhood.

Youth community service programs and horticulture after-school programs are also taking this message of vegetable gardening to a much younger audience. In collaboration with community garden activists, teachers provide urban youth with hands-on science education in an "outdoor classroom" setting. A school garden permits students to experience nature's life cycles and practice horticultural skills through composting, soil preparation, organic gardening and, of course, harvesting. Thus, in 2003, community gardening programs are in educational/recreational tool and the garden setting a small natural oasis within the concrete urban environment.

March 2003

Community Gardening Office of Parks and Recreation Life Enrichment Agency