Collective Roots Community Garden
Planting seeds of nourishment and community in the Bay Area
Located at 1785 Woodland Ave, in East Palo Alto, Collective Roots Community Garden offers a place for community members to gain hands-on experience with organic gardening. Through our workshops, volunteer workdays, and resources, we equip folks with the skills and means to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables, and build a more resilient community.
Residents of East Palo Alto can enjoy additional free resources, such as a tool lending library and free seeds while qualifying residents can apply for free home garden installation and use of garden plots at the Collective Roots garden. By building a strong, sustainable network of local growers, we’re improving access to nourishing food while helping preserve the food sovereignty of the many cultures that call East Palo Alto their home!
125 Participants
engaged in our
gardening workshops
89 Members
in our community
garden network
25 Rain Gardens
installed around
East Palo Alto
*Data from 2023 Annual Report
GARDEN WORKSHOPS
Our monthly workshops provide a chance to learn everything you need to know about urban gardening, from managing pests and basic tree pruning, crop rotation, to growing in contaminated soil.
Through our workshops, we aim to help East Palo Alto families expand their gardening skills and learn to grow sustainable, edible, organic gardens of their own.
COMPOST HUB
Our Community Compost Hub allows folks to divert their compostable food waste into gardening compost and grow nourishing fruits and vegetables!
Community Compost Members can bring their food scraps in compost collection buckets to one of our drop-off sites. You can receive your own compost collection bucket once you complete the online training (English/Spanish). Buckets can be picked up at the collection sites listed below.
- Wednesdays (between 4/24 and 11/20/24) from 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM at East Palo Alto Community Farmers’ Market
- Wednesdays (between 11/27/24 and 4/25), from 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM at Collective Roots Community Garden
- Every-other Saturday from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the College of San Mateo Farmers’ Market.
RAIN GARDEN INSTALLATIONS
Along with our partner organizations, Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) and Grassroots Ecology, we are working to install rain gardens and water cistern systems for homeowners in East Palo Alto, as a way to mitigate the effects of climate change.
With our Rain Garden Ambassador program, community members are paid to install and maintain rain garden systems; and through our workshops, community members learn the value of rainwater harvesting.
We hope this project will serve as a pilot of community resilience!
GARDEN WORKDAYS
Join us in the garden to sharpen your planting, pruning, and composting skills while learning from our experienced community members. You’re even welcome to take some of the harvest home with you!
Garden Workdays happen on the first Thursday of each month between 9 AM and 12 PM.
All ages are welcome, with adult supervision required for children under 10 years of age.
Want to receive updates on Collective Roots Community Garden?
“Gardening helps ground me: getting outside, working in the soil, and getting some sun it keeps me balanced. I’m much happier when I garden.”
Community Gardening Network Member
RESOURCES FOR EAST PALO ALTO RESIDENTS
We also offer free resources to residents of East Palo Alto to make growing food at home and in community gardens more affordable and accessible, including:
- Access to our seed lending library, a free source of locally viable, organic seeds for year-round gardening
- Access to our tool lending library, where you can borrow the tools necessary to build and maintain your own garden as well as food preservation equipment for preserving your home harvests
- Assistance with becoming a Certified Producer in San Mateo County, opening the opportunity to sell produce at the East Palo Alto Community Farmers’ Market
- Connections to other network members with opportunities to share knowledge and strengthen community
- Seed and produce swaps with other gardeners in the community
- VeggieRx Vouchers for attending our workshops for you to purchase fresh fruits & vegetables at participating farmers’ markets
HISTORY OF COLLECTIVE ROOTS
The ​Collective Roots ​Gardening Program ​began as an independent non-profit organization​ ​​​called Collective Roots, founded in 2000. From ​its inception, Collective Roots ​focused on the growing, sharing, and cooking of nutritious foods ​as a way of ​improv​ing​ the economic independence, health, and community connectedness of East Palo Alto.​
Founders Holly Taylor, Amanda Feld, and Adam Mitchell started Collective Roots by planting school gardens at Belle Haven Elementary. The organization then expanded its reach to focus more on community and backyard gardens. In 2007, Collective Roots founded​ the East Palo Alto Community Farmers’ Market​ – the first of it’s kind in the city – which continues on today as a program of Fresh Approach. In 2018, Collective Roots merged with Fresh Approach in order to ​deepen their impacts in the community and create ​a more sustainable future​. The community garden at 1785 Woodland Ave is still as vibrant as ever.
