Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative

School Gardens • Youth Training Gardens • College Gardens • Nonprofit Garden Projects • Community Gardens • Demonstration and Restoration Projects • Affiliates & Supporters • Get Involved

Who We Are: BCGC is composed of diverse community garden members who share a common commitment to organic, urban agriculture and access to healthy food for all residents of Berkeley.

What We Do: By providing a forum for mutual support and the sharing of common resources, BCGC assists and protects existing gardens, facilitates the formation of new gardens, and advocates food security initiatives in our local schools and city.

Our Mission: BCGC actively seeks to create a more sustainable society by engaging in environmentally beneficial urban land stewardship, which includes urban agriculture, the preservation of open space, habitat restoration, and cultivating community. To broaden its impact and build alliances, BCGC partners with other organizations that share its goals. Land, air, water, and seeds are our commonwealth, which we have a right and duty to protect.

School Gardens

School gardens, on-site at elementary, middle and high schools, aim to integrate organic food production into the curricula and into the school lunch pro-grams. Children are introduced to food production, nutrition, composting, ecological awareness, and cooking and preparing the food they grow to share around the table. Most garden and cooking classes are supported by the Network for a Healthy California Program.

Arts Magnet / Whittier School Garden
1645 Milvia Street
Contact: Kate Obenour, 548-1707

Berkeley Technology Academy
Derby Street at MLK Jr. Way
Contact: Justin Watkins, 763-5584

Early Childhood Development Gardens
920 Allston Way, 1460 Eight Street
1810 Hopkins Street, 1939 Ward Street
Contact: Chris Nakao

Edible Schoolyard at King Middle School
Rose Street at Grant Avenue
Contact: Shania Robbins, 558-1335

Emerson School Garden
2800 Forest Avenue
Contact: Jeanette Kjabmand, 780-6856

Jefferson School Garden
Rose Street at Sacramento Street
Contact: unstaffed at this time

John Muir School Garden
2955 Claremont Avenue
Contact: Rachel Harris, 439-6227

LeConte School Farm and Garden
Ellsworth Street between Oregon and Russell
Contact: Ben Geoff, 684-7881

Longfellow Middle School Garden
California Street at Derby Street
Contact: Robert Marosi, (415) 577-1756

Malcolm X School Garden
Ellis Street at Ashby Avenue
Contact: Rivka Mason, 653-5317

Oxford School Garden
1130 Oxford Street
Contact: not staffed at this time

Rosa Parks School Garden
Allston Way at 8th Street
Contact: Tania Stiller, 644-8812

School of the Madeleine
1225 Milvia Street
Contact: Helena Brykarz, 527-3315

St. Mary's College High School Garden
1294 Albina Way
Contact: Greg Sutphin, 526-9242 x432

Thousand Oaks School Garden
840 Colusa Avenue
Contact: Daria Wrubel, 517-4408

Washington School Garden
MLK, Jr. Way at Bancroft Avenue
Contact: TBA

Willard Greening Project, Willard Middle School
Telegraph Avenue at Stuart Street
Contact: Matt Tsang, 918-4107

Youth Training Gardens

Youth training gardens train and employ young people from high-risk neighborhoods. Mentors work closely with youth gardeners, sharing practical skills for future employment and enjoyment. BCGC recognizes that urban gardening offers lifelong learning that can help prevent substance abuse and violence. Moreover, food production is an ecological and sustainable means of economic development that addresses both hunger and hopelessness.

Berkeley Youth Alternatives Production Garden
BYA Office: 1255 Allston Way
Garden: Bancroft Way between West and Bonar
Contact: Becca Prager, 647-0709

College Gardens

Gill Tract Urban Farm
San Pablo Avenue at Marin/Buchanan
Contact: Miguel Altieri, 642-9802

UC College of Natural Resources Student Garden
Walnut Street at Virginia Street
Contact: Andy Olson, (949) 547-0903

Nonprofit Garden Projects

Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project
 Sacramento Street at Oregon Street
59th Street between Adeline and Market
Produce stand and nursery of edible, medicinal, and native plants at Sacramento Street Garden
Contact: Daniel Miller, 843-1307

Demonstration or Restoration Projects

EcoHouse Permaculture Demonstration Garden
Hopkins Street at Peralta Avenue
Contact: Ecology Center, 548-2220 x242

California Habitats Indigenous Activists (CHIA)
Natives Restoration Project
Ohlone Greenway between Peralta and Gilman
Contact: Mike Nettles, 559-9421

Community Gardens

Community gardens make plots available to individuals, families, and groups for growing food, flowers, and herbs. Community gardeners use food to feed their families and share with neighbors.

Ashby Community Garden
Ashby Avenue between Mabel and Sacramento
Contact: Ellen Doudna, 845-5850

BYA Community Garden
Bancroft Way between West and Bonar
Contact: Steve Moros, 666-1254

Codornices Creek Daylighting Project and Community Orchard
8th Street at Harrison Street
Contact: Richard Register, 452-9522

Karl Linn Community Garden
Peralta Avenue at Hopkins Street
Contact: Mary Lynch, 872-0770

Kenney Cottage Garden
1631 5th Street
Contact: Lisa Graciano, 705-3374

Northside Community Garden
Northside and Peralta Avenues at Hopkins
Contact: Elizabeth Peele, 510-526-2421, elzipeele@yahoo.com

Ohlone Community Garden
Hearst Avenue at McGee Street
Contact: Durwood Wiggins, (443) 621-4095

People's Park Community Garden
Bowditch Street between Dwight and Haste
Contact: Terri Compost, 658-9178

Peralta Community Garden
Peralta Avenue at Hopkins Street
Contact: Carole Bennett-Simmons, 527-6708

Strong Roots Community Garden
Sacramento Street at Woolsey Street
Contact: Stephanie Arciero, (415) 215-5464

West Berkeley Senior Center Garden
1900 6th Street
Contact: Senior Center office, 981-5186

BCGC Affiliates and Supporters

The Berkeley Community Garden Collaborative is working with:

  • American Community Gardening Association, a national organization that promotes sustainabilty through all aspects of community gardening and greening of urban, rural, and suburban communities.
    Contact: 1-877-ASK-ACGA
  • Center for Ecoliteracy, who, in collaboration with the Berkeley Unified School District, works to implement the School Lunch Initiative by linking family farms to schools and offering all students healthy, fresh, and organic meals.
    Contact: Zenobia Barlow, 845-4595
  • Berkeley Partners for Parks, the City of Berkeley, and the Rails to Trails Conservancy to develop the Santa Fe Right of Way into pathways, community gardens, and other choices that are compatible with the neighborhood.
  • The Berkeley Helath Department and Berkeley Unified School District's Nutrition Services, to make sure that our students get a lunch that is freshly cooked, mostly organic, and locally grown.

BCGC can assist your neighborhood by offering:

  • Resource and tool sharing contacts
  • Technical advice, troubleshooting, and design assistance
  • Compost and seeds to community, school, and nonprofit projects

You can help BCGC!

  • Volunteer your time in our gardens
  • Donate or locate garden resources, such as: irrigation supplies, garden tools, construction tools, building supplies, seedlings, etc.
  • Donate money to BCGC. (Mail checks made payable to Ecology Center/BCGC: 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702)

Want to garden in Berkeley? We can help you find a plot! Call the community garden nearest you, or call us at 510-883-9096. We check messages once a week.

Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative
P.O. Box 2801
Berkeley, CA 94702
510-883-9096

Updated: June 2010