Food for Thought Newsletter
MAY 2021
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The Womyn of Urban Tilth
During Women’s Month, we wanted to share with our community how BIG of a role women play in Urban Tilth. So we did a little photo shoot so that people could see all of the women who work hard behind the scene growing healthy food and helping to transform our community.
We are so proud to be a part of such a group of dynamic, visionary women!
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Civil Eats TV: Planting with Purpose |
The good people at Civil Eats TV recently visited our farm and gardens to interview our Executive Director, Doria Robinson, on the history of Richmond, food insecurity, community transformation, and Urban Tilth’s mission for a sustainable, local food system.
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NEW Native Plant Showcase Garden at Unity Plaza |
Transforming blighted areas into beauty!
In April our Watershed's Team took a break from the hard work of watershed restoration and designed a new demonstration Native Plant Garden for a neglected area of UNITY PLAZA along the Richmond Greenway that was overgrown with weeds and generally an eyesore.
From start to finish, the Native Plant Showcase Garden turned out beautiful! We had the pleasure of hosting a volunteer event with students and teachers from Maybeck High school in Berkeley! From weeding, shoveling mulch, planting, watering, laying rocks, they did it all...
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Youth at Verde Elementary Learn to Grow Their Own Garden |
The pandemic has been hard on our young students who rely on learning through direct engagement with their teachers, other students, and learning materials. This is especially true when it comes to the classes and activities Urban Tilth usually offers to all Verde Elementary students to support their learning through class visits and recess activities in the garden. For over 20 years, Verde students have come to the garden to watch their science, art, nutrition, and math lessons come to LIFE, right before their eyes! |
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That's why we were so excited when teachers from Verde Elementary decided it was time to get the kids back in the garden, even if that meant virtually! Thanks to the efforts of the Verde elementary teachers and our garden team, students were able to receive wool planters this Spring with soil and seeds - all delivered to their homes - and start Zoom garden classes so that they can continue to grow and learn with hands-on activities while they are at home.
These portable gardens have been a BIG success! So much so some students had to expand from their planters ...
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North Richmond Farm Construction News |
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Moving Forward with Phase II Design |
Things are moving along on the design front for the North Richmond Farm. Phase 2 of Farm Construction will include the farm operations facilities, such as the greenhouse, shade house, tool shed, soil shed, the Watershed Center, and a composting toilet. Not all waste has to go to waste!
We are also excited to include one natural construction building, the Watershed Learning Center, in this phase of Construction. We hope to host some community build days next Spring to give local residents a hands-on “barn raising” experience of building straw bale structures with the help of Earth Bound Building, an inspiring Black-owned, and worker-owned cooperative construction company ...
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Summer Apprenticeship Program |
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The Summer Apprentice Program is a rare opportunity for West County youth to join a dynamic and positive group of their peers for a life-changing summer of intensive urban agriculture training, community engagement, mind-opening field trips, and paid summer employment.
During the course of this intensive 6-week program, youth are placed on small crews at 4 of our community and school gardens where they learn to work together to grow fresh, healthy organic food for our community while developing meaningful skills.
Apprentices also gain knowledge!
Through awesome field trips, training, and hands-on learning activities apprentices learn key concepts in Ecology, Botany, Agriculture, Nutrition, Holistic Health, Social Justice, and Community Development. By the end of the summer, after using or encountering these basic concepts in real situations they will be able to share their knowledge with their communities.
APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED by May 14, 2021
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Things are starting to open back up again!
What better way to celebrate than getting a NEW job working OUTSIDE, sharing knowledge, and helping to grow healthy food and beautiful gardens for our community!
Urban Tilth is currently looking to hire the right candidates to help sustain
and grow our community gardens and farm.
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Urban Tilth has an immediate opening for a Garden Coordinator serving the Greenway Gardens at 6th Street and 16th street. This position will support site maintenance, community programming, volunteer coordination, and garden development under the supervision of the Greenway Gardens Manager.
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Urban Tilth has an immediate opening for a Site Lead to manage and facilitate the delivery of our 2021 Summer Apprentice Program within our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project. The person who holds this position will manage the development and delivery of an intensive six-week summer training program, hosting 6-8 youth and 1 staff at our North Richmond Farm site.
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Our current open positions include:
- Greenway Gardens Coordinator (2 positions)
- Summer Apprentice Program 2021: CSA Site Lead
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2nd Saturdays
Saturday, May 8th
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Love Our Greenway
Volunteer Day
6th Street Community Gardens
Help GROW healthy food at the Greenway Community Gardens!
Richmond Greenway @
6th street
(between Ohio & Chanslor Ave)
Saturday May 8th
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
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2nd Saturdays
Saturday, May 8th
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Love Our Greenway
Volunteer Day
16th Street Edible Forest
BEAUTIFY the Edible Forest, Pollinator, and Succulent Gardens at Unity Park Plaza!
Richmond Greenway @
16th street & Unity Plaza
(between Ohio & Chanslor Ave)
Saturday May 8th
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
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4th Saturdays
Saturday, May 22nd
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Community Build
Volunteer Day
North Richmond Farm
Help Build the North Richmond Farm!
North Richmond Farm
323 Brookside Drive
Richmond, CA 94801
Saturday May 22nd
10:00 am - 1:00 pm.
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What is the Farmers to Families FREE Produce Box program?
The Farmers to Families Program offers currently 190 Richmond and San Pablo Families FREE boxes of fresh,
local, and organic produce each week. To make sure that our community members who may be going through hard times don't have to worry about feeding their families fresh, healthy food.
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323 Brookside Dr.
Richmond, CA 94801
510-232-0911
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