Arlene Nuñez holds up baby Amaru Barajas for a closer look at a cherry tree sapling at the Collective Roots Community Garden opening ceremony in East Palo Alto on June 14, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney.
The six-acre lot on Demeter Street in East Palo Alto is usually quiet. The land is completely empty aside from a compost station, a shed tucked in the back corner and the chainlink fence that surrounds it.
But on Saturday morning, Vera Cordova looked over the wood chip-and soil-covered space with a couple dozen community members. It’s a blank canvas and local leaders have ambitious plans for what could be an outdoor cooking space, shelter for people seeking refuge in the rain and even a location for workout classes.
It might take years to accomplish such goals but for now, locals are excited to transform the space at 230 Demeter St. into East Palo Alto’s new – and only – community garden.
Nonprofit Fresh Approach unveiled the garden location in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 14, weeks before the lease expires on the former garden site at 1785 Woodland Ave.
Cordova, Fresh Approach’s community garden program manager, held her child, who didn’t cut but pulled the ribbons open to the new space. Attendees, including local farmers and officials such as council member Ruben Abrica, applauded before participating in a land blessing.
As part of the ritual, Catalina Gomes, an indigenous elder in the Ramaytush Ohlone tribe that occupied San Francisco Peninsula Region, cleansed attendees with sage and allowed them to bless different sections of the land that is anticipated to become a bustling community hub.
“We will have beds for individual gardeners to grow their own food, and we will have a Collective Roots Garden, where we will grow food collectively to support the community’s needs,” said Fresh Approach Executive Director Laura deTar in a speech.
While the organization will only be accessing a quarter-acre of the six acres at the moment, it hopes to work with local stakeholders to expand into more of the land and create new programs, deTar said.
Mia Bernardino of East Palo Alto nonprofit Blooomhouse speaks at the Collective Roots Community Garden opening ceremony in East Palo Alto on June 14, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney.
In the meantime, Fresh Approach plans to transfer its old programs into the new space, like a free tool library, gardening workshops and workdays, where community members can learn how to plant, prune and compost among other skills.
For many community members at the event, the space represents much more than an opportunity to garden.
When Jeanne Yu moved to East Palo Alto in 2017, she began volunteering with Fresh Approach, expecting to pick up some basic gardening skills. But she didn’t expect her hobby to completely transform her home and foster longtime friendships.
“My garden takes up my whole backyard and front yard,” she said, laughing.
Yu, who is now on the board of directors for Fresh Approach, can often be found gardening in her front yard while chatting with neighbors.
Amaru Barajas, 10 months old, clutches a ripe cherry plucked from a tree at the Collective Roots Community Garden opening ceremony in East Palo Alto on June 14, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney.
Brenda Erwyn, who is also a longtime local gardener, stood with Yu as they reflected on their years at the former community garden. She consistently looked forward to using the old garden, Erwyn said, and is excited to access a brand new space.
“They continue to help me grow,” said Erwyn, who was provided a free gardening bed by Fresh Approach.
East Palo Alto organization Collective Roots, which merged with Fresh Approach in 2018, opened the original garden about two decades ago, in an effort to expand access to fresh produce in the city that was deemed a “food desert,” at the time. The lease on the garden will end on June 30 and Fresh Approach staff are unsure what land-owners will do with the space, which is now packed full with vegetables and plants.
Fresh Approach staff like Cordova hope that with fundraisers and possibly city collaboration, the organization might be able to purchase some of the land in the new location.
As Cordova gave a tour of the garden-to-be, she pointed to different corners of the lot, carving out space for pathways, built-in overhangs, classroom space and more. What exactly will happen here will depend on community feedback, she said.
“This is our space, not my space,” she said, smiling.
Fresh Approach program manager Vera Cordova, right, leads a tour explaining what the future community garden will look like at the Collective Roots Community Garden opening ceremony in East Palo Alto on June 14, 2025. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney.
Fresh Approach will host its Harvest Picnic fundraiser at the new garden site, featuring live music, a seasonal picnic, cooking demonstrations and a silent auction on Sept. 27 from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
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