What’s going on, what’s needed before they open, how to get involved
Inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, and cuts to the safety net are making it more difficult for many of our neighbors to buy food. “We are serving a record-breaking number of people – 987 families in one day last December and nearly 1,600 families each week in 2026,” says Teale Harden, Executive Director of the Alameda Food Bank.
This sketch shows the current plan for the garden area, and is subject to change. Used with permission from Alameda Backyard Growers.
People are having to choose between food, gas to drive to work, and needed medication. One proven way to put a dent in hunger in Alameda is to provide community gardens, so that people who don’t have yards can grow some of their own food—and one is being built in Jean Sweeney Open Space Park.
Community gardens have a number of benefits for people who sign up for a plot, starting with the opportunity to grow a significant amount of food. A small, sunny area, if managed well and consistently tended, can grow a lot of vegetables. In Alameda, it is possible to grow hardy greens and root crops year round.
There are numerous health and social benefits as well. Studies have shown that participating in a community garden increases consumption of fruit and vegetables. Gardeners also get more exercise and may lose weight. Community gardens can improve participants’ mental health and well-being. Older adults experience improved cognitive function and quality of life. Children learn to grow plants, work as a team with others, and actually like vegetables, which taste so much better when freshly picked. Immigrants get to grow crops they remember from home. People from different cultures and backgrounds learn to work together.
Other cities in the Bay Area have had positive experiences with community gardens. There are community gardens in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro. Until now, there has been only one community garden in Alameda. That is about to change.
The City of Alameda purchased a former railroad property 15 years ago and decided to make it into an open space park, named for the woman who spearheaded the effort to obtain the land: Jean Sweeney. Surveys and public workshops established priorities—a welcoming open space with walking and biking trails, picnic areas, a playground, wildlife habitat, and a community garden.
At this point, everything is in place except for the community garden, but work on this project is now underway. After several revisions to plans, the garden will be located on the south side of the park, between Eighth and Nason Streets, with further expansion possible. All the acacias in the site—“weed trees” that crowd out the native oaks and often fall during winter storms—are now gone and the weeds have been removed. Current work includes fencing and grading the site and capping residual asphalt and concrete with clean dirt.
The City is searching for a free source of clean dirt, as the amount of soil needed will be expensive to purchase.
As envisioned, the site will have two shipping containers to store tools and equipment, compost bins, an education area, pollinator gardens, demonstration gardens and, eventually, 100 plots for gardens. The City has budgeted approximately two-thirds of the money needed to put in the first 50 plots. Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) is stepping up to raise the other half.
ABG’s goal is to raise $150,000 from a combination of grants and individual donations. The money will be used for signage for the community garden, lighting, constructing the second tranche of 50 raised beds and filling them with soil, picnic tables, a utility sink, potting benches, loaner tools, a rainwater capture tank, and site vegetation, including a shade tree and native plants that attract pollinators.
Current fundraising work includes identifying sources of grants and donations. A GiveButter webpage (funding site for nonprofits) has been set up to receive donations. The page is being advertised on social media and via email blasts to the ABG mailing list. ABG is also planning to ask organizations with similar goals to spread the word.
If all goes according to plan, the community garden will be open next fall. An application process to assign plots has not yet been determined, but will likely involve some sort of lottery, with priority given to people who have no access to land for gardening.
America is known as the land of plenty, but the reality is that 13.7% of our population—and 18.4% of households with children—are experiencing food insecurity, according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). A small patch of land will not completely remedy that lack, but every little bit helps.
Margie Siegal is a long term gardener in Alameda and a supporter of Alameda Backyard Growers. Reach her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Margie-Siegal.
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