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Oakley Community Gardens’ mission is to beautify and enhance Oakley and surrounding areas, by providing opportunities for gardeners to sustainably grow a wide variety of healthy foods.
ABOUT US
So, just who are you people anyway?
Your neighbors and friends. The Oakley Community Gardens members are a diverse group of Oakley residents united around the goal of increasing access to fresh healthy food in the city we all love. We want to help you grow your own fruits and vegetables, whether at your home, church, school, senior center, or in a community garden plot.
What is it you're up to?
Our first big project was 17 Garden Plots on the Moura Property. A Community Farm was planned and a lot of effort was put into it's implementation, but circumstances interrupted before it had a chance to shine. Beginning in March 2015, we moved to a new site with additional garden plots, in Creekside Park. In 2017 our dreams of a community farm found a new home. With First Generation Farmers becoming our new fiscal sponsor, we gained access to over 40 acres of farmland and countless volunteer opportunities.
What's the "Moura Property" you keep talking about?
The Moura family were among the old agricultural families of the area. Before Oakley incorporated as a city, they donated a 6.2 acre parcel in the center of town to the County for “parks, recreation and related public purposes”. Upon incorporation the Property was transferred to the City with a vision that the Property be a potential site for community center like amenities and other park and recreation activities. The Parks and Recreation Master Plan also identifies the Property as a future park, recreation and open space site that could include park areas, trail connections, and recreational buildings and facilities.
The property is at 1250 O'Hara Avenue, just south of O'Hara Park Middleschool, and along the De Anza Trail. Many residents will recognize it as the "old YMCA". There are currently 5 portable buildings used for various community activities up front, (The "Oakley Recreation Buildings") but the bulk of the land was unused at the time of our initial lease.
The Moura property is a truly wonderful property, right in the heart of town. It was painful to leave it behind. However, Creekside Park has been a truly wonderful place for us to garden in. It is very nice to have access to water and paved parking after all.
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​I was thinking of making a donation, what do you need?
We need just about anything you can offer. Here's a partial list in no particular order: Volunteers/members, ideas, cash donations, lumber for raised beds, soil amendments, fencing supplies, garden hoses, watering cans, rakes, shovels, hoes, expert gardeners, new gardeners, shy gardeners, extrovert gardeners.....did I mention gardeners? Our sponsoring organization, First Generation Farmers, is organized as a non-profit, so your donations are generally tax deductible. (Consult your tax advisor.)
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Whoever does your website is really annoying.​
We feel the same way, but he works cheap, so what can we do?
When we started out, our fiscal sponsoring organization was Slow Food Delta Diablo. They helped us get started, and nurtured us through our first years as a community garden. We will be forever grateful.
As of June 2017, our new fiscal sponsors are First Generation Farmers. First Generation Farmers is a non-profit community farm located in Brentwood California. "We work toward our mission of facilitating food access along with our new and beginning farmers through our core sustainable agriculture programming, implementation, and education."
Presentation from February 2014 presentation to the City Council.
