Projects

Food Justice, Culinary Arts, and Permaculture Design after school program at Fremont High

During the 2010-2011 school year, Planting Justice worked in collaboration with Pam Zimmerman at Mandela High School Law and Public Service Academy to empower 25 students to become leaders in the food justice movement. During the 2011-2012 school year, Planting Justice worked in the afterschool program at Mandela High providing internship opportunities to students in their Junior year.

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McClymonds High School educational program

Beginning in March 2012, Planting Justice has been working with Jeremy Namkung's advisory course at McClymonds High School, which has been discussing issues around healthy eating and access to food in their neighborhood.

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Lakeside Community Garden

Planting Justice is building up a food forest in the heart of Oakland's Lake Merritt neighborhood! Come out to one of our workshops to learn about urban permaculture principles, fruit tree guilds, companion planting, perennial plants, and more!

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School Garden at Explore College Preparatory Middle School, East Oakland

In collaboration with West Oakland Youth Standing Empowered (WYSE) and the East Lake YMCA afterschool program, Planting Justice led a weekly "Food Justice and Culinary Arts" program at Explore College Prep Middle School in East Oakland. In April 2009, along with eighty 6th and 7th graders, we planted the first 24 fruit trees at the Burbank Garden hillside right next to the school. With a core group of 12 students, we also built an annual raised bed garden dubbed the Domino Effect.

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Our Nursery

Our nursery location has moved!  We start thousands of vegetable seedlings, berries, herbs, and fruits, to be planted at our many projects throughout the Bay Area. Check out photos of our new nursery location on facebook!

This video, taken in June 2009, examines our old rooftop nursery and garden above the home of Planting Justice founders Gavin Raders and Haleh Zandi in Oakland, CA. Gavin takes you through this tour, explaining some of the principles of permaculture and plant guilds by demonstrating how to create dynamic polycultures in containers.  Since we first began gardening on this roof in 2008, we harvested approximately 750 pounds of produce, saving over $1500!

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San Quentin State Prison Garden

We are working with the Insight Garden Program (IGP) at San Quentin State Prison inside the medium security unit to provide inmates with job-training skills they can use upon their release.  We teach a course on urban permaculture and organic food production to the 30 men enrolled in the IGP course, and they are involved in the planning, design, implementation, and maintenance of their native plant and flower garden.

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Canal Alliance

The Canal Alliance is a comprehensive community resource center that has been serving Marin’s low-income immigrant populations since 1982. Planting Justice has been helping the Canal Alliance to build several community gardens around the large apartment complexes in the Canal District of San Rafael.

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Keller Plaza Community Garden

Since February 2010, Planting Justice Educational Director Haleh Zandi has been leading weekly educational workshops for the residents at Keller Plaza in North Oakland. Members of the community are building an abundant and nutritious garden for their families and neighbors. Check out photos of this amazing garden project at a mixed income and equal opportunity housing site!

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Burbank Community Garden

Planting Justice began collaborating with WYSE (West Oakland Youth Standing Empowered) on re-developing the Burbank Community Garden in February 2009. With over 20 volunteers, Planting Justice and WYSE dug three water-harvesting swales along the downhill slope to sink rainwater into the earth and build up the water table level to feed an abundant perennial food forest. In April 2009, Planting Justice collaborated with over 80 students in the afterschool program at Explore College Preparatory Middle School to plant 24 fruit trees in the Burbank Garden.

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Golestan Edible Garden

The Golestan Edible Garden, located in West Berkeley, provides pre-school age children with the opportunity to participate in growing their own organic fruits, vegetables, herbs and nuts. Amidst global food crises and rising health problems in the U.S., these children learn at an early age the benefits of growing local and healthy food as well as understand where their food comes from and how much labor goes into feeding our community.

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