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Backyard Gardens

A Good Idea

Description

The Backyard Gardens program is an initiative of City Slickers Farms, an organization that supports access to fresh, healthy, organic food for low-income residents of West Oakland, CA. City Slickers Farms provides individuals in the community with a full set of resources to grow food in their backyards, beginning with soil analysis and contamination testing. The Backyard Gardens program helps each participating household build a garden that includes two planter boxes, a fruit tree, plants, and seeds. The plant mix is tailored to each household's needs and their soil's profile. To provide guidance and support, the program pairs new gardeners with garden mentors during their first two years of growing food. The program also creates gardens at childcare sites to expose children (and their families) to healthy foods.

City Slickers Farms' initiatives are funded mostly through support from foundations and government agencies, but the organization also receives monetary and in-kind donations from individuals and local businesses. All services are free. City Slickers Farms also hosts the Community Market Farms Program, the Urban Farming Education Program, and leads a Policy Advocacy Initiative.

Goal / Mission

The Backyard Garden Program builds food self-sufficiency by empowering low-income households to grow fresh produce where they live.

Results / Accomplishments

In 2010 alone, the Backyard Gardens program created new gardens for 20 households and 10 childcare sites, provided additional services to 18 existing gardens, and supplied 473 hours of technical assistance. City Slicker Farms estimates that its support resulted in the production of 24,000 pounds of produce. A 2010 survey of Backyard Gardeners revealed that 100% of gardeners were happy or very happy with their gardens, 92% had saved money through their garden, and 86% had increased their consumption rate of fresh fruits and vegetables to at least once a day.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
City Slicker Farms
Primary Contact
Barbara Finnin, Executive Director
1625 16th Street
Oakland, CA 94607
510-763-4241
info@cityslickerfarms.org
http://www.cityslickerfarms.org
Topics
Health / Physical Activity
Community / Social Environment
Organization(s)
City Slicker Farms
Date of publication
2010
Date of implementation
2005
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
West Oakland, CA
For more details
Target Audience
Children, Teens, Adults, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Healthy Marin