Spiral Gardens, Urban Oasis
Three video vignettes and an interactive map, reported from inside the garden
An interactive multimedia feature on the nursery, the farm, and the neighbors who keep both going.
Thirty yearsin the ground
Spiral Gardens began the way everything here begins: small, at the center, with a few hands and one stubborn idea. That a neighborhood should be able to feed itself.
How two railroad lotsbecame a garden
Spiral Gardens was founded in 1993 by a handful of people dedicated to urban greening, innovative organic farming, food security, and environmental justice. From 1997 to 2004, the project grew inside the Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) Urban Gardening Institute.
The turning point came in 2003, on two vacant city-owned lots along the old Santa Fe Railroad line. Turning public land into a garden center took more than a lease; it took the neighborhood's blessing, gathered door to door. Hundreds of residents were surveyed, and with their overwhelming approval, plus the backing of neighborhood councils, local organizations and merchants, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the City of Berkeley Planning Department, the Berkeley City Council passed the proposal unanimously.
In 2004, we incorporated as the Spiral Gardens Community Food Security Project, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The circles have kept widening ever since.
- 1993
A handful of neighbors found Spiral Gardens.
- 1997
The BOSS Urban Gardening Institute years begin.
- 2003
Berkeley City Council approves the garden, unanimously.
- 2004
Incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3).
- Today
The circles keep widening.
A healthy alternativeto the current food economy
For three decades we've been part of the ever-growing movement to recreate a resilient, local food system: one that ties people directly to their sources of sustenance and stands proof against economic fluctuations and the corporatization of food. Our mission is to improve community health and sustainability by providing access to nutritious and affordable produce, promoting a strong local food system, and encouraging productive use of urban soil. We also carry that work into policy, collaborating and advocating for public decisions that promote healthy food access.
The Produce Stand years
For about a decade, our Produce Stand, run with the Ecology Center's Farm Fresh Choice program, was a dependable source of affordable fresh food and the program that engaged our neighbors most directly: people came for produce and stayed to discover the Nursery and the Farm. We've since narrowed our focus to do our remaining programs even better, but the Produce Stand shaped who we are, and the need it met still guides the Farm's free harvest today.
In the press
Spiral Gardens Community Food Security ProjectSouth Berkeley, California
The next ring is yours
Thirty years of this garden were built by neighbors who decided it should exist. If you'd like to be part of the next thirty, there's room in the circle.