City Slicker Farms

Over the last six months, low-income senior residences in Alameda and San Francisco Counties have become home to new community garden spaces. These community group gardens are places of activity and health for the senior residents and program participants.

In partnerships with the Area Agency on Aging, Alameda County Public Health Department, Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, and San Francisco Department of Public Health, City Slicker Farms has been able to build eight new community gardens across both counties.

The goal of these gardens is to increase senior citizens' access to healthy food, while providing gentle exercise and helping keep participants active and independent for as long as possible.

City Slicker Farms has designed and installed planter boxes built at a comfortable height to accommodate a variety of needs including wheelchairs. At each of the eight build days, the beds were filled with soil and compost, seedlings from our greenhouse, a fruit tree, water-wise drip irrigation. As part of the program, the gardeners and senior center staff receive ongoing mentoring and support, while our partner agencies offer cooking, nutrition and movement classes.

The gardens help to build community while offering spaces of beauty. Some of the centers report that even the residents who don't participate in the garden program are often more attracted to use the space now, as a place for gathering for conversation or practicing tai chi.

Many of the seniors are immigrants or non-native English speakers, and we work with translators so that we can offer mentorship and support in multiple languages. Participants who face illnesses like diabetes and heart disease benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.

Some senior garden program participants have a lifetime of gardening experience and have been growing food and saving their seeds for decades. It's been an incredible opportunity to learn from and exchange experiences with these elders about different gardening traditions. Some participants are new to gardening, and it's been a joy to support them.

For more on the senior gardens, check out this article from the Berkeley Daily Planet.