Programs  

  Nutrition/Physical Activity
  Community Food Security
  Tobacco Control
  Breast/Cervical Cancer
  Other Prevention
  Past Programs

Community Food Security > Stone Soup Community Gardens

New Garden to Open Spring 2008!

We are excited to announce the development of a 4^th community garden in Del Paso Heights.  The new Stone Soup Community Garden is in development at North Ave. and Cypress Street.  The land lease has been provided for $1 per year from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.  The land has been sitting empty, collecting garbage for years.  The garden will be ready for gardening in early spring 08 and is generously supported by the Soroptimist International of Greater Sacramento. 

Stone Soup Community Gardens

In a response to community requests and needs for access to healthy affordable, culturally appropriate food a coalition of agencies including WIC, Health Education Council, and the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition worked together to develop the Stone Soup Community Gardens.  Gardens in 3 locations serve the community with plots to grow food for their families.  At any given garden you can find a wide range of vegetables, herbs, gardeners, and kids.  Combined, the gardens provide plots for over 70 families, soon to be expanded to over 100 families.  Each garden is unique.

Martin Luther King Junior High School-This garden situated just adjacent to campus on a patch of land previously unused is home to 40 garden plots.  There is a shade structure where gardeners can rest, share a snack or where kids can play.

Grant High School-This small community garden site, home to just 12 garden plots is adjacent to the Grant Environmental Organization’s school garden.  This proximity has provided some great opportunities for students and community gardeners to interact.  Most recently, community gardeners have adopted rows in the school garden, weeding and cultivating to help students produce more.  The food produced is used in school nutrition and cooking activities and high school youth take produce home to their families.

Fred Lawson Memorial Garden-This garden site was started years ago and named after a local coach at Grant High School who was killed.  Part of the garden had been tended by students from the GEO program, who were raising flowers for their flower business.  The rest of the garden had been fallow for several years.  Now it is home to 25 garden plots, bringing beauty and food to the neighborhood. 

The Stone Soup Community Gardens were initially funded by Sacramento First 5, and have been supported by WIC, Health Education Council, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Grant Joint Union High School District and community members.  For more information, a tour or to reserve a plot, contact us at nutrition@healthedcouncil.org.