Community Gardens Bring People Together
For ten years, Gachina Landscape Management has enthusiastically supported local community gardens, those small plots of land on which people may grow vegetables and other edible plants.
Because they are often 100 percent organic, community gardens fit in well with Gachina’s mission of creating sustainable landscapes that are in harmony with nature. The Gachina team helps maintain several community gardens in the Bay Area, offering advice and a variety of services to those who want to become involved in these worthwhile horticultural projects.
According to Cristina Prevarin, Gachina’s Sustainable Landscape Manager, community garden plots are typically located on the property of our clients – apartment complexes, corporations, retirement communities, estates, and homeowner associations. Gachina professionals educate tenants, residents, and employees on maintaining their community gardens. “People are generally happy harvesting the produce, leaving soil preparation, planting, and the task of growing to Gachina employees,” remarks Cristina,
“Plots vary in size,” says Cristina. “One of the largest is at Gachina’s Menlo Park construction yard – 5,000 square feet – where our staff learns to grow vegetables, berries, and herbs.” This garden is known as “The Farm” and produces bountiful 100% organic harvests to share. Gachina distributes the bounty from The Farm to JobTrain, a local educational non-profit which offers training for underprivileged to enter or re-enter the workforce. JobTrain has a Culinary Arts program and the produce goes from farm to table. Gachina also shares it’s harvest with its employees and their families.
Why We Appreciate Our Community Gardens
Gachina Landscape Management devotes time and energy toward promoting community gardens because of these benefits:
- Delicious, nutritious edibles from the garden are much better for your health than processed, store-bought foods that contain too much sodium, refined carbohydrates, or artificial ingredients. Also, gardening is good exercise and takes people away from sedentary pursuits such as watching television or playing video games.
- Most community gardeners refrain from using pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Instead, they employ organic methods such as using beneficial insects to control pests. Cristina says, “Gachina encourages installing plants that attract pollinators such as bees and installing hives for honey production.”
- When a community garden project begins, “people always show lots of interest,” Cristina states. “Gardeners seem to enjoy interacting with each other, sharing tips, helping in the physical work of gardening, or even competing to grow the largest vegetables, often becoming friends.”
- There’s a lot to learn about maintaining a garden, but the knowledge is easily passed on to anyone who wants to grow healthy produce.
Learn more about community gardens – call 650-853-0400 today to talk to a professional at Gachina, the full-service commercial landscape contractor.
