Clare’s Food Garden

Clare’s Food Garden grows fruits and vegetables for local food providers. It is also a meditative venue for St. Clare’s Episcopal Church.

Who we are

At Clare’s Garden, volunteers grow organic fruits and vegetables for organizations that provide food to residents who need food assistance. There are two main organizations that receive food from Clare’s Garden. Culinary Angels makes organic nutrient-rich meals for cancer patients. La Familia provides high-quality mental health, community support, and advocacy services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Clare’s Garden leaders determine what crops to grow by consulting with the leaders of these groups to determine what produce they need.  Recently we have added Tri-Valley Haven to our List.


Participation 

This service project is open to garden club members and community members. All volunteers are welcome, no experience is necessary. Volunteers decide how often they will come and for how long they will stay. The group appreciates all volunteer participation. 

Meeting times 

Typically, Clare’s Garden has harvest and work days on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The frequency and days might change depending on the time of year. See the LAVGC Calendar, LAVGC Newsletter or  Clare’s Garden for meeting dates each month.  

For more information and to be added to the group’s mailing list, send email to the leaders on Contact Us.

Directions

Clare’s Fare Garden is located on the side of St Clare’s Episcopal Church, 3350 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton, CA 94588. Access to the garden is from National Park Road, off North or South Valley Trails Road, which intersects Hopyard Road.

Garden design

Initially four long in-ground beds for vegetables were created in an undeveloped section of church property. Ten additional beds have been added for with one for collard greens, several for herbs, and the rest for vegetables.

A pollinator garden curves around the veggie beds. Two other wildflower and plant beds have been developed to attract bees, birds, and pollinators. There is also an orchard of 18 trees. Nasturtiums were planted beneath the apple trees to deter codling moth and also to supply Culinary Angels with edible flowers. Native wildflowers have been planted scattered around the garden. A barn owl nest box was installed in the garden to keep rodents at bay. 

Three compost bins base on This Old House design were built and are kept filled with browns, greens, air and water to produce compost which helps build healthy, productive soil.

Unique to this garden is a Hügelkultur bed, which is generating heat (83 degrees F) as the woody materials start to decompose. This special bed is an area that is producing very nice vegetable crops including sweet potatoes, garlic, onions and squash.

Hügelkultur (German for hill/mound cultivation) is an old technique that involves planting on top of buried decaying material such as tree trunks and branches. There are many instructional videos available online. The benefits of hügelkultur are said to include:

  1. Water retention;(the wood acts as a sponge, holding and releasing moisture, so good for dryland agriculture and the water shortages we are likely to face)
  2. Provides slow release of nutrients
  3. Warms the root zone via decomposition
  4. Returns carbon to the soil
  5. Good way to solve a wood disposal problem
  6. Cheaper-than-dirt way to fill a raised bed or depression
  7. Self tilling because it settles over time.

Map of Garden

(Created with Garden Planner at http://www.smallblueprinter.com/garden /trial with many thanks)

History

Clare’s Food Garden was started in October of 2020 by Anne Vincent and Bruce Daggy on land donated by St. Clare’s Episcopal Church. By the end of 2021 the garden had 4 100 ft beds, a Pollinator Garden, an herb garden, a Hugelkultur bed, and 18 fruit trees. Our 2021 season resulted in about 2,000 pounds of food. Anne and Bruce left for the east coast to be closer to family (a new grandchild accelerated the process) in August of 2021. Since then a hardy band of volunteers has taken care of and expanded the garden. We now have a greenhouse, tool shed, and numerous smaller beds. 2022 is looking bigger and better with donations from Alden Lane, StopWaste, “Zoopoop” and various neighbors who come by to visit and donate. We work with two groups, La Familia and Culinary Angels to provide food for their clients.

Starting with a clean slate
Putting in The Beds
Digging in the compost
Putting in the irrigation
First planting
Beds in
Putting the Pollinator Garden
Constructing The Labryinth
Starting The Hugelkulture Bed
Covering The HugeleKulture Bed
HugleKulture done and ready to plant
Compost Bin construction
Putting in the Fruit Trees
Constructing the Shed

Biography

Judy enjoys working at Clare’s Food Garden to help it be a successful food production garden on St. Clare’s church property. She has been a gardener for many years including participation with the Alameda County Master Gardener program.

Jenny and Anne were walking in the neighborhood when they saw the plot of land behind St.Clare’s. Anne thought it would make a great garden. Jenny belonged to St.Clare’s and got it going. And it’s been flourishing ever since.

Lois

Shirley has been gardening for 15 years and likes zucchini.

Kathy

David has been gardening for about 40 years with mixed success and is finally getting the hang of west coast gardening, after living on the east coast/midwest for 25 years. He has five raised beds and a flower garden in the backyard he practices on.