The Garden of Hope

I spent Saturday morning touring an amazing community garden situated on private property in El Cajon. The community garden, a “Garden of Hope,” is one of four gardens that sources the Table of Hope, a program that feeds approximately 930 families in San Diego with fresh, locally grown produce.
I found out about the Garden of Hope because, as usual, I was trying to pawn off my seedlings on friends and neighbors, whose gardens are already bursting with veggies. A friend suggested donating them to Garden of Hope (thanks, Jenny!), and I was excited to learn that they could take all 80 of my tomato plants (plus basil, cucumbers, melons, peppers, pumpkins and squash). Here’s what my car looked like:

Here’s another photo, because you can never have too many photos of baby seedlings:

Once I arrived, Cheryl and Noura greeted me. Cheryl owns the property that hosts this particular Garden of Hope and is an avid gardener herself. Noura runs the Table of Hope, coordinating fresh food distribution to hundreds of families. They benefit from several donations, including the lumber you see below from Lumbercycle. Lumbercycle seeks to divert woody biomass from going to the landfill and reconstituting it into usable wood. Each piece tells a story, with much of the lumber used to build these garden beds and trellises coming from the San Diego Cedar Fire that happened in 2003.




If you’re interested in volunteering or contributing to this project, send them a message at the links above. They’re super responsive. And, if you know of projects like this in other parts of San Diego, let me know. I’m always looking for good homes for seedlings.
Pauline L Condrick
Christine, so cool you could donate all the extras to such a great cause! Thank you for the plants you sent with Jenny. They are doing good in my garden.
chrissied
You are so welcome! I’m so glad to hear they’re doing well!
Irene Brennan
Christine, I love reading about your connection to plants and the earth, and how you are contributing to a good earth and good food for all. In these days of “bad” news on a national and international world its good to see a pocket of a life worth living, giving and receiving!
chrissied
Thank you, Irene! That’s such a beautiful and thoughtful comment. Sending you hugs and love!