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Girls Garage
Building a Community One Chicken Coop at a Time
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We have the good fortune to be working with Girls Garage, a nonprofit design and building program that works with girls ages 9 to 17. Girls Garage is implementing a project with us to build a chicken coop for our flock. They take classes in building and design and pick projects in the community and implement their skills. We are grateful to have been chosen.
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This fall, the 9th-12th grade girls will begin designing and building a chicken
coop at the North Richmond Farm, applying skills in carpentry, drafting, geometry, welding, and more. They will research chicken behavior and the environmental needs of chickens, then bring their creative ideas to life through a group design process. Construction of the chicken coop will begin in the workshop at Girls Garage with the first site work date October 26, 2019. The girls anticipate completing installation by Spring 2020. This comprehensive design/build project will challenge girls to work as a team and build a beautiful coop that will live in the community. We're looking forward to a well-designed and well-built coop that will last us for several years.
We appreciate supporting Girls Garage because their vision brings community-based development to our Farm. We are actively creating a resource for the community through involvement in building projects by community members, volunteers, group projects, and general barn-raising. Girls Garage brings their time and skills to projects that can use their new found expertise. And they do it all with a lot of fun and empowerment along the way. They are great for our crew to work with and share knowledge.
More about Girls Garage advanced programs. The program is no-cost for girls and families, and accepts girls each season on an application basis. This advanced cohort brings together 9th-12th grade girls from diverse backgrounds to tackle complex, community-based projects designed and built by girls themselves. By applying math, science, carpentry, drafting, welding, and other media, projects from the Advanced Design/Build program challenge girls to put their skills to work on architectural or product-based projects. Girls from this program have built a greenhouse, furniture for a women's shelter, and a public parklet for a local restaurant. This program also puts girls in a position of leadership and activism, voicing their ideas in public arenas and with real clients. Girls Garage staff works hard to support this advanced cohort with supplementary discussions and lessons related to career pathways, college applications, how to apply for a job or put together a resume, and more. They hold a safe space for intimate conversations about identity, confidence, and navigating the world as young women.
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The Future Farm
Construction Update
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In August a geotechnical team started work at the Farm. They began boring holes to test the ground in preparation for determining specifications for the building foundations (barn, cafe, commercial kitchen, and office) and the ideal location of a possible well at the North Richmond Farm.
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In other news, we've never been so happy about sewers before! We have been learning new things and pushing our boundaries and now we have been approved to be annexed into the West County Wastewater District. The infrastructure for further building out our farm is coming into place!
Another part of the farm that is coming together is that we've begun the design for History Walk! The History Walk will form the sine of the farm. It will be a pathway through the farm that is also a storytelling timeline of the social and movement history of North Richmond. Working with the Richmond Museum of History and local elders. We began outlining a history of North Richmond that moves through cultures and migrations and highlights movements of challenge and struggle so that this history will be woven in the very structure of the farm, along its main pathway and within the 4 outdoor gathering places and outdoor classrooms currently planned along the History Walk. Our hope is that the stories will be incorporated into the space through images, text, interpretative signs and artistic interpretation for every visitor so that the people of Richmond and the people who visit Richmond have access to our collective stories.
In additional news, there's a plan and building project in place to improve Fred Jackson Way near Brookside Drive with sidewalks and safety measures so that its healthy and safe to walk in our area.
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Successful Conclusion of the Season of Service!
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Urban Tilth finished installing 20 crop rows this summer,
successfully ending our 1st ever Season of Service! After many hours and assistance from hundreds of community members and volunteers, we completed this project before the deadline. We thank all of the great volunteers who came out over this time
and helped us with this project! Over the last year we've been grading the site and building crop rows by building soil with large-scale composting
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We are proud that we completed the twenty crop rows we strived hard for. Thank you to everyone who helped us with the completion of the beds. It's a major accomplishment for the North Richmond Farm and a big goal that we completed.
One method we are using is building windrows, which are large mounds of wood chips and other organic inputs which decompose to form rich soil. They breakup the hard soil underneath that has been fallow and bring the soil back to life. We've designated our main crop growing areas on the farm and are tending the windrows there. We also use the windrows to create organic compost on site. Homegrown organic compost is better for produce and it's also better for the land and restoring natural living systems to our farm. As we build out the North Richmond Farm, we've added a lot of irrigation and we
are in the process of installing a system for the windrows. The irrigation system waters the orchard trees and the raised beds, and conserves water and saves time.
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Current Projects - Come Out and Build with Us!
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The North Richmond Farm is continuing to build new projects to elevate our site and we are working on a washing station for our CSA packing area. It's important to have a new wash station so we can save time and utilize the time elsewhere as we keep up with the growing volume of produce we deliver. We need help from people to build the washing station and are looking for a group to do a volunteer day to help us put it together. The Farm is aiming to complete this task before October is over and in order for us to do it we need the help of the community.
The North Richmond Farm is also in the process of building a new shade house for our site to increase crop production. It's important for us to get this project done soon so we can make way for the haunted house we are building for our Harvest Festival. In order for this dream to be manifested we need volunteers to complete this task with us and the more people that can pitch in the faster we can finish it. We really appreciate your participation.
If you can help us with these projects and would like to be notified to participate in our upcoming volunteer days, please send us an RSVP email to community engagement coordinator
[email protected]
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The Farm Today
What's Growing on the Farm?
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The North Richmond Farm is proud to be producing the most fruits and vegetables ever for our site - we have grown over 6,000 lbs of produce this year! Fall has arrived and we're growing brussels sprouts, salad mix, potatoes, bunching onions, radishes, beets, chard, kale, collards, purple mustard greens and eggplant as well as lettuce. We will be continuing to grow the same fall produce as last year, keeping up with what has done well in the past plus a few new additions. We also created our first pumpkin patch this spring and they will be used in the Harvest Festival.
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One of the other new additions is that we grew our first bed of flowers with help from 1st Generation Farmers, initially planted for our Festival of Flowers Mother's Day Celebration. This event is our most successful event and is where we gather mommas from across Richmond and shower them in flowers, flower crowns, whole delicious foods and rejuvenating energy. This year was no exception. We welcomed over 200 mommas, grandmas, aunties and others who are mothers to the farm and gave thanks for the love and devotion they have given to raise the children and care for the elders of our community. We also use these flowers and add them to our CSA box
which is a great lift for our weekly subscribers.
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How do I get food from the farm?
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Fortunately Urban Tilth has many different ways for people to receive produce:
- You can become a member of our CSA program
is to give access to all West Contra Costa residents to fresh, locally grown, organic produce. Members receive weekly, a 10-lb. box of seasonal fruits and vegetables. The produce comes from Urban Tilth gardens and farms in collaboration with other local farms. Through our Pay-it-Forward Membership, we are able to provide our produce to low-income family members at an affordable price.
We have a Farm Stand at Catahoula Coffee at 12472 San Pablo Ave, Richmond, CA. Pick up a delicious cup or pound of Catahoula coffee and support something good in Richmond. Sundays, 9:00am - 1:00pm
* All proceeds support the community and school gardens of Urban Tilth.
We have a Farm Stand in North Richmond across from the Center for Health.
Tuesdays, 1:00 pm until produce is gone (1st come first serve)
Every fourth Saturday of the month is a volunteer day at the North Richmond Farm, 323 Brookside Dr, Richmond. It goes from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Family and friends are welcome to join. We have healthy snacks and rocking jams to enjoy our day.
Feel free to come to the farm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm to harvest food for yourself and your household, at the North Richmond Farm, 323 Brookside Dr, Richmond.
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Community Giveaway:
Do you need good lumber, plastic pots, or mulch?
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING! We have lumber that we can't use before the rains come. There's many different sizes and types of lumber that could be used for building projects such as a bench, club house, dog house, etc. We also have large pots (10 and 20 gallon) and wood chip mulch. The black pots can be used for transporting soil, holding soil and plantings. Come to the North Richmond Farm for pickup of black plastic pots and all of the wood chip mulch you can take away, first come, first serve.
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Upcoming Events
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Join us for the 2019 Harvest Festival
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Saturday October 26th
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
North Richmond Farm
323 Brookside Drive
Urban Tilth is proud to announce our Harvest Festival, a celebration of our farm accomplishments this season. After working for two months
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we finished our first pumpkin patch at the farm. It has been growing for 4 months and some pumpkins are ready to be harvested. We will celebrate with the community during our festival with carnival games, jumpy houses, piñatas, best pie and best costume contests, caramel apples, corn on a stick, popcorn, franken dogs, and many more activities for the kids.
It's a great opportunity to participate with the community of North Richmond and celebrate this year's harvest at the North Richmond Farm!
FREE and kid-friendly!
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Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with us!
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Friday, November
1st
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
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Saturday, November 2nd
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
North Richmond Farm
323 Brookside Drive
Come to the farm to participate in this Mexican tradition to remember our ancestors. On Friday, come out and help create the Dia de los Muertos altar before enjoying hot chocolate and the movie Coco outside at the farm.
On Saturday, we will continue with the celebration. We will have the altar ready, crafts for families, as well as tamales and sweet breads.
FREE and kid-friendly!
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Volunteer at Farm!
Come join us at the Farm!
323 Brookside Drive
North Richmond, CA
10:00AM - 1:00PM
Upcoming dates:
* October 26th
* November 23rd
For more information or to RSVP a group of 5 or more please contact:
[email protected]
Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated, supported or contributed in some way to the development of the North Richmond Farm!
Stay Tuned!
There is so much more to come...
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| Learn more about Urban Tilth Learn more about the North Richmond Farm Find a volunteer day that works for you |
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