Our Programs
Our urban agriculture model includes:
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Organic gardening workshops and resources for building home-based organic vegetable gardens
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Training for families to grow seedlings in backyard greenhouses to start their own business and generate income
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Gathering the community around food, gardening and composting. Our multiethnic seedlings are grown for the families attending our programs as well as open sale in our greenhouses.
THE IMPACT OPPORTUNITY
The community of South Bay Area in the San Francisco area includes a large population of “working underprivileged,” 92% are immigrants of Latino and Asian origin. This group often lives in food desert communities, which lack access to fresh, organic vegetables.
High rates of food insecurity are exacerbated by the high cost of living in Santa Clara County, often yield disparities in health outcomes. While Santa Clara County’s median income is one of the highest in the nation, there is a tremendous income gap, which continues to grow every year. This means that many working families can’t make ends meet.
Approximately 17% of children in our County live in
food insecure households, not having access to
healthy food on a daily basis.
Even though Silicon Valley is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the country, with 65% of the population belonging to multiethnic communities, culturally preferred vegetables are not readily available in the mainstream stores.
THE SOLUTION
Our Programs
Valley Verde offers the following programs year-round with the goal of making a lasting impact on food security, environmental conservation and access to green space for underserved families in San Jose and Gilroy, CA.
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Participating low-income San Jose and Gilroy resident families receive all the garden supplies, seedlings, and support they need to build and nurture a home garden!
Knowledgeable Valley Verde staff mentor and provide individualized garden mentorship, and participants attend monthly workshops on topics such as organic gardening methods, composting, harvesting, and pest management using organic methods.
Program Length: 1 year
After completing the introductory gardening curriculum of the Shared Garden program, families can enroll in the Deep Roots program to develop advanced gardening skills and receive free culturally-relevant seeds and seedlings.
program length: 6 months
Shared Garden and Deep Roots program participants are eligible in our 6-month program to learn to compost at home!
Community members who do not have space to compost in their own homes can bring their food scraps at our on-site compost hub in exchange for nutrient-rich finished compost. All San Jose residents are encouraged to compost with us at our on-site hub!
program length: 6 months
This apprenticeship program supplies the resources and education for low-income experienced gardeners to grow commercial-quality vegetable seedlings. Apprentices receive supplies to build their own home greenhouse, educational horticulture and business workshops, and individualized support. Their first sets of seedlings are purchased by Valley Verde for use in the Shared Garden program, and they are encouraged to form their own neighborhood businesses.
program length: 2 years
Valley Verde grows the seedlings used in our Shared Garden and Deep Roots programs in our on-site greenhouses. We also sell these seedlings to the general public in our Homeland Nursery, with an aim to increase access to culturally relevant vegetable seedlings for home gardens in our multiethnic community. We listen to feedback and recommendations from our diverse community to inform which varieties we grow, sell, and give away.
All members of our community are welcome to attend our free public events and workshops on-site! Past event topics include seed saving, seed mosaics, harvest festivals, bee keeping, and more.
Super Sprouts is a mini physical gardening kit paired with an online learning library designed for kids! Kits are available for individual purchase or bulk purchase, perfect for teachers looking for already developed curriculum to jumpstart a garden in their schools or parents looking for an educational enrichment activity for their kids to learn about gardening at home.
