From City Slicker Farms:
It was a great day and a great time. Thank you to everyone who helped or stopped by. The work will continue with both paid local contractors and volunteers. If you would like to volunteer please call (510.763.4241) or email Abeni (abeni@cityslickerfarms.org) for volunteer opportunities.

Until the farm is completely up and running please enjoy the park now and take the time time to walk by (with or without your dog), say "hey" to the contractors and volunteers, join the backgammon players...or whatever. Come spring there will be fresh fruits and vegetables and herbs to enjoy.

PS: We are also in need of donations (soil, materials, fruit trees...money). Again, please contact Abeni above.

Background:

In 2007, the Councilmember Nancy Nadel  invited City Slicker Farms to convert these two under-resourced neighboring parks in West Oakland  into a Community Market Farm located at the corner of 34th and Peralta.  City Slicker Farms has spent two years planning and fundraising with  Oakland Parks and Recreation, neighbors of the park, and the larger West Oakland community to  make this Farm possible.  
 
Once completed, the Farm will provide organically grown fruits, vegetables, and eggs to West Oakland, prioritizing low-income and homeless community members.  In addition, the space will  be used for urban gardening workshops, internships for youth and adults, and recreation.
   
“This Community Market Farm is a model for our City to replicate in under-resourced public land, creating the needed spaces for low-income residents to grow their own food,” says Barbara Finnin, Executive Director of City Slicker Farms.  "Healthy affordable food is hard to find in much of the Oakland flatlands.”
 
Where it happened:
What: New Community Market Farm Groundbreaking at Fitzgerald and Union Plaza Parks
Date: Sunday, November 1, 2009
Time: 11am to 3pm
Where: Fitzgerald and Union Plaza parks (corner of 34th and Peralta), Oakland
 
What happened:
• Opening ceremony and remarks by representatives from City of Oakland, park neighbors,
City Slicker Farms, and Nathan McClintock, author, “Cultivating the Commons: An
Assessment of the Potential for Urban Agriculture on Oakland’s Public Land” (2009)
• Community build day:  neighbors and volunteers constructed raised garden beds