Urban Tilth

Urban Tilth Urban Tilth hires and trains local residents to cultivate agriculture in west Contra Costa County to
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Urban Tilth cultivates agriculture in west Contra Costa County to help our community build a more sustainable, healthy, and just food system. We hire and train residents to work with schools, community-based organizations, government agencies, businesses, and individuals to develop the capacity to produce 5% of our own food supply. Founded in 2005 to help build a more sustainable, healthy, and jus

t local food system, Urban Tilth has emerged as a local leader, a catalyst drawing together a variety of individual, discrete initiatives into a web of integrated, food- and community-focused efforts. In sum, we farm, feed, forage, teach, train, build community, employ, and give back. We help our community grow our own food; train and employ our own young people as “home grown experts”; teach our local residents about the relationships among food, health, poverty, and justice; foster public foraging programs; and forge partnerships with local small farmers to increase demand for their produce. We use our now 7 school and community gardens and small urban farms to teach and employ community members to grow, distribute, cook, and consume thousands of pounds of local produce each year, to create a more equitable and just food system within a healthier and more self-sufficient community.

08/23/2026

Lucas Park was active! Moving Forward hosted a Back-to-School Giveaway during Lucas Park's Wellness Wednesdays.

The giveaway brought neighbors together for an evening filled with basketball, baseball, soccer, walking, bubbles, and plenty of dancing.

Huge thanks to our amazing partners and everyone who showed up for the community.

Our second Tending Together event is happening TOMORROW! 🌱🗓️ Friday, August 21⏰ from 10AM-12PM📍 355 Brookside Drive, Ric...
08/20/2026

Our second Tending Together event is happening TOMORROW! 🌱

🗓️ Friday, August 21
⏰ from 10AM-12PM
📍 355 Brookside Drive, Richmond, CA

During the last event, we planted zucchini and harvested kale to take home.

We invite the community to join us tomorrow as we continue to prep crop rows for planting new vegetables in our U-Pick area, a new space for the community to harvest their own vegetables for free!

It's a great opportunity to come to the North Richmond Farm, learn about the land and different projects, and give back to the community.

Sign up here
https://portal.goldenvolunteer.com/opportunities/7c3RsTnJDt

With warmer, unpredictable weather pushing fruit to ripen earlier than usual, we're seeing more fruit drop before it's e...
08/20/2026

With warmer, unpredictable weather pushing fruit to ripen earlier than usual, we're seeing more fruit drop before it's even picked.

We often don't realize these issues are connected, or that something as simple as improperly disposed dropped fruit can make infestations worse.

Across the Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado, our team has been noticing a pattern during tree care visits: more stressed fruit trees falling victim to pests like shot-hole borer beetles, which target trees weakened by drought. Fig trees especially are getting hit by the black fig fly, spreading county-wide.

Orchard For All! is supported by the California Strategic Growth Councils Transformative Climate Communities Program in strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment.

Through hands-on visits, we're helping neighbors go from being concerned and confused about what has changed or what they may be doing wrong with their trees to understanding our role in this larger web that shows us how climate stress, pests, and fruit waste all connected.

Residents are learning to spot problems early, care for their trees properly, and pass that knowledge on to neighbors as well as the youth that follow in their footsteps. That's the real impact: turning worry into know-how, one back yard at a time; tree by tree.

Join us in growing a community that understands its urban canopy — a community where we understand that climate change isn't abstract or far from us, it's in our back yard in a plum tree dropping fruit too soon to reach the table.

If you want to grow your tree care skills or connect your fruit to those who need it?
Spread your roots! Visit our website at Urbantilth.org/grow/orchard-for-all/ and learn more about how you can be a part of creating a more fruitful future for our community.

Eagle Scout Project Helps Make Urban Tilth’s North Richmond Farm Even More Regenerative— Andy Sun, a 17-year-old Scout f...
08/19/2026

Eagle Scout Project Helps Make Urban Tilth’s North Richmond Farm Even More Regenerative

— Andy Sun, a 17-year-old Scout from Albany Troop 14, is planning his Eagle Scout project to build a mobile chicken coop for Urban Tilth’s North Richmond Farm.

The mobile coop, also known as a “chicken tractor,” can be moved from one crop field to another. The project is designed to support the farm’s regenerative agriculture practices by allowing chickens to eat leftover crops while naturally fertilizing and turning the soil.

Because the coop can be regularly relocated, the chickens can help maintain the soil without remaining in one area long enough to cause overgrazing. The practice also incorporates considerations for farm hygiene and soil health, with the goal of preparing the fields for the next planting season.

Sun’s project adds another element to Urban Tilth’s efforts to promote environmentally sustainable farming. By working with natural processes, the project aims to demonstrate how farming can support a healthier and more harmonious relationship between people, animals and the environment.

This article was written by Yi Qu Sun

08/15/2026

What is it like working at the Greenway?🌾

Congratulations to Ava Johnson! 🎉Our 2024 SYAP graduate Ava Johnson recently graduated from Holy Names High School in Oa...
08/14/2026

Congratulations to Ava Johnson! 🎉

Our 2024 SYAP graduate Ava Johnson recently graduated from Holy Names High School in Oakland and will be studying English Literature at Hampton University.

Ava is in the 5-year track program and will graduate in 4 years with a BA and her MBA one year later.

Her plan is to teach Secondary Education and come back to teach here in WCCUSD!

She said her foundation was formed K-8 with WCCUSD. We want to say Congratulations to Ava and well wishes on the next chapter of her educational journey.

Ditch the same old grocery store run and inspire your meals with some farm fresh fruits and veggies! 🥬🥕🍋By Joining our F...
08/13/2026

Ditch the same old grocery store run and inspire your meals with some farm fresh fruits and veggies! 🥬🥕🍋

By Joining our Farm to Table CSA, you can get weekly or biweekly boxes of fruits, vegetables, and herbs delivered right to your door (or pickup at a variety of East Bay locations).

Our produce is sourced from small family farms, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ farms within 200 miles of Richmond, CA, including our very own North Richmond Farm.

You'll get delicious seasonal produce such as (but not limited to):
🥑 Kiwi, Avocados, carrots, and lemons in the spring
🧄 Plums, peaches, okra, summer squash, and garlic in the summer
🍎 And collard greens, persimmons, kale, and apples in the fall and winter...and so much more!

And guess what -

By signing up you're also supporting hands-on job training preparing local youth to become food justice leaders of the future.

If supporting sustainability, community, and living a healthy life is important to you, you can learn more here:

https://urbantilth.org/heal/farm-to-table-csa/

We look forward to delivering your first box and bringing you closer into our big community!

It was a beautiful day on the North Richmond Farm — perfect for making jam, syrup, and snow cones.We harvested Inca berr...
08/11/2026

It was a beautiful day on the North Richmond Farm — perfect for making jam, syrup, and snow cones.

We harvested Inca berries and used honey from our previous bee family, plus honey all the way from Zimbabwe, compliments of our workshop leader, Piwai. We also added lemons from a coworker's tree, and topped everything off with passion fruit from the farm.

Fun discovery: Inca berries come naturally packaged on the vine, each in its own little lantern-like husk. Plenty made it into our creations… but a few were so delectable they never got that far. 😋

We'd originally planned this for a group of students who had to postpone — and we're so glad we went ahead anyway. Turns out it was the perfect team-building activity, and honestly? It was great being a kid for a day.



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Fue un día hermoso en la Granja de North Richmond, perfecto para hacer mermelada, jarabe y raspados.

Cosechamos uchuvas (Inca berries) y usamos miel de nuestra colmena anterior, además de miel traída desde Zimbabue, cortesía de Piwai, quien dirige nuestro taller. También agregamos limones del árbol de una compañera de trabajo y coronamos todo con maracuyá de la granja.

Un descubrimiento divertido: las uchuvas vienen naturalmente empaquetadas en la planta, cada una en su propia envoltura parecida a un farolito. Muchas llegaron a nuestras creaciones… pero algunas estaban tan deliciosas que nunca lo lograron. 😋

Originalmente habíamos planeado esto para un grupo de estudiantes que tuvo que posponer, y nos alegra mucho haber seguido adelante de todos modos. Resultó ser la actividad perfecta para fortalecer al equipo y, ¿la verdad? Fue maravilloso volver a ser niños por un día.

08/10/2026

Big things are growing in Richmond!
Our Universally Accessible Community Garden is officially underway!

We celebrated the groundbreaking with community members, partners, and supporters who share our vision of creating a space where everyone can grow, learn, and connect.

Construction is moving forward, and we're excited to watch this dream become a reality. Stay tuned for more updates as we build a garden that is welcoming and accessible for all. 💚

Address

323 Brookside Drive
Richmond, CA
94801

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+15102320911

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