Today marks a significant achievement in the fight against slavery in California. ACA 8 (Wilson) has passed with an overwhelming majority, with the final Senate vote count at 33 in favor and 3 against, demonstrating strong bipartisan support for ending slavery in our state.

ACA 8 aims to remove “involuntary servitude” from Article 1, Section 6, of the California Constitution, which currently allows it as punishment for a crime. This November, Californians will have the historic opportunity to vote on whether to eliminate this clause.

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children is excited for this momentous occasion, where for the first time, Black Americans and Indigenous people in California can vote against slavery.

For more information and to hear stories from those directly impacted, please visit CAslave.com. 

Feminist Food Justice: Western Washington University

Shout out to our Board Member Nicole Wires, who, while teaching at Western Washington University, connected our Reentry Coordinator with her students for a presentation on feminist food justice and gardening.

During the presentation, we discussed the importance of creating healing spaces through gardening and being out in nature. We explored the experiences of women in farming and what it means to build healing freedom spaces in prisons, where individuals can grow their own food and medicine.

We highlighted the critical need to help incarcerated individuals create these healing spaces, especially given that the food provided is often spoiled and overcooked. The students were very receptive to the topics and asked many insightful questions.

Thank you, Nicole Wires, for the incredible opportunity to connect with your wonderful students.

Class of 2024 Kevin Schultz Award Presented to Planting Justice:
Community Organizer
at
Lionel Wilson Charter School in Sobrante Park 

Shout out to our Board Member Nicole Wires, who, while teaching at Western Washington University, connected our Reentry Coordinator with her students for a presentation on feminist food justice and gardening.

During the presentation, we discussed the importance of creating healing spaces through gardening and being out in nature. We explored the experiences of women in farming and what it means to build healing freedom spaces in prisons, where individuals can grow their own food and medicine.

We highlighted the critical need to help incarcerated individuals create these healing spaces, especially given that the food provided is often spoiled and overcooked. The students were very receptive to the topics and asked many insightful questions.

Thank you, Nicole Wires, for the incredible opportunity to connect with your wonderful students.

Financial Wellness Workshop with Ronetta Morgan

We started the month with our three-week series, the Financial Wellness Workshop. We learned about building a solid financial foundation, budgeting, understanding income and expenses, setting financial goals for the future, understanding credit, banking essentials, investing, navigating the financial landscape, planning for financial success, setting SMART financial goals, establishing an emergency fund, and planning for unexpected expenses. Our reentry group loved the class. The group received certificates, and we celebrated their achievement. 

Printshop: Fresh Off The Press

This month, our Reentry Coordinator, Sol Mercado, joined forces with our Education Team Educator, Itzel Mercado, to print our new Planting Justice and Farmer’s Market logos. We are super excited to put our new shirts online soon.

They are not ready for sale yet, but we are working on getting them ready for our website. Please check our social media for updates on when they will be available for purchase.

In the meantime, you can find the Farmer’s Market shirts at our weekly Farmer’s Market at 5166 Sobrante Ave. in El Sobrante. 

Summer Internship Youth Program

Our Summer Internship Youth Program is set to begin on July 9th, and we are thrilled with the number of applications we received. It’s amazing to see so many students interested in joining us this summer.

McClymonds Garden Restoration

Currently, we are at McClymonds working on restoring the garden and fixing up the garden beds. We recently planted a new bed filled with strawberries with the help of our Smoothie Interns Group. It was their first time at the McClymonds garden, and they had a lot of fun participating in this activity.

Dewey Garden Care

We are also tending to our garden swales at Dewey, watching the trees grow day by day. It’s a rewarding experience to see the progress of our efforts in nurturing these gardens.

Support for Understory

We recently hosted a small event at Understory, giving out free smoothies and showing our support. We have been collaborating with Understory for the past three years during their time at Bloom, and it has been an honor to work alongside such talented chefs. We are immensely grateful for all the support and food they have provided us.

As Understory embarks on a new journey at a new location, we encourage everyone to continue supporting them. Thank you for your ongoing support! 

Thanks to the incredible support and generosity of our community, our fundraising efforts have surged beyond $1,159,520, pushing us over a third of the way to our ambitious $3 million target!

The aquaponics site is progressing well. We've completed all the demolition work, and cleanup is still underway. Recently, we undertook significant landscaping efforts. A long-time Sobrante Park community member, who specializes in landscaping, did an excellent job clearing the entire lot, removing weeds, and extracting blackberry bramble from the metal fence. We've also begun the process of removing the barbed wire from the front fence. Additionally, we upgraded three EBMUD drainage lines and underwent backflow prevention testing. After making some adjustments to the existing backflow device, we passed the test with flying colors.

Andrew, Jaime, and Silviano have been diligently working on the south house/one-story house. They've successfully installed the internal framing, waterproofing, outdoor panels, and windows.

We are confident that, with the continued support of our community, we will not only reach our $3,000,000 goal but surpass it! We are deeply grateful for everyone's generosity and support thus far.

We will keep you updated on the progress of this campaign and share the latest developments regarding the Aquaponics Incubator Farm. In the meantime, we invite you to watch a powerful video that provides more insights into the future of our Aquaponics Incubator Farm.

There are many ways to support Planting Justice!

You can make a one time, monthly, quarterly, or annual donation. Planting Justice is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with an EIN of 27-0334905 all donations are 100% tax deductible.

Planting Justice also accepts Stock Donations!

Receiving Institution: Charles Schwab & Co.
1945 Northwestern Drive
El Paso, TX 79912
Receiving Account Number: 8239-5748
Receiving Account Name: Planting Justice
DTC Clearing Number: 0164, Code

Not able to contribute financially? No problem! There are still many ways to support us, such as volunteering or sharing our work. Every bit helps and we appreciate your support!

Come join us as a volunteer at our Farm or the Good Table! If you're up for a sunny day amidst fruit trees, shrubs, and fresh grapevines, we've got the perfect spot for you. Can't wait to see you there!

If you’re unable to support us with a monetary donation for fire recovery, please consider volunteering with clean-up efforts at the farm or at the Good Table. Our small but mighty team has been working around the clock to recover, and they could really use some extra hands. You can sign up for the next volunteer day here. 

Wear sturdy shoes and clothing, and bring work gloves. We appreciate each and every one of our supporters and donors. Thank you for all the ways you support Planting Justice. Thank you for growing with us

Your support means the world to us, and we're thrilled to offer you various ways to make a lasting impact. We express our deepest gratitude for all forms of donations, whether they come as one-time contributions or monthly support. As a monthly donor, you become a vital pillar in our mission, providing ongoing sustenance to the work we do. What's more, all donations are 100% tax-deductible, making your contribution even more meaningful.

By joining our community of monthly donors, you embark on a journey of continuous support for our organization's transformative initiatives. Your consistent commitment empowers us to tackle challenges head-on, create sustainable change, and foster a more equitable world. Every donation, regardless of its size, holds immense value to us and the communities we serve.

We invite you to consider becoming a monthly donor, knowing that your generosity will have a profound and lasting impact on the lives of individuals and the larger community. Together, we can sow seeds of hope, cultivate justice, and harvest a future that thrives for all. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration in supporting Planting Justice.

With the warmth of the summer sun, so much Mother Farm fruit is starting to ripen. Cherry, currant, Japanese plums, nectarine, peach, apricot, and more!

The Mother Farm Team is excited to share some of the 1,000 varieties of fruit we grow on the 4 acres in El Sobrante, so keep an eye out for announcements about community fruit tastings in the near future!

Farmer-to-Farmer Training
On June 20, the Planting Justice Mother Farm Team hosted the Agroecology Commons' Bay Area Farmer-to-Farmer Training (BAFFT) class on orchard planting, pruning, & grafting.

About 30 students participated in an amplified tour of the Mother Farm and instructional lesson on fruit tree pruning by Mother Farm Co-Manager Julio Madrigal, hands-on experience planting pineapple guavas on a contour swale and 20 varieties of thyme in our herb propagation row, and lesson in grafting from Nursery Assistant Manager Yenni Copto Flores and Propagation Team Lead Adela Flores, both of whom have grafted thousands of trees for the nursery over the past seven years.

The PJ Mother Farm Team is honored to steward the 7-acres of land together with Agroecology Commons, Sogorea Te Land Trust, and the Wild and Radish Ecovillage, and we are excited to be able to collaborate with Agroecology Commons to share our land, trees, skills, wisdom, love, and regenerative community model with the beginning and future BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, and Global South farmers of their BAFFT program.

Would you like to schedule an orchard-care workshop at the PJ Mother Farm?
Contact Mother Farm Co-Manager Julio Madrigal at julio@plantingjustice.org

Volunteers Welcome!
Volunteers are welcome to join us on the land for rewarding work weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or every second Saturday of the month. Click here to sign up! 

We’ve been making significant progress at The Good Table! After passing all our rough inspections, nearly the entire building now has insulation installed. Next up, we’ll be closing the walls and finishing the floors. We’re thrilled to have the ball rolling on these last major structural components.

Come visit the Planting Justice Farmers Market every Sunday from 12-4 PM, located just in front of The Good Table at 5166 Sobrante Ave in El Sobrante. Buy some delicious organic food and take a tour of The Good Table to see the magic happening firsthand!

New Vendor: Tierra Rituals

We are excited to welcome Tierra Rituals to our community!

At Tierra Rituals, we honor the profound wisdom of our ancestors and the transformative energy found in the four elements and the spirit of plants. Our mission is to inspire individuals to reconnect with their ancestral plant wisdom, reclaim their health, and envision a world where justice and liberation flourish, enhancing our collective wellbeing.

We aim to create an empowering community space that embraces the ancestral traditions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. We actively work towards collective wellness through healing justice, transformative justice, harm reduction principles, and community care.

Through the practice of Curanderismo, Ticiyotl, Western herbalism, and hands-on herbal medicine making, we deepen our connection to nature and inspire holistic well-being. Our focus on healing justice ensures that we address systemic issues and traumas, promoting healing on both individual and community levels. We believe in transformative justice, seeking to create change that breaks cycles of harm and promotes growth. Our commitment to harm reduction principles ensures non-judgmental and compassionate support, empowering individuals to make informed wellness decisions.

In addition to our 1:1 and group services, we create small-batch, thoughtfully crafted herbal products. Each Herbal Offering is made with love, healing intentions, and in Ceremony with the Earth. All plants are responsibly sourced, mindfully wild-harvested, or grown by us with tenderness and appreciation for your mind, body, and spirit. Our purpose is to integrate ancestral wisdom and the healing power of plants into our communities, fostering a deeper connection with the earth and embarking on a transformative journey of empowerment and wellness for all.

Follow Tierra Rituals on Instagram: @tierrarituals 

Embrace summer by revitalizing your garden with our certified organic fruit and nut trees! Transform your outdoor space into a lush summer oasis with our top-quality trees. Enjoy an exclusive 10% discount on your entire purchase by using the promo code PLANTINGSUMMER10 at checkout. Take advantage of this special online offer at plantingjustice.org/shop. Share this code with friends and family, and together, let's create a breathtakingly beautiful garden that celebrates the rejuvenating energy and abundance of spring!