Mangos Coming Soon!

We’ll soon be introducing mangos to our Nursery inventory! Stay tuned for more details – the exact date is coming soon, so keep an eye out for updates.

Internship Program Nearing Completion

Our incredible interns from Rising Sun are approaching the finish line of their internship, with their program wrapping up in early October. 

prismreports.org

Elizabeth Nomura found herself once again in the oppressive heat of Chowchilla, California, that she endured while incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). But this time, on Aug. 19, she was protesting outside the prison on behalf of the over 1,000 women still inside.

“I spent all them years in that prison, so being back on a summer day of Chowchilla heat brought all the memory back of being stuck in those rooms all of those summers,” Nomura said. 

Alongside fellow formerly incarcerated advocate Sol Mercado, Nomura co-led the demonstration outside of CCWF to call attention to conditions at the facility and its treatment of incarcerated women, who have recently endured a string of traumatic events. 

Nomura organizes with the abolitionist organization California Coalition of Women’s Prisoners, and Mercado is a reentry coordinator at Planting Justice, an organization aimed at empowering people impacted by mass incarceration with skills to work toward food sovereignty. They are a part of a growing movement of formerly incarcerated women from across California, Nevada, Mexico, and Tonga working to shed light on the plight of women who are still inside—including those dealing with deadly conditions and sexual violence. 

‘We can’t breathe’ 

In recent years, rising temperatures have created deadly conditions for imprisoned people across the country, but especially those in the states of Texas, Florida, California, and Pennsylvania, where the majority of prisons lack air conditioning. 

In Chowchilla, extremely high temperatures have led those incarcerated in CCWF to experience symptoms of heat exhaustion, and in the case of Adrienne Boulware, the loss of life. The 47-year-old, affectionately known as “Twin” amongst her friends, had been incarcerated at CCWF since 2015. According to her daughter, Boulware had complained about the impact of summer heat on her physical health for years. 

On July 4, as temperatures in Chowchilla creeped up to 109 degrees, Boulware waited outside in CCWF’s yard to receive medication. In an interview with The Real News Network, Nomura said prison guards only gave Boulware a single cup of water as she waited in the desert heat. Once inside her unit, Boulware showered and shortly after became unresponsive, exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion that included shaking limbs. After her unit-mates called for help, Boulware was transferred to the hospital, where on July 6, she died. With her release scheduled for February 2025, Boulware was less than a year away from being able to return home.

According to the Sacramento Bee, a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) attributed Boulware’s death to an “ongoing, not heat-related medical condition,” but her family is raising money for an autopsy and to cover funeral costs. Formerly incarcerated advocates are confident that Boulward’s untimely passing was due to heat conditions, and they lifted up her story at the Aug. 19 demonstration and demanded better conditions for women at CCWF. 

According to the CDCR’s “extreme heat prevention and response” protocol, each prison in California has a heat plan coordinator tasked with monitoring temperatures inside and outside the facility and with keeping track of the number of incarcerated patients with heat-related symptoms. During extreme heat situations, the response plan outlines a number of required actions, including opening housing unit cell windows, allowing additional access to showers, and increasing access to water stations, fans, ice, and portable cooling units. 

But according to Nomura, these plans do not reflect the practices employed by the prison, particularly during periods of lockdown when CCWF is understaffed and women are confined to their rooms. In the days following Boulware’s passing, the facility was put on lockdown. 

“They were on a multiple day lockdown for lack of staff, and those temperatures were going up and down from 111 to 113 [and] there was [only] one working ice machine,” Nomura said. “So they [had] no access to ice water, locked in, temperatures in the rooms were going above 90 degrees, and we were getting calls early Saturday morning of people feeling sick. They were crying out for help [and saying] ‘We can’t breathe’ [because] the swamp cooler engines were running so hot that they were blowing out hot air into the rooms, turning the rooms into ovens and then, ultimately, into dead chambers.” 

Mercado also notes that CCWF staff tend to record temperatures from the coolest parts of the facility—such as the hallways—instead of end rooms that retain the most heat. She knows this from firsthand experience; she was incarcerated in an endroom unit at CCWF. 

“I lived in an end room for years, and we even tried to cover the windows to prevent the heat from coming in but they can write you up for that,” Mercado said. “Or if you take too many showers so you could cool down, they trip on that too.” 

Reporting from the Modesto Bee last year revealed the inadequacies within CCWF’s heat management protocols, including the facility’s reliance on evaporative coolers, also known as “swamp coolers,” that often leak and break. 

Those present at the Aug. 19 demonstration called for the installation of air conditioning in place of the current swamp cooler system, cold water dispensing units in all housing and work areas, and for the provision of state-issued fans and cooling rags during the summer. 

‘I feel like I’m living with my abuser’ 

The demonstration also called attention to an earlier lockdown and the ensuing violence that occurred in its wake. 

On the morning of Aug. 2, Nomura and Mercado said they received calls from women at CCWF, detailing how guards seized, searched, and largely threw away the belongings of 158 women detained in unit 513 due to reports of contraband. Women in the unit

were also allegedly herded into the dining hall, where they were left in extreme heat due to the absence of ventilation. When they complained of the conditions, the women were reportedly attacked by over 30 officers. 

Mercado said that according to women detained inside other units at CCWF, the attack “sounded like a war zone.” 

Women said guards handcuffed them, pepper sprayed them, hit them with multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets, and even hurled epithets at them. In the weeks since the lockdown, Nomura and Mercado say that unit 513 residents are still reeling from the trauma of the attacks. The activists describe it as a kind of compounded trauma or “double punishment,” given that the majority of women in CCWF—much like most women detained nationwide—are survivors of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. 

“[Officers] were talking down on them, they were beating them,” Mercado said. “I have spoken with a few people and they’re like, ‘How do they want us to be held accountable when they can’t even be held accountable for their own crimes? I feel like I’m living with my abuser.’” 

The California Model 

The tragic events that animated the recent demonstration in Chowchilla come amidst highly publicized changes within CDCR via a campaign touted as the “California Model.” Implemented last year by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the campaign is an effort to rebrand incarceration to build “safer communities through rehabilitation, education, restorative justice, and reentry.” 

The model, inspired largely by the Scandinavian prison system, is built around four pillars: dynamic security, or improved relationships between staff and incarcerated people through activities and “positive and respectful communication;” normalization, or making the facility more closely resemble the world outside through the incorporation of art and music; peer mentorship between incarcerated people; and becoming a “trauma informed organization.” CDCR promotes the model through town halls, a series of promotional videos, and has even changed the names of certain facilities and agencies. For example, the California Youth Authority is now the Division of Juvenile Justice. 

But advocates argue that this rebranding does not denote any meaningful culture change and, in many ways, allows the department to evade criticism. 

“Behind the scenes, there’s a lot of harm outside of these events,” Nomura said. “A lot of harm outside of the invitations to news agencies to come and do these stories on the puppy program or this program or that [CCWF] program. There’s harm [being] done: sexual assaults, continued apathy and neglect around medical care, and let’s not forget the heat-related crisis that led to the untimely death—nothing short of murder—of Adrienne ‘Twin’ Boulware.”

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has opened an internal affairs investigation into an Aug. 2 use-of-force incident at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), a CDCR spokesperson told The Appeal. 

During a contraband search, correctional officers locked more than 100 women in a prison cafeteria without air-conditioning for several hours. When they asked for food, medication, and explanations, staff responded with chemical spray and physical violence. According to multiple witnesses, guards continued to bombard them with chemical spray and pepper bombs even after they were zip-tied and on the ground. Three women were sent to the hospital. 

CCWF, located in Chowchilla in the heart of California’s Central Valley, is the United States’ second-largest women’s prison. The facility has faced dozens of lawsuits alleging sexual assault by prison staff, and in 2023 the Madera County District Attorney charged a former guard with nearly 100 counts of sexual abuse. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a civil rights investigation into sexual misconduct at CCWF and the California Institution for Women. 

Large-scale physical violence, like the attack last month, is far less common. The Appeal spoke with over a dozen currently or formerly incarcerated women, including those who had been imprisoned at CCWF since the 1990s; none had ever witnessed or experienced staff brutality of that magnitude. They now demand that CDCR discipline staff involved in events that day,

provide medical and mental health care access, and issue confiscation slips, which would help them get back or be reimbursed for lost and destroyed belongings. 

“The safety and well-being of the incarcerated individuals living at California institutions is of the utmost importance. Any accusations of wrongdoing are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated,” a CDCR spokesperson wrote in an email to The Appeal. “CDCR has identified concerning information about the handling of the Aug. 2 incident … and is taking swift action.” 

“Shooting Fish in a Bucket” 

Donyette Clark, 37, has experienced many searches during her 14 years at CCWF. Staff frequently search for contraband, ranging from extra pillows and altered clothes to cell phones, makeshift weapons, and homemade alcohol. 

But on the morning of Aug. 2, when officers ordered her and her roommates out of their cell, she realized this was no routine search. She and the other women from housing unit 513 waited in the cafeteria as staff overturned their rooms. 

Nearly three hours later, they were still waiting in the sweltering, crowded dining area. The temperature outside was over 90 degrees, and the prison’s evaporative coolers, or swamp coolers, failed to control the heat. The month before, Adrienne Boulware, 47, died during a week when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. Many were still grieving her death when guards herded them into the chow hall that morning. 

No one had been fed. No one had received their morning medications and, with noon approaching, several women asked to speak with the sergeant about getting lunches and medications. 

At the same time, women saw officers carting away bins filled with clothes, shoes, appliances, and other personal property. Officers said they were enforcing the prison policy limiting each person’s possessions to six cubic feet. 

However, prison rules dictate that people can mail excess items home, donate them, or challenge their confiscation via the prison’s grievance process. Those in the cafeteria protested the confiscations and demanded to speak with the sergeant. “Everybody was getting frustrated and complaining loudly,” JM, another woman on the unit, who asked to be identified by her initials to lessen the risks of retaliation, told The Appeal. But, she added, no one was aggressive or threatening. 

According to JM and Clark, that’s when Sergeant Fernando Arroyo entered with a squad of officers who surrounded the women. At first, the sight didn’t frighten Clark.“As long as we’re not fighting, threatening them or advancing, they can’t use force on us,” she reassured the younger women. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than officers began spraying them and throwing bombs filled with oleoresin capsicum (OC), or pepper spray. 

Women attempted to flee to the back of the chow hall. Some tried to cover their faces with their shirts. A handful threw their state-issued plastic cups—the only items they had been allowed to bring—at the officers. “They let out a round of spray that looked like a river of orange,” said Christina Wind, 39.Staff ordered them to lie flat on the floor. Even then, multiple women said that officers continued to spray them and lob OC bombs at them, causing even more chaos and panic. Those on the ground were stepped on by those trying to escape. 

Women in unit 513 told The Appeal that guards continued their attack even as several women began exhibiting medical emergencies. Catrina Cameron, 36, has asthma and wears a pacemaker. She told officers that she had chest pains. In response, she said, they sprayed her in the eye and slammed her onto the floor. 

Wind told The Appeal that she saw Cameron on the floor and attempted to pick her up. Unable to clearly see, Wind pulled a sergeant off her partner. In response, officers beat her. “I was hit in

the head and went down,” she said. She was unable to open her eyes while being hit, zip-tied, and dragged out in a wheelchair. According to Cameron and others who saw her before guards took her away, Wind was frothing at the mouth and vomiting; the left side of her face was sagging. 

Then, staff placed the rest of the women in zip ties and herded them into the yard. There, multiple women, including those who could see the yard from their cell windows, said officers continued to spray them. 

The 90-degree sun made them feel as if their sprayed skin were on fire. 

“A lot of people were crying, throwing up,” JM recalled. Even as they lay on the ground, she said that officers continued to spray and throw bombs at them. “They rounded us up like they were shooting fish in a bucket,” she described. 

CDCR regulations only permit the uncontrolled use of chemical agents when necessary due to an imminent threat. None of the witnesses who spoke to The Appeal described any threats to the guards’ safety by the women zip-tied in the yard. 

Clark remembers nothing after the first rounds of spray in the chow hall. Her next memory is of waking in an ambulance. EMTs told her that she had had a seizure and passed out. “I’ve never had a seizure in my life,” Clark said. Three women, including Clark, were sent to the hospital that day. 

“There’s Gonna Be Repercussions” 

That weekend, a prison lieutenant approached JM’s cell and asked her to sign what’s known as a non-enemy chrono, or paperwork that states that she has no concerns about her safety from anyone in the prison. Signing it would indicate that JM absolved staff of their actions that Friday. But not signing it would have resulted in solitary confinement under the pretext that JM needed 

protection from enemies.“Making allegations implies that there’s gonna be repercussions,” JM told The Appeal. Those repercussions could likely include further staff violence. 

SH, 27, was also asked to sign a non-enemy chrono. She had told a nurse that the bruises on her back were from staff throwing a bomb at her while she was on the ground. That weekend, correctional officers called her into a program office where a sergeant and a lieutenant questioned her about her statement, then asked her to sign a non-enemy chrono stating that staff had not used force against her. 

SH, who was scheduled to go to a reentry program in a few months, worried that she would face retaliation if she refused to sign the paper. Staff told her they would return her to her room if she signed the paper. They never told her she could refuse to sign. She signed. 

Less than two weeks later, she was issued a disciplinary citation, or 115, for obstructing a peace officer. “I signed this paper trying to avoid all this and not get retaliated against, and then it still affects [me],” she told The Appeal. 

Now SH doesn’t know if she’ll be allowed to go to the reentry program. If not, she will spend another two years in prison. 

“A Higher Standard” 

The women of unit 513 spent the next five days locked in their cells. Prison staff brought them meals and medications. Once a day, even though temperatures soared above 100 degrees that week, officers allowed them to fill a cup or water bottle with drinking water from the day room. Otherwise, they had to rely on bottled water previously bought from the commissary. On Wednesday, Aug. 7, staff let them off lockdown. Prison staff offered mental health counseling—but in a cruel twist, the women had to enter the cafeteria to meet with clinicians. “It triggered my anxiety,” Clark recalled. She initially refused. Then, she saw officers form a line similar to what they had done the previous Friday. She convinced others to enter the cafeteria if only to avoid more violence. There, a clinician told her that, because of a staffing shortage,

mental health professionals could only see her once a week. The following week, her appointment was canceled; she was told that mental health staff were overwhelmed by the high demand for counseling after the attack. 

Prison staff initially charged Wind with battery and placed her in segregation for 11 days. When she returned to her cell, the left side of her face was still drooping, leading her and her cellmates to believe that the beating triggered a mini-stroke. But aside from a pain medication injection and an x-ray revealing internal bruising, she has not received deeper medical attention. 

On Monday, Aug. 19, formerly incarcerated women rallied outside the prison to protest their peers’ brutal treatment and to demand medical and mental health services, an independent investigation into staff’s use of force, and the officers’ removal during the inquiry. They also 

demanded that prison officials replace the failing swamp coolers with air conditioning and provide access to cool drinking water, electric fans, and cooling rags during the sweltering summers. 

Inside the prison, women refused their meal trays that morning in a show of solidarity. Two days later, the warden called a mass meeting for the women of 513. According to those who attended, she stated that she could not speak about the Aug. 2 event because it was under investigation. They also said that the warden did not apologize for or even acknowledge the violence that transpired. “It’s really upsetting but always expected,” said Wind. 

CDCR declined to answer specific questions sent by The Appeal over email, but a CDCR spokesperson said that CDCR’s Office of Internal Affairs is investigating the incident. The spokesperson also said that the prison began “immediate week-long intensive training on appropriate incident response” and “redirected” some staff members involved. An anonymous 

video supporting the guards claimed that CDCR transferred several officers, including Sgt. Arroyo, to other prisons after the incident. However, several women told The Appeal that they saw him in the weeks after. Citing the ongoing investigation, CDCR declined to verify whether staff had moved to other prisons. 

The women want the employees who participated in that day removed from the institution altogether and held accountable for their actions. Women have told The Appeal that they have seen Arroyo and others on their unit multiple times since that smoke-filled afternoon; each encounter brings back fears and anxieties from that day. “It’s like you’re raped and you have to look at your rapist every day,” Cameron said. 

“I have a life without parole sentence because I didn’t stand up and do the right thing when someone else was doing something wrong,” said JM. “But these officers are held to a higher standard. Any one of them could have said, ‘Hey, wait, this is wrong. This is too much.’ And no one spoke up.” 

Justice Department Announces Civil Rights Investigation into Correctional Staff Sexual Abuse at Two California Prisons

Sept. 4, 2024

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened an investigation into the conditions of two prison facilities operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR): Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino. 

Based on an extensive review of publicly available information and information gathered from stakeholders, the department has found significant justification to open this investigation. The investigation will evaluate whether CDCR protects people incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility and the California Institution for Women from sexual abuse by correctional staff. 

“No woman incarcerated in a jail or prison should be subjected to sexual abuse by prison staff who are constitutionally bound to protect them,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Every woman, including those in prison, retains basic civil and constitutional rights and should be treated with dignity and respect. California must ensure that the people it incarcerates are housed in conditions that protect them from sexual abuse. This investigation will determine whether California is meeting its constitutional obligations.” 

“Concern about the physical safety of people inside California women’s prisons is not new,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. “Media coverage, state audits, advocates’ efforts and private litigation have sought to draw attention to an issue often unseen by many in the community. This investigation responds to those concerns and will aim to ensure that California is meeting its constitutional duty to incarcerated individuals.” 

“Sexual abuse and misconduct will not be tolerated in prisons,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California said. “Together, with our colleagues in the Eastern District and the Civil Rights Division, my office will thoroughly investigate the conditions at Central California Women’s Facility and the California Institution for Women to determine whether California is meeting its constitutional obligations to incarcerated persons.” 

• Women have filed hundreds of private lawsuits in the past two years alleging officer sexual abuse of people incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility over the last decade, ranging from allegations of inappropriate groping during searches and genital rubbing to forcible rape.
• This week in state court, a trial is scheduled to begin involving allegations that a former correctional officer at the Central California Women’s Facility engaged in widespread sexual assaults. Of course, these are allegations and the state process will proceed.
• A civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of 21 women incarcerated at the California Institution for Women and included allegations of forcible rape and penetration, groping, oral copulation, as well as threats of violence and punishment with abusive conduct ranging from 2014 to 2020.
• Correctional staff at both facilities reportedly sought sexual favors in return for contraband and privileges.
• The correctional officers named in these allegations range in rank and have included the very people responsible for handling complaints of sexual abuse made by women incarcerated at these facilities.
• In March, a working group established by the State and composed of advocacy groups and community-based organizations published a report to the California Legislature that identified longstanding cultural deficiencies in addressing staff sexual abuse, including an unsafe and inaccessible reporting process and the absence of staff accountability.

Justice Department officials have informed California state officials of the investigation. The department has not reached any conclusions regarding the allegations in this matter. The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. This statute gives the department the authority to investigate systemic violations of the rights of individuals in institutional settings, including prisons. 

The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section is conducting this investigation jointly with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern and Central Districts of California. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at 1-888-392-9490 or by email at Community.CAWomensPrisons@usdoj.gov. 

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s work regarding correctional facilities is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-confined-jails-and-prisons.

HASHTAGS #RehabilitationOverExploitation #InvoluntaryServitudeIsSlavery #YesOnProp6 or #VoteYesOnProp6 #NoExceptions #EndSlavery

Many organizations came together on September 3rd at the State Capitol and in Southern California for the kickoff Prop 6 rally and press conference on ending slavery in California.

Prop 6 is a crucial step towards abolishing the remnants of slavery in our state. This rally brought together community leaders, advocates, and supporters who united in this cause. We stood together to make history and let our community know how important it is to vote YES on Prop 6. Slavery cannot be happening ever, especially still happening in 2024. Involuntary Servitude is Slavery. 

Here is some information If you would like to support Prop 6: 

Website: VoteYesProp6.com (https://voteyesprop6.com/) 

Endorsement Form 

(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGx5-CP1gHcJB8QAop2I81ouH7L0gJORyBPDM _FOxd1CmVjw/viewform) 

Volunteer Sign Up (https://voteyesprop6.com/volunteer/) 

Academy Sign Up Form 

(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9VXhTrEz18YHXPxv9oB9GUHF6S7ux-HQsGP UwhaPrIRwQqA/viewform) 

We would like to thank Taso from the Endowment Fund in Canada for facilitating a workshop on Stocks and Investments for our Reentry Group. Their mission is to create

a permanent source of funding for tree planting and, hopefully one day, environmental projects more broadly. 

The group was exciting because a lot of us were not familiar with how to invest and how to buy stocks so that we can start building wealth for our children and maybe future generations. It was an interesting learning experience especially for those who have been impacted by the system and have never had the opportunity to invest. 

If you would like to support their work please email: earth.endowment.fund@gmail.com

Community Partnerships!

We’re excited to announce our partnership with the Melrose 27x Neighborhood Council, where we’ve been providing fresh smoothies to support their neighborhood clean-up efforts and their garden replanting project. It’s been amazing to see the community come together to create a cleaner, greener space!

And don’t forget – we hand out free smoothies at Fruitvale every Wednesday from 10am-11am.

Summer Internship

Our Summer Internship came to a close with a memorable field trip to the Planting Justice Mother Farm. Interns got hands-on experience with weeding, composting, planting native flowers, and harvesting juicy summer plums. It was the perfect way to end a rewarding six weeks!

Throughout the program, our interns gained valuable knowledge on mental health, sustainable living, how to cook vegan mushroom tacos, propagate mint, and even how to build a hügelkultur bed. We’re so proud of their growth and dedication!

Stay tuned for details about our next internship happening this winter 

Thanks to the incredible support and generosity of our community, our fundraising efforts have surged beyond $1,162,887, 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.

Hi, Honey!

The PJ Mother Farm is fortunate to host 2 colonies of honey bees in addition to the hundreds of native bumbles that buzz around the blooms.

At the beginning of August, we loaded up the tractor bucket with one stack of boxes, carried them to the pergola, and spun the frames to extract the honey, which we shared with staff and the community.

It’s so sweet to bee excellent to one another!

Fruit Tasting #2

Our July Fruit Tasting was so nice, we had to do it twice! In mid-August, we were able to offer many varieties of Japanese plums, some peaches, and the last of the mulberries (Kokuso is amazing!), in addition to some baked goods created from last year’s harvest.

Look for the next one in mid-October, when we’ll have persimmon, pineapple guava, quince, and many other amazing fruits to share. We’ve found 30 people is a good group size to both taste all the fruit and to connect with each other and grow community, and the waitlist for the last two tastings was double that, so sign up as soon as you see the Fruit Tasting announcement!

Grape Flash Sale

With over 90 varieties of grapes growing at the Mother Farm, the harvests come in green and red waves. So when we have too many to save, we need to share with our community!

The last week of August we had so many Himrod, Fantasy, and other varieties of table grapes that we held our first Friday Flash Sale at the Farm, offering 8-10 varieties for sale by the pound. A great way to share some unusual varieties with the community!

Keep an eye out on IG or sign up to volunteer at the Mother Farm to be notified when the next Friday Flash Sale happens!

Volunteers Welcome!

Speaking of growing community, 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!

Mobile Farmers Market Launching Soon!

After overcoming many challenges and putting in lots of hard work, we are thrilled to announce that our Mobile Farmers Market program has officially been permitted and will be launching in the next few weeks! This innovative project will close the supply loop at our farmers market by collecting unsold or donated produce from our vendors, loading it onto our beautiful, state-of-the-art mobile market truck, and distributing it to areas across the East Bay with limited access to fresh, organic produce.

This initiative will support our market vendors while also increasing food sovereignty in the East Bay. Our truck will also feature incredible fruits grown by our talented Mother Farm team!

Be sure to visit our growing Farmers Market every Sunday from 10am-2pm at 5166 Sobrante Avenue in El Sobrante.

Interested in volunteering? Join us at The Good Table on the last Saturday of each month from 12pm-3pm! 

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!