🌱 Join Our Growing Family at Planting Justice! 🌱

We’re hiring 3 Nursery Technicians to help our plants thrive! If you love getting your hands dirty, learning new skills, and working with a passionate team, we’d love to meet you! Join us in Oakland to make a difference in our community, contribute to sustainable agriculture, and transform food systems!

Apply Today – Bilingual/Monolingual (Spanish) Applicants Welcome! 🌿

💰 Pay starts at $20/hr + awesome benefits!

Ready to grow with us? Send your resume to careers@plantingjustice.org!

Visit PlantingJustice.org for more information.

🌱 ¡Únete a Nuestra Familia Creciente en Planting Justice! 🌱

Estamos contratando 3 Técnicos de Vivero para ayudar a nuestras plantas a prosperar. Si te encanta ensuciarte las manos, aprender nuevas habilidades y trabajar con un equipo apasionado, ¡nos encantaría conocerte! Únete a nosotros en Oakland para hacer una diferencia en nuestra comunidad, contribuir a la agricultura sostenible y transformar los sistemas alimentarios.

¡Aplica Hoy – Applicantes monolingües/ Bilingües (Español) Bienvenidos! 🌿

💰 Pago inicial de $20/hora + increíbles beneficios

¿Listo para crecer con nosotros? Envía tu currículum a careers@plantingjustice.org

We’re excited to share that Planting Justice recently participated in the Sierra Health Foundation’s Speaker Series! Our co-director, Gavin Raders, alongside Re-entry Coordinator Sol Mercado, Nursery Manager Otis Spikes, and Aquaponics Incubation Farm Manager Covonne Page, spoke passionately about our mission to create equitable access to fresh food, quality jobs, and healing spaces—especially for those impacted by incarceration.

Highlights from the Discussion:

Barriers to Access: Our team emphasized the significant challenges many face in accessing healthy food and stable employment, particularly for individuals re-entering society.

Our Solutions: Through re-entry services, youth education, internships, and fair-wage employment, Planting Justice is driving change toward a sustainable, localized food system that promotes economic mobility, community reintegration, and reduced recidivism.

Expanding to South Sacramento: As we broaden our work, we’re committed to building strong partnerships with local organizations and residents in South Sacramento, working together to create a just, resilient, and healthy community.

Watch the Full Discussion:

We invite you to watch the full event 

While it’s been a steady month at the nursery, here are a few exciting updates to share:

New Plants Arrived: We’ve received half of our order of conventional plants to enhance our inventory!

Shade Structure Project: Our shade structure is progressing well, with completion expected by the end of November.

New Job Openings: We’re hiring! We have three full-time nursery technician positions available. Know someone who’d be a great fit? Encourage them to apply!

Student Visit – We welcomed a group of enthusiastic students from Arise School for an engaging learning experience at the nursery.

Rising Sun Internship: Wrapping up soon! Our current internship concludes the first week of November with one remaining intern.

Merritt College Internship: Our interns from Merritt College are now halfway through their experience, and we’re excited about their continued growth and contributions.

Our management team recently had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion and lead a workshop at UFI Farm in Roxbury. It was an inspiring experience to connect with other leaders in urban farming and share our knowledge on sustainable practices and community-based agriculture. We’re grateful for the chance to collaborate and look forward to future opportunities like this!

Broken Boxes Art Exhibition and Panel Discussion 

We were honored to travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico with our partner and friend Kate Deciccio for an Art Exhibition Called Broken Boxes at the Albuquerque Museum in which our beautiful artwork that we have been doing with Kate highlighting the work of Planting Justice and our staff. We had the audience put some collages together with pictures of our staff and plants from our nursery.

Some of the ladies did not realize that it was us in the pictures until like an hour into the event when they really noticed we were the same people whose art they came to see. Then we did a panel discussion about how important it is to tell a story through art, plants and how healing it is especially for people who are formerly incarcerated. We spoke about how important it is to continue doing the work that we are doing with the community, continuing using our experiences with trauma, incarceration to make positive changes in our communities.

November 5th: A Historic Vote to End Slavery in California

History is about to be made in less than two weeks on November 5th! This is our moment to decide whether we want slavery in California or not. We have a lot of decisions to make that can shape the future of every incarcerated person in California. 

I want to take a moment to reflect on this upcoming election. It is very important that people get out there and vote. Make your voice be heard! Get to know everything that is on the ballot and how it affects our people inside and outside. 

Let’s make history! Let’s remove Slavery from the constitution. Let’s prioritize rehabilitation over profit.

Resource Fair Event At Valley State Prison 

Last Thursday, Our Reentry Coordinator attended a resource fair in which we connected with more than 3,000 people to help get them connected with resources before and after release. We also help support people who will be having a Parole Hearing and through Resentencing efforts. If you have any resources and are interested in helping connect people with those resources please contact our Reentry Coordinator at reentry@plantingjustice.org Let’s help our people come home and set them up for success.

Nursery Healing Day

Our Reentry Coordinator Sol Mercado along with Aquaponics Manager Covonne Page, Nursery Manager Otis Spikes and Mutima Imani put together a Nursery Healing Day with our nursery staff. We brought a few guests that were able to share a few healing techniques about body movement, spiritual healing and mental healing. We will be doing a series of healing days with our nursery staff. Thank you to our guest for providing healing tools for our staff.

Applications Open: Food Sovereignty Youth Leadership Winter Internship

We’re happy to announce that applications are now open for the Planting Justice Food Sovereignty Youth Leadership Winter Internship! This paid internship gives youth the chance to engage in hands-on learning about essential topics such as food sovereignty, nutritious cooking, environmental and food justice, permaculture, sustainable living, and social justice.

Community Highlights:

Smoothie Day at McClymonds High School! We recently shared 120 delicious smoothies with the students, and they loved every sip!

Interns at Dewey High School Are Shining! Returning interns have been stepping up, showing impressive skills and initiative in both prepping and cooking independently.

Special Shoutout to Anthony and Orlando!

Now Hiring: Hybrid Educator

Join our team at Planting Justice as a Hybrid Educator! This is a unique role blending in-person and remote education, working across various sites in Oakland, including our nursery. We’re looking for someone passionate about youth education, food sovereignty, and community healing. If you have experience in teaching, youth advocacy, or agro-ecology, we’d love to hear from you!

📍 Location: Oakland, CA
💼 Full-time | Starting at $22/hour | Benefits included
📅 Apply by November 29, 2024

Interested? Send your resume and cover letter to careers@plantingjustice.org.

We’ve continued making great progress on our Aquaponics Incubator Farm, actively clearing and preparing the land—so much has already been cleaned and revitalized with the help of our community’s own landscaping expert.

With your continued support, we’re confident we can reach (and even surpass!) our $3 million goal. 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 is invaluable to us, and we’re delighted to offer you several ways to make a lasting impact. We deeply appreciate all forms of donations, whether they are one-time gifts or monthly contributions. By becoming a monthly donor, you become a vital part of our mission, providing ongoing support for the work we do. Plus, all donations are 100% tax-deductible, adding extra significance to your generosity.

Joining our community of monthly donors means you’re continuously supporting our organization’s transformative initiatives. Your consistent commitment empowers us to address challenges directly, create sustainable change, and promote a more equitable world. Every donation, regardless of size, is immensely valuable 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 individuals and the broader community. Together, we can plant seeds of hope, cultivate justice, and nurture a future where everyone thrives. Thank you for thoughtfully considering supporting Planting Justice.

PLEASE NOTE: our Second Saturdays volunteer day is going on pause from November through February (mainly for the Winter weather, and also for the Winter rest). We will resume Second Saturday Volunteer Days on March 8, 2025. Have a wonderful Winter and hope to see you then!

Join us every Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm at 5166 Sobrante Ave, El Sobrante, CA for our vibrant farmers market! This community-focused market celebrates QTBIPOC and women vendors, and we’re always open to welcoming new vendors. If you’re interested, contact our Market Manager, Sam, at sam@plantingjustice.org for details on how to join. Vendor participation is free, and we even provide canopies and weights to support your booth setup.

Follow us on Instagram: Stay updated with weekly highlights and market news by following @farmersmarketpj!

Volunteer with The Good Table Project!

Exciting progress is underway for The Good Table, and we’re preparing to design the nursery space! Join us in building this community space by volunteering every last Saturday of the month at 5166 Sobrante Ave, El Sobrante, CA from Noon to 3 pm.

•Soil: Enjoys moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil but adapts well to various soil conditions.

•Water Needs: Drought-tolerant, though benefits from about an inch of water per week.

•Growth Rate: Rapid growth up to 5 feet per season; mature size of 20-25 feet tall and 10-20 feet wide.

•Pruning: For best health and shape, prune during winter after the tree is established (typically after 3 years).

Special Offer:

Bring home this resilient beauty for only $10.00 in a 3x9” pot. Perfect for anyone looking to add an elegant, tropical touch to their garden!

Revitalize your garden this fall with our certified organic fruit and nut trees! Transform your outdoor space into a cozy autumn retreat with top-quality trees. For a limited time, enjoy 15% off your entire purchase using the code FALLSAVINGS15 at checkout.

Shop now at plantingjustice.org/shop and share this offer with friends and family. Let’s grow a beautiful garden together this season!