"A lot of people don't realize how working with plants can help heal an incarcerated soul."  - Covonne Page

On Thursday, Jan. 24, Planting Justice had the amazing opportunity to present our growing and reentry work at the 2025 EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove, CA.

Titled "Growing Plants, Growing People, Growing Community", three formerly incarcerated PJ staff members (Covonne, Mark, and Sol) shared to a packed audience how PJ prioritizes and supports formerly incarcerated and system-impacted people while successfully running an organic nursery, 4-acre propagation orchard, Food Sovereignty Youth Leadership program, and  expanding into a pay-as-you-can cafê and 3-acre Aquaponics Farm & Training Center.

Presenting at EcoFarm created the opportunity to connect with so many people. We love sharing our work, discussing reentry & regenerative agriculture, or leading workshops & panels at your conference, summit, or skillshare. Please reach out to mark@plantingjustice.org for details. 

There has been explosive garden growth of cover crop at our Lionel Wilson Prep & Dewey Academy gardens! The cover crop is beyond ready to chop down and incorporate back into the soil. This will put tons of nitrogen back into the soil and improve soil health.

We are then going to wait 3 weeks before planting our cool season crops like cabbages, cauliflowers, and lettuces.

Do you have a home garden? Even if you have your garden in pots, now is a great time to consider organic gardening methods, like planting cover crops, rather than using harmful fertilizers or inputs to enrich your soil. Plus, many cover crops include beans and sweet peas, which make for a delicious harvest while also feeding your soil!

Planting Justice was honored to be able to host the “Freedom Tattoo Solidarity Event”  at our nursery this month. This event was made possible thanks to our comrade Leesa Nomura, member organizer for California Coalition For Women’s Prisoners and founder of the “Freedom Looks Good On Us” Facebook page where the Freedom tattoo was born and which has over 2.6K members! The tattoo began in Souther California, and has now spread to Northern California, signifying the unity of all formerly incarcerated people across the state. 

It was a day full of joy, laughter, happy tears, love and solidarity. We had over 30 formerly incarcerated people show up! Everyone was so happy to be able to come together and stand in solidarity not only for those who have gotten their freedom but also for those who are still incarcerated.

Sure, it’s been below freezing the past few mornings in parts of the Bay, but that doesn’t stop the fruit, if you know which varieties to grow! Those of us living in the San Francisco Bay Area are fortunate to have a mild, Mediterranean climate where we can grow fruit year round–and not just citrus! At our 4-acre Mother Farm propagation orchard, our Strawberry guava and Lemon (Yellow Strawberry) guava are still fruiting strong into February.

Coming up, the Planting Justice Mother Farm team is excited to be tabling and volunteering at the 2025 California Rare Fruit Growers, Golden Gate Chapter Scion Exchange at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill on Saturday, February, 8. Stop by the Planting Justice table to say hi, and to see if we carry any scion wood you can’t find anywhere else. See you there!

Planting Justice's Sobrante Park Nursery is now home to SPARK Seeds, a brand new seed lending library! The seeds you and the community borrow from this seed library are lent to you for FREE. We just ask that when you get a successful harvest, you save seeds and return them to this library so that we can keep Sobrante Park a resilient neighborhood.

How to use SPARK Seeds:

1. Using the Donation Info Sheet, fill out a separate envelope or container for each type of seed you plan to take.
2. Put seeds in envelopes or containers. Take 2-3 seeds for every plant you intend to grow this season.
3. When you get a successful harvest, save seeds and return them to this library.

Happy planting, Sobrante Park!

Transform your outdoor space into a thriving food forest with our top-quality, certified organic trees. For a limited time, enjoy 10% off your entire purchase using the code WINTER10 at checkout.

Hurry—this offer ends on March 20!

Shop now at plantingjustice.org/shop and share this offer with friends and family. Let’s grow bountiful community green spaces in 2025!