Community Garden Support
Our mission is to protect and improve the quality of our open space resources by supporting existing and developing community gardens, school gardens, and urban farms within our District service area.
What are the benefits of Urban Agriculture?
Urban agriculture sites such as urban farms, community gardens, and school gardens are excellent opportunities to implement regenerative agriculture and serve a broad range of community needs, including addressing community food security, creating green spaces, and supporting a sustainable local food system. Urban agriculture sites also serve as community spaces where people can gather to work together, share food, learn about growing food, and meet other like-minded organizations or community groups. Caring for food-producing spaces promotes civic participation, boosts public safety, encourages healthier eating habits, provides moderate exercise opportunities for people of all ages, provides job skills, and makes communities greener.
What We Do:
Whether you are new to gardening or have had many seasons in the soil, we are committed to supporting your project or helping you plant an idea of how to start your project. Our Sustainable Agriculture Team works with urban agriculture sites in different stages of development and has resources available to assist your project!
Technical Support
- Free soil testing
- Soil improvement techniques
- Irrigation efficiency advice
- Garden layout and garden bed design recommendations
- Building monarch/pollinator habitats
In-Kind Support
- Staff time for garden-building work days
- Free native plants, trees, tools, and soil, while funding permits
Outreach Support
- Educational workshops and demonstrations on various gardening and food preservation topics, in partnership with the SB Master Gardeners
- Bilingual translation for workshops
- Creating and translating flyers and workshop materials
- Hosting an outreach table at events
- Connecting partners and community groups with engaged gardens to provide volunteer workforce and ongoing funding/technical support
Our Partners:
Huerta del Valle is a non-profit grassroots organization operating a network of urban farms and community gardens in the Inland Empire. Since its inception, HDV has been at the forefront of sustainable agriculture in the Inland Empire. Not only do they focus on growing food sustainably that improves soil health and sequesters carbon, but they also involve the community in their efforts to make sure the community understands the important role sustainable agriculture has in enhancing our environment and quality of life. HDV has been a close partner of IERCD for 8 years. We have successfully received grants in partnership together and IERCD has also funded their projects and staff through our past Special Projects Fund program. IERCD staff also support their open market, CSA Program, and organize workshops.
Since 1981, the University of California Master Gardener Program has been extending UC research-based information about home horticulture, pest management, and sustainable landscape practices to California residents. UC Master Gardeners offer volunteer services and outreach to the general public in more than 50 California counties. The primary focuses of the UC Master Gardener Program in San Bernardino County are:
- To encourage the public to practice sustainable landscaping (efficient irrigation, composting, etc.)
- To foster gardeners to provide fresh produce for their families with edible gardening
- To promote healthy living and healthy communities through home gardening
The IERCD partners with the San Bernardino County Master Gardeners to reach residents within the IERCD service area through Farmer’s Markets, email and phone helplines, workshops, information booths, and hands-on demonstrations at community and school gardens.
Please fill out our interest form on the Sustainable Agriculture homepage if you are interested in scheduling a free workshop.
Coming Soon - IERCD Urban Agriculture Block Grant!
Funding for urban agriculture projects will be made available through our Urban Agriculture Block Grant, provided by the California Department of Food and Agriculture 2023 Urban Agriculture Program. Through this opportunity, we aim to promote the establishment of new urban agriculture projects and support existing sites in underserved communities by administering a subgrant program for eligible urban agriculture stakeholders in the Inland Empire. The subawards will range between $5,000 - $60,000 to support workforce development, infrastructure needs, equipment and supplies, and community engagement. We hope the funding will address critical urban agricultural project needs and help achieve our communities’ goals for more green spaces and access to local healthy food.
We expect our subaward program to go live in the fall of 2024. Information on eligibility, application process, and technical assistance will be available on this webpage as the program rolls out. Stay tuned!