photo credit: UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County
Donating veggies to the nearby Valley of the Moon Children's Center

 A local master gardener program was recently awarded an unprecedented $1-million grant from the Sonoma County Ag + Open Space District.
The funds are going towards a 4.5-acre parcel of land in east Santa Rosa. It's near the Valley of the Moon Children’s Center that was damaged during the 2020 Glass Fire.

Mimi Enright is the program coordinator for the UC Master Gardener program of Sonoma County. That's a volunteer program affiliated with the University of California which has chapters in almost every county in the state. They provide free or low-cost education year-round.

Enright says the Glass Fire had badly damaged the property's garden.

"There was some existing infrastructure that was still standing, but like all the irrigation had been destroyed and it had been abandoned I think probably since the onset of the pandemic and then of course with the impact of the Glass Fire by the Children's Center. So, it was pretty much a destitute, weedy mess that needed major rehabilitation to make it a functioning garden space as well,” explained Enright.

The Los Guilicos Demonstration and Teaching Garden project was undertaken by Master Gardener volunteers in the early spring of 2023 and debuted to the public in October that year.

Enright says they have taught over 200 children at the site, mostly from Title 1 schools, which are schools where at least 40-percent of students are from low-income families and who may be at risk of falling behind academically.

“Oh, it's been magical. The team of Master Gardeners who lead up the children's program love working with children and have shared some, you know, lovely stories and really meaningful quotes - but magical. Being able to create a space and an opportunity for kids who may not have access to it, to really enmesh themselves in our natural world and explore our relationship with nature and the garden has been a really, really wonderful experience,” said Enright.

After the Valley of the Moon Children’s Center Garden was rehabilitated, including ADA accessible paths and raised beds, the chapter applied for a substantial grant to work on the larger 4.5-acre parcel. This past December, they received one of seven grants, totaling just over $1-million dollars, from the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation + Open Space District. Enright says this funding will be transformative for the space.

“A very decrepit greenhouse on the site that we hope to renovate which will take a good chunk of that budget. We need to put in ADA accessible paths and clean out areas that are weedy and need to be prepped before we install beds and introduce soil and compost and irrigation and all the planting materials. So it's astonishing how quickly it all adds up,” said Enright.

She says they also want to plant fruit trees to host hands-on pruning classes, along with other educational experiences.

Because the property is in a burn scar, Enright says the demo gardens will also be a space to learn about fire resiliency.

“Since the 2017 wildfires complex, we have been as a program very invested in developing and doing educational outreach on the topic of what we call sustainable defensible space to our community, and we absolutely will be demonstrating fire-wise and defensible space principles in the implementation and the installation of the garden,” explained Enright.

She says while the funding is a big win for the Master Gardeners, and will require additional grants down the road, it’s now a hurry-up-and-wait situation.

The property itself is owned by the county as part of the Los Guilicos campus, so the group will need a conservation easement on the parcel with a long-term license agreement.

The UC Master Gardeners have at least 10 years with their current agreement. They say they hope to extend that to 30 or 50 years with the county, providing generations of learning for people in Sonoma County.