The Grand Opening of the Urban Garden Center at 2850 Sacramento St. (at Oregon St.) in South Berkeley took place on June 27, 2004. The site at the end of the Santa Fe Right of Way, was formerly a rail line and more recently has been a strip of city-owned vacant parcels cutting diagonally through Southwest Berkeley, and has been made into a gardening center by Spiral Gardens.

After obtaining unanimous approval from the Berkeley City Council and finalizing permits and a lease, the two closest lots have been built into an expanded retail nursery, outdoor community classroom, and intensive food production site. The nursery, which is being moved from the South Berkeley Community Garden, will serve as the propagation nexus for the seedlings and decorative plants for all of the Spiral Gardens sites.

Several projects take place out of the Urban Garden Center. There is a collective food production garden from which half of the harvest will go to the homeless and elderly, and half will be divided among the volunteers who grow it. The site also has an organic urban nursery that specializes in plants for food, medicine, and ecological restoration. A low-cost organic produce stand featuring fresh food from regional farmers is at the corner on Tuesdays from 3-7pm. Organizers also hope to hold intensive trainings and a regular schedule of free public classes at this new outdoor education site in the future. These classes will be a way for people to share knowledge about self-sufficiency through gardening, skills for good eating habits, and tools to build a vibrant community. These skills are needed in a predominately African American and poor neighborhood that largely serves as a freeway for other people to get from one place to another in their cars, without stopping to take part in nature or growing their own food. There is only one store within a three-block radius from the site that sells produce. Spiral Gardens also has a booth at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers' Market from March through September. The Urban Garden Center is open Tuesday through Friday from 12-7.

Photos: 1 | 2 | List of Spiral Gardens Sites (formerly Boss Urban Gardening Institute) | Californians are having a love affair with sustainable agriculture.