Clients and staff take great pride in growing fruits and vegetables in the Arc of Butte County Community Garden in Chico, located on El Monte Drive, close to Marsh Jr. High. It all starts with seeds or starter plants and staff to instruct clients how and where to plant.

The clients and the seasons dictate when and what to grow. In Chico, the growing season is typically March through October, unless Mother Nature produces spring in January or it’s still frosty in April.

After the plants are in the ground, the rows are labeled with stakes that help identify the crop. Different crops have different care involved. Each crop provides an opportunity to teach clients gardening skills.

How the Program Works

The Arc of Butte County staff bring eager clients and supervise as they fertilize, water, and weed the raised beds. All involved enjoy spending time outside in the sun and enjoy the fact that they are “growing their meals.”

Patti Thomas, Associate Director, oversees the Community Garden and the staff and clients that tend it. She teaches a cooking class once a month for independent living service clients and their instructors, often using produce that was freshly gleaned from the Arc garden. 

Bounty from the garden is also brought into the Arc of Butte County for use at home by clients and employees. During this time of drought, watering is important and monitored, which is an opportunity to teach the clients about water conservation.

Learned Skills

There are so many positives when growing your own fruits and vegetables: learning how to cultivate and prepare the soil, how to tend it properly, cooking recipes with what you grow, how to use the waste products in your plot of land as a way to create mulch, and then reusing it to grow more. 

One of the biggest perks of gardening is being able to socialize with fellow gardeners, learn their tips, and make new friends. Being able to reap the rewards of your hard work gives you a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. It tastes so delicious when it’s freshly plucked from the earth.

A Community-Wide Program

The Arc of Butte County participates in the Community Garden program under the umbrella of The Butte Environmental Council. Applications and frequently asked questions are available on their website. 

There are quite a few non-profit community gardens being operated in Chico. A list of these organizations and locations can be found online.

The gardens currently being utilized actually contribute greatly to feeding needy and often homeless people. The Jesus Center has gardens in several locations and reaps the harvest to feed all those who depend upon them for their meals.

Many organizations and even a few churches and apartments have their gardening plots right on their own properties, making the distribution of labor and gathering the ripened plants more time efficient.

Chico is very fortunate to have fertile land available for all of the organizations that need to raise their own food, although it is so popular that many of the parent organizations have a waiting list for those that want to “grow their own.”

Whether you want a container garden in your own backyard or are passionate about an organization like the Arc of Butte County that could benefit from a community gardening plot, sharpen up the hoe and spade, gather up your gardening gloves and hat, and get to planting the seeds that keep on giving.