Bring Clean Soil and Safety to La Finca del Sur

La Finca del Sur began in 2009, when a groups of volunteers and activists began transforming a vacant lot in an industrial neighborhood into a community farm. We have made enormous progress in just three years, but there is still work to do! We want to expand our capacity to grow fresh produce by building more raised beds, bringing in more clean soil to grow food in, and securing our site through proper fencing.

To expand our capacity, we put down layers of sheet mulch, which suppresses weeds and forms a protective barrier over contaminated soil. Then, we build raised beds, line them with landscape cloth to prevent roots from penetrating the contaminated soil below, and fill the beds with clean soil purchased from landscaping companies. At the same time, we will be making our site more secure by constructing a chain link fence, which can also serve as a trellis for climbing plants in the future.

Building more raised beds will allow us to enhance our capacity to educate community members, accommodate volunteers, grow more food for the community, attract pollinators, and overall create a safer, healthier learning environment. We also empower neighborhood residents to envision a better neighborhood and a healthy home environment, and educate volunteer groups on community and environmental health and justice issues. Proper fencing is essential to the maintenance of this safe space. It will help us prevent future incidents of theft and vandalism, while giving us the security needed to grow in the future, introduce livestock, and continue our work.