To get on the waiting list, contact Manny Perez, San Jose Community Garden Coordinator at Manuel.Perez@sanjoseca.gov or 408-793-5533.

Click here for directions

Garden Features

• Newest addition to San Jose’s city-wide Community Gardens program

• Developed by the City of San Jose, South Bay Water Recycling, and Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens

• Santa Clara County Master Gardeners have been given a plot in the gardens to use for demonstration, education and research

• Addresses the Mayor’s Green Vision goal to recycled or reuse 100% of our wastewater (100 million gallons a day)

• Furthers the mission of Guadalupe Gardens to be a demonstration site for environmentally-friendly gardening

• First community garden in California to be irrigated with recycled water

• One acre in size --- state-of-the-art design

• 29 individual plots for gardeners, (20 – 20’x20’ and 9 – 15’x20’)

• 4 accessible raised beds, (20’x5’x32”h)

• Shade structure, picnic tables, barbeque, compost bins, tool shed, and a sink for washing produce

• Centrally located and accessible by public transportation

• Restrooms nearby in Columbus Park

Older news...

Guadalupe Community Garden Opening Celebration

The City of San José, Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens, and other project partners celebrated the grand opening of the city’s newest and greenest community garden on Friday, August 14, 2009.  There was a formal ribbon cutting, followed by a public celebration featuring cooking demonstrations and tastings, short educational presentations along with quick gardening tips and fun, hands-on activities for children.  Music and refreshments completed the festivities.

The event drew the positive media coverage listed below:

• Community Gardens on KPIX
  With water in short supply, a community garden in San Jose is tapping into a new source. It's being piped in from the sewage treatment plant five miles away. Watch KPIX's video report!
• Community Gardens in the Examiner
  Despite the intermittent roar of planes overhead which caused momentary pauses and jokes by the speakers at today's opening of the Guadalupe Community Garden, it was a grand success followed by the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony. More>>>

From left to right: Julie Edmonds-Mares, Pierluigi Oliverio, Kansen Chu, Patrick Kwok, Leslee Hamilton, Jodi Starbird, Fred Ferrer, Mansour Nasser, Sam Liccardo

Open now for a few months, all the plots are being used and things are starting to grow! Officials are hopeful that as the waiting list grows, the shovel-ready Phase 2 might get built sooner rather than later as federal stimulus flows into the region. Interested gardeners are encouraged to get on the waiting list by contacting Manny Perez, San Jose Community Garden Coordinator at Manuel.Perez@sanjoseca.gov or 408-793-5533.

Click here to see the layout of the garden. (297 KB .pdf file)

Guadalupe River Park & Gardens announces its latest addition!
Check out the newest addition to the Guadalupe River Park & Gardens! After months of construction, the newest City of San Jose Community Garden is ready to open November 5th, 2008. The Guadalupe Community Garden is one of 19 community gardens - occupying approximately 37 acres of land - operated by the City of San Jose for the benefit of its residents. The Community Gardening Program started in 1977. The first garden, Mi Tierra, was located on a five-acre parcel that had been a City tree nursery. Each garden manages their own day-to-day operations with a volunteer staff, including managers, assistant managers and secretary/ treasurers. The majority of the gardens are older than 15 years. Guadalupe Community Garden consists of 33 plots, including four that are raised for easy accessibility. It is a beautiful facility, with raised beds, a tool shed and a nice covered area for garden workshops and gatherings. Right now, it will have a slow start due to the time of year, but come spring, watch us grow!!

Guadalupe Community Garden Groundbreaking Ceremony

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Guadalupe Gardens on Wednesday, February 13, for an innovative new community garden – the first community garden in California to be irrigated with recycled water. It is a joint project of the City of San Jose, South Bay Water Recycling, and Friends of GRPG. Partial funding for the garden was provided by the WateReuse Foundation through a grant to the Friends in 2004.

The one-acre garden will be located at the intersection of Walnut and Asbury streets, just north of Taylor Street. It will be the 19th community garden in the City of San Jose when it is completed in August 2008. There will be 33 plots in total, including 4 raised beds that are wheelchair-accessible. San Jose residents may sign up now for a garden plot by contacting Manny Perez, San Jose Community Garden Coordinator at Manuel.Perez@sanjoseca.gov or 408-793-5533.

San Jose City Councilmember Sam Liccardo, speaking at the groundbreaking, hailed the new garden as a site for residents to grow their own produce, flowers and herbs, but also for its role in enhancing the Mayor’s Green Vision for the city. One element of the Green Vision is to recycle or beneficially reuse 100 percent of our wastewater, or 100 million gallons per day. “As the first garden of its kind in California to be irrigated with recycled water this community garden is an excellent example of a public private partnership doing good while going ‘green’,” said Councilmember Liccardo. More information on recycled water use in San Jose can be found at www.sbwr.com, the website for South Bay Water Recycling.

The community garden and its pioneering use of recycled water for irrigation illustrates the role of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens as an outdoor classroom where adults and children can learn about horticulture, environmental stewardship, and the region’s agricultural heritage.

Corbin Schneider, Project Architect, Verde Design, Inc.
Kathleen Muller, Project Manager
Phil Sims, President, Friends of GRPG
Sam Liccardo, City Council member, District 3
Mansour Nasser, South Bay Water Recycling
Julie Edmonds-Mares, Asst. Dir., PRNS
Leslee Hamilton, Executive Director, Friends of GRPG

The site of the community garden before construction.