Community Roots Farm

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Oceanside, CA
Community Roots Farm

Growing food with community, for community. Sustainably- and ethically-grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers in Oceanside, CA.

06/22/2024

In every space we steward and wherever we are, we prioritize ensuring that everyone feels safe, is safe, and feels welcome. We take this even more seriously for those of us in our communities who more often are experiencing prejudices and violences.

Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, whom we lease from, is not allowing us to put up this sign on the property. While we may not be able to post this sign on the property we want you know that this is what we steward, despite being on property where the landowners hold strong prejudices against those in our community.

We are navigating communications and what the future of what is our only urban farm in Oceanside will be.

If this place has been important to you in some way, any way, over the years, we invite you to send us stories, letters, photos, or art. Let us document what this place means for our communities, our lives, and cultures, and our well-being. You can drop them off at the farm or send them to us via email to [email protected]

06/11/2024

Please join us in officially welcoming this summer season.

We are living through some unprecedented times. We want to hold space for all the suffering we are witnessing and also mirror that with an abundance of hope through connecting with our neighbors, sharing food, and dancing around a fire.
This is going to be a relaxed, potluck-style gathering. Our staff will be providing an olla de vegan chocoyotes and if you'd like to bring a dish, you are more than welcome!!
Please email [email protected] so we can plan! Are you a musician interested in playing for our communtiy? Email us, we would love to have you. The lovely will be doing a live paint and we will have a few seed sowing activities happening. These events are free, but we will be accepting donations so that we can continue to host these gatherings.

Únete a nosotros para dar la bienvenida oficialmente a esta temporada de verano. Estamos viviendo tiempos sin precedentes. Queremos dejar espacio para todo el sufrimiento que estamos presenciando y también reflejarlo con abundante esperanza al conectarnos con nuestros vecinos, compartir comida y bailar alrededor del fuego. Esta será una reunión relajada al estilo de una comida compartida. Nuestro equipo proporcionaremos una olla de chocoyotes veganos y si desea traer un plato, ¡eres más que bienvenido! ¡Envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected] para que podamos planificar! ¿Eres un músico interesado en tocar para nuestra comunidad? Envíanos un correo electrónico, nos encantaría tenerte. La encantadora pintará en vivo y tendremos algunas actividades de siembra de semillas. Estos eventos son gratuitos, pero aceptaremos donaciones para poder continuar organizando estas reuniones.

06/01/2024

We feel strongly that our work is in service to dismantling white supremacy, settler colonial logics, transphobia, ableism, homophobia, and human supremacy where it lives within us and our communities.

By knowing deeply the plants around us, the land, the organisms we co-habitate with, we know deeply ourselves and each other. And through this understanding will come love and care and healing - for one’s self, our community, and every living and non-living entity with which we are a part of whole with.

Don’t ever wonder where we stand on these things because we want it to be clear. Don’t ever tell us to quiet down when we speak our truths of our communities. We are here for it. We love you.

05/18/2024

Being in close connection with the land is a daily reminder that the only sure thing in life is change.
We watch the cycles happen right before our eyes. Life and death, endlessly revolving around and through eachother. It's beautiful to witness and be a part of.
We are thankful to those who have been a part of our journey and continue to walk with us through our next iterations.
We'll need help tomorrow from 11am-2pm to level this land out so we can shift our lab/seed storage around! Plant and veggies will also be for sale ♡♡♡

Teniendo en conexión íntima con la tierra es un recuerdo a diario que la única cosa constante es cambia. Vemos los ciclos pasando en enfrente nuestros ojos. Vida y muerte, infinitamente girando alrededor y a través del otro. Es tan hermoso a ver y tomar en parte.
Necesitaremos ayuda mañana de 11 a 2 para nivelar este terreno y poder cambiar nuestro laboratorio/almacenamiento de semillas! También se venderán plantas y verduras. ♡♡♡

05/11/2024

To the mother singing a sweet lullaby to her crying child,
To the mother who has transitioned to her next lifetime,
To the mother birthing new worlds,
To the mother whose womb aches with loss,
To the mother who forgives,
To the mother who kept going,
To the mother who's gentle voice carries us through the darkness,
To our Madre Tierra, who cradles us each day with abandon,

Thank you, for you are why we are all here.

05/08/2024

We carry on our ancestors and our interrelationships with the earth through seeds and by planting seeds. We have put more intentions towards seeds and seed work on the farm because it is from seed where we remember our origins and where, as a community, we can build strength and power over systems meant to oppress us. Good relationships with seeds is a pathway towards liberation.

Today we planted a corn that we’ve been stewarding with love for 7 years. This Maricopa sweet corn comes from the people of the deserts near Gila River and the Colorado River. It comes from a place where Bianca knows as home and has felt connected to this seed in her stewardship.

The seeds were planted with love. They listened to heart-felt conversations from people who care for each other, the land, and our communities. It is a prayer for our future and a commitment towards resiliency for all of us.

04/29/2024

It's our founder, Bianca Bonilla's birthday today!!!! 🥳🥳🥳

Bianca has put her soul into Botanical Community Development Initiatives, the non-profit umbrella that was founded in 2018, which Community Roots Farm is a branch of. is on a mission to nurture the relationships with our living environment, to enrich our understanding of how truly connected we all are.

Bianca is a humble steward of the land, always down for the cause, and willing to learn along side each of us. Go show some love!!!

04/09/2024

Mark your calendars! & will be hosting a compost workshop next Sunday, April 21st from 12-2pm! Interested in how to start your own bin at home? Having issues you want help with? Interested in why small scale composting is better than large scale? Want to look at fun soil microorganisms?? Join us!

Marca tu calendario! y están facilitando un taller de compost la próxima domigo, el 21st de abril, doce hasta dos. ¿Interestada en cómo empezar tu propio recipiente en casa? ¿Teniendo problemas con los que le gustaría ayuda? ¿interesada en porqué compost de pequeña escala es mejor que grande? ¿Quieres ver en los microorganismos divertidos del suelo? ¡Únete a nosotros!

04/06/2024

The land holds us, the land heals us. Whether you come to lend a hand or witness the flowers Bloom, we are here to hold space with you.

Open tomorrow 11-2 ♡

La tierra nos sostiene, la tierra nos cura. Ya sea que vengas a echar una mano o observar cómo florecen las flores, estamos aquí para compartir espacio.

Abierto mañana once hasta dos ♡

03/29/2024

Ok, hopefully the rain actually comes this time!

We will be closed Sunday and have moved our volunteer hours to tomorrow. Join us between 10 and 2!

03/22/2024

It's with great disappointment that our Spring Equinox event has been canceled. We were so looking forward to welcoming this new year under the Full Moon with you all and all of our amazing guests, pero Madre Tierra had different plans.
Please stay tuned for a redemption event soon!!

Es con gran decepcion que nuestro evento de Primavera ha sido cancelado. Estábamos esperando dar la bienvenida al año nuevo abajo la luna llena contigo y todos nuestros invitados increíbles, pero Madre Tierra tuve otros planes. Por favor, manténgase atento para el evento redentor pronto!

03/11/2024

Good morning, relatives! We are closing out the colder months and welcoming warmth, blossoming and new life. Join us in celebrating the spring equinox and full worm moon on the farm in two weeks. We're grateful to have from and as MCs, Ajay and Toni from leading a conscious movement class, vegan nights from our own and a campfire drumcircle led by the lovely .

In an effort to make these events more sustainable, we ask for a sliding scale donation of $10 to $40. Reserve your spot at the Eventbrite link in our bio!!

¡Buenos días familiares! Estamos cerrando los meses más fríos y dando la bienvenida a la calidez, el florecimiento y la nueva vida. Únase a nosotros en celebrando el equinoccio de primavera y la luna llena de gusanos en la granja en dos semanas. Estamos agradecidos de tener a de y como MC, Ajay y Toni de liderando una clase de movimiento consciente, alimentitas veganas de nuestro propio y un círculo de tambores junto a la hoguera a cargo de la encantadora .

En un esfuerzo por hacer que estos eventos sean más sostenibles, solicitamos una donación de escala móvil de $10 a $40. ¡¡Reserva tu lugar en el enlace de Eventbrite en nuestra biografía!!

03/07/2024

Nitrogen is one of the most essential elements for plants to grow strong and healthy. At Community Roots, we replenish nitrogen in the soil with covercropping and sowing plants that "fix" Nitrogen, that is to take atmospheric Nitrogen & convert it into a slow-release, plant-available form. This is happening via a symbiotic relationship between the plant roots and bacteria in the soil.
Although many of these processes are happening beyond our ability to see with the naked eye, one indicator that Nitrogen fixation is happening is by cutting open a root nodule of a leguminous plant, like these fava beans, and seeing the reddish-pink color. This color is due to the protein "leghemoglobin" occurring in the process. So cool!

02/27/2024

We will be hosting RCD’s plant exchange at Community Roots Farm on March 14th from 3-5 for anyone interested in getting more plants for their school garden project. Link to sign up below and in saved story in bio!

https://mailchi.mp/fcf6ec846675/free-plants-for-school-gardens-sign-up-here-8152033?e=[UNIQID]

Alt text:
2024 Free Plant Giveaway! Join us for the 14th annual plant giveaway! This event is sponsored by Altman Plants, the Plumeria Society of San Diego, and the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County.
It is that time of year again! Every Spring, the Resource Conservation hosts the plant giveaway for local teachers! Through the plant giveaway, school gardens across San Diego are eligible to receive one FREE flat of ten vegetable amd herb plants. Schools can also receive free Plumeria cuttings which are a beautiful and drought tolerant plant! Each flat is provided with planting instructions and a learning activity that students can do at school. We will have five different pick up locations throughout San Diego County. The Plant Giveaway will take place on Thursday, March 14th, 2024 from 3:00-5:00 pm. Plants will be available for pickup on Thursday in four different areas of the county: Encinitas, Linda Vista, National City, and Oceanside. We will have an additional pick up at our office in Lakeside on Friday, March 15th from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.

02/20/2024

Shout out to all of our Madre Tierra allies who donated to our Smart Senor fund!

We put a fundraising call out to our community to help cover the costs of using this really handy device through 2024 and raised $100! This covered a huge chunk of the annual operating fee, whic goes directly to supporting Sashti and his team. They are doing INCREDIBLE work, we are proud to be in partnership with them! The remainder of the annual fee was covered by our Community Composting for Green Spaces grant, which we were graciously awarded for a second year in a row! Shout put , we are honored to be a part of the San Diego Community Composting Cohort.

Healthy soils is not just about growing healthy food. Healthy soil means clean water, clean air, peace to our people, and unification in our communities. Todo empieza y termina en la tierra ♡

02/03/2024

It is TOO easy to let the things that feel out of our control get the best of us.
Instead of bolting arugula and overgrown broccoli Raab accusing you of failing to harvest in time for farmstand bunches, let us hear the gratitude that buzzes from hungry bees, foraging for winter pollen, or giggles from our Growing Minds preschoolers, who this week will get to learn about and taste brassica flowers.
Nature is always teaching us how to adjust our lenses and tap in to the abundance and beauty that is life.
Join us tomorrow, 11am-2pm as we indulge in tending to the land at 4510 North Rive Rd. Sending you all love 💓

12/18/2023

Thank you SO much to all of our neighbors, students, staff and volunteers that have made 2023 full of hope and connection at Community Roots.
We will be closed for volunteer hours until the new year, see you in 2024!!!

Muchísimas gracias a todos nuestros vecinos, estudiantes, empleados y voluntarios que han hecho este año lleno de esperanza y conexión en la granja.
Estaremos cerrado para las horas voluntarias hasta el año nuevo, nos vemos en 2024!

02/13/2023

Bonita día en el jardín hoy! It was so beautiful sharing space with everyone who came. Tending the land, tending ourselves.

02/08/2023

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." - Martin Luther King Jr.

To honor, celebrate, and continue to walk the path of MLK we gathered at the farm on the weekend of his birthday to make hundreds of burritos for our houseless neighbors. Chicken and veggie burritos were given to folks , , , Brother Bennos, and passed out by hand in the streets in Oceanside. It was a very rainy day and so many people were seeking cover wherever they could to keep dry.

We also worked in the seed bank and tended to tasks on the farm. Nurturing this space that is meant to nurture us.

As black and brown people in this space we talked about how this space is an act of reclaiming of our place in our food system on our terms. Agriculture in the United States has a history (and is still) of being covered in blood and injustices towards our people. Our industrial ag system was/is built on the abuse of our people. People support this everyday through where they buy their food. And the infrastructure is set up to make it easiest for you to do so.

But agriculture runs deep in our cultural histories and is a place where we can celebrate what makes us who we are and where we come from. Honoring our foodways and producing food on our terms is an act of resistance and is resilience through a system that is meant to oppress us.

We have so much work to do still but we are here en solidaridad with all of you on this path. La lucha sigue.

02/03/2023

Wanted: farm cat angels to help feed our beloved Jasper! Drop by food at the farm, or consider donating on the BCDI website, to help provide nutrition for our favorite feline. Who else will keep these veggie-eating critters in line?! Well, probably not Jasper, but he makes up for it in cuddles 🥰

01/30/2023

Come see us this Tuesday as we help to celebrate The Plot’s three years since being born!!

Since the beginning of Community Roots Farm, Jessica and Davin Waite and their team have been so incredibly supportive. We have partnered on many projects since the day we first met when I (Bianca) showed up at the back door of the kitchen of the trying to sell them veggies (and they bought them!).

For the first full year of the Plot being open we picked up compost buckets from them weekly and we composted it at Community Roots. We built the Plot Garden and help to maintain it still. Our plant nursery at the farm, run by grows all the plants for the garden!

We love the Plot, Jessica, Davin, the team a friggin’ lot. It’s a sweet little slice of plant heaven. We’ve had so much fun with our relationship with the Plot over the past 3 years. If you haven’t checked out The Plot yet, come by tomorrow (Tuesday!).
Also! We will be hosting a mini seed swap there! So bring yo seeds! We will have some seeds for you to take home too! You can sign up to commit to do a grow out of seeds this season to be a part of building out our community seed bank! See y’all there!

01/30/2023

So great to meet you, Tracy and Adam, this beautiful morning!!! We loved hearing about the the great work y’all are doing with . Come back for more plants whenever you need more. We got you!
Don’t forget folks! If you are involved with a school garden or other community food project, we will provide you with free seedlings! Link in bio!

01/19/2023

Las semillas transmiten las historias de nuestros antepasados y su conexión
con la tierra y la esperanza que tenían para nuestro futuro.

A través de las semillas llevamos la resiliencia y soberanía para las comunidades de hoy y las que vendrán después de nosotros. Podemos preservar las historias que llevan, reclamar nuestras raíces culturales, y empoderarnos para nutrirnos mientras las semillas continúan viviendo a través de nosotros.

No necesitamos depender de las grandes compañías para nuestra seguridad alimenticia. Podemos hacer esto por nosotros mismos.

Únete este domingo 22 de enero de 2-5 pm para nuestro primer intercambio de semillas del año. Trae semillas y plantas para compartir.

Comida: Tendremos un plato principal y mesas. Por favor trae un plato con cubiertos y una
guarnición y/o bebidas (no alcohólicas) para compartir.

Participa: Aprende sobre cómo conservator semillas y participa en nuestro banco de semillas. Tendremos muchas semillas para compartir, así que no te preocupes si no tienes semillas!

Para toda la familia: ¡Trae a tus hijos, padres, abuelos, vecinos! Tendremos actividades divertidas para todos.

01/16/2023

Seeds are the vessels that carry our ancestor’s stories and brilliance of their relationship with the land and the hope that they had for us, their future.
Through seeds we carry on this resilience and can steward sovereignty for our communities now and for those who will come after us. We can steward their stories, reclaim our cultural roots, and empower ourselves to be nourished as the seeds continue to live through us.
We don’t need to rely on big seed .
companies for our food security. We can do this ourselves.
Join us this coming Sunday, January 22nd from 2-5 pm for our first Seed Swap of the year. Bring seeds, plants, cuttings to share.
Comida: We will have a main dish and
community tables. Please bring a bowl with utensils and a side dish and/or drinks (non-alcoholic) to share.
Engage: Learn about seed saving and participate in our seed bank. We will have plenty of seeds to share, so don’t worry if you don’t have any to bring!
For the whole family: Bring your children, your parents, your grandparents, your neighbor! We will have hands-on activities for everyone!

01/16/2023

Farm feeling good today. Harvesting, composting, painting signs, sorting seeds, tending the chickens, and general galavanting underneath the cozy, cool, clouds. Life is good when we do this work to nourish each other, together.

01/05/2023

Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to include our newsletter in today’s CSA share. Happy New Year!

01/02/2023

Feliz año nuevo from all of us at Community Roots! The land and our relationships stewards our sense of time but we love to gather the 1st day of the calendar year at the farm every year. Today we shared some our intentions for the year, gave gratitude for the time and space we have together, treated each other to a yummy potluck, and worked together in the land. We prepped beds, planted more seeds, worked in the nursery, harvested greens, and cleaned out the tool area (and Alastair did an impromptu teaching about all the tools and how/when they’re used). And check out all those beautiful beds being covered cropped for the season! The kids dug a big hole that they are going to continue to work on this week. And we were treated with a big ‘ol’ beautiful double rainbow.
We all show up doing our best everyday. Maybe we don’t get everything done we dream but we plant the seeds and together we continue to grow. Grateful for this rain. And looking forward to all the sunshine coming our way. There is so much to look forward to. We are so blessed to be able to do this together. We are feeling empowered for a year of collaborative healing and disruption! Adelante!

10/26/2022

The City of Oceanside is hosting an open house for receive input from Oceanside residents regarding the General Plan on Wednesday, Oct. 26th at the City Council Chambers at City Hall. This document directly effects every single resident. We are directly advocating for the city to include more specific language supporting urban agriculture in Oceanside. The Morro Hills community has helped to advocate for the importance of agriculture and the General Plan draft has extensive language to support their agriculture businesses but this language does not exist for any of the zoning within the more urban areas of our city where most people in our communities live. Having this language will not only make urban agriculture legally viable within our city but will also make the process to start an urban farm or equitable.
The images above are from a story I (Bianca) put together quickly this evening to help inform folks.
LINKS IN OUR BIO!
Thank you to Elizabeth Vaughn from for assembling the letter based our conversation late last night. Thank you to and for providing support in helping to think about this and proving support. And to for the great online resources that I have been sharing with City staff and is linked in the letter. And thank you too all of you in advance for taking time out of your busy lives to advocate for the health and equity of our communities.

10/25/2022

Come hang with us this Sunday, October 30th at the Farm! We’ll have the bonfire going and a pozole and a vegan soup to share. We will build a community altar (feel free to bring things to contribute!) and make paper cempasúchil flowers. This is a family friendly event. We look forward to putting our shovels down for an evening and hanging with all of you.

10/07/2022

Volunteers helped to string peppers today. Here’s Jammie hanging them up to dry!

Address

4510 N. River Road
Oceanside, CA
92057

Opening Hours

10am - 2pm

Website

http://www.communityrootsfarm.org/

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It's #WorldSoilDay! We can't believe it's already been one month since our Second Annual Community Composting for Green Spaces Gathering. During November 5-8, we spent 3 days as the San Diego Community Composters cohort sharing knowledge of what has worked at our individual sites and how we can help support each other's efforts. We enjoyed a fun and informative bokashi demo from @seedandtrellis and had delicious food from our friends @sunnystreetoutreachmvmt, @compostyourfeelings, @santoshanutritionand, @pocfungicommunity and @redasethiopiancuisine. We talked about policy with the knowledgeable @food2soil and discussed the challenges municipal, curbside programs will bring to Community composting. We brainstormed what we want the future to look like with @epic_renewal and how to engage more people in this initiative to rebuild healthy soils. Thank you @calrecycle and @ca4cc for facilitating this regional training and to all of our site operators, comrades, and hosts for inspiring us to continue in this important work! @humbleservantsofworm @projectnewvillage @mundogardens @centrocultural @rancho.cuatro.vientos @ssfriendlyranch

Happy Inter-dependence Day! Not one of us is separate from the rest. All living and non-living beings co-exist together and our existence and actions effects the whole. The Community Roots Farm logo has the image of a corn to represent this interdependence. You can not grow corn by itself and produce fruit. It is wind pollinated and requires that many plants are grown together. If you have spent time at CRF during the summer you know that we always grow milpas that includes the corn, beans, and squash. An ancestral cropping system that is interdependent, diverse, and abundant. Embrace your place in this world and our woven relationships with each other.

Did you know that we have a full plant nursery at Community Roots Farm? We have vegetables, herbs, flowers, and even some natives! All grown with lots of love so that you can grow your own at home. We want food sovereignty in our community! . Plant sale is open every Sunday from 11 am - 2 pm. We take cash, card, and EBT. (Yes, you can use your EBT card to purchase plants and seeds that will grow food!).

Sundays at Community Roots Farm! Open 11 am - 2 pm. We are located at 4510 N River Rd at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. Enjoy your Sunday outdoors. See what is in season, come order a Farm Share, drop off compost, play in the playground, buy some veggies and herbs for your home garden, and check out cool microorganisms in the soil under the microscope. Come see what community farming is all about.

Art classes at the farm in collaboration with @hsccart @thehillstreetcountryclub @alofalanique are magical

Our Free Farm Stand is inside the Chavez Resource Center today due to the wonderful rain! Today, Monday, October 25th from 2-6 pm.

Buenas dias Oceanside! Growing plantitas for all of you!

There’s a lot more where those came from! Come volunteer with us today and every Tuesday through September 10am-12pm. There’s harvesting, planting, and preparing for tomorrow’s distribution day to be done!

Listen to elders. Follow the youth.

Spinning spinach! It’s harvest day! Thank you to our volunteers who came out today to gather greens which will be delivered to 5 preschools tomorrow! Every week the preschools receive a big box of mixed veggies and fruit to incorporate into the kids snacks and lunches. They may not love vegetables now, but just being familiar with them in childhood will increase the chances that they eat them as adults. Let’s grow a healthy world!

Our awesome CSA this week. You too can get the freshest of the fresh, seasonal, locally grown food delivered straight to your door every Thursday. We fill each box with locally aggregated food from farmers in San Diego County, several items grown on our farm, and lots of love ❤️. Find the link in our bio to order. Coming soon...specialty items as add ons. @solidarityfarmsd @foodshedinc @oside.peoples.kitchen

“The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives. ” Gertrude Jekyll

#Broadfork #teamwork on our no-till/reduced-till production beds. . . #regenerativeagriculture #regenerativeag #communitufarming #sustainableag #notill #notillfarming #soilhealth #microbialdiversity #healthysoilhealthyfoodhealthypeople

Working hard this morning with the crew from @northcoastchurch . Hand shoveling and setting the form for pavers for which our walk-in cooler will go on. Making things happen!