2021 Placer County Community Gardens Review
2020-2021
This report was created to give Placer County its first clear view of the community gardens quietly sustaining local neighborhoods. As project lead, I met with garden leaders, walked their sites, gathered stories, and designed the survey that shaped the data and insights presented here. The final publication blends narrative, photography, and analysis to highlight how these gardens nurture food security, belonging, and ecological care. Built for digital distribution, it has become a practical tool for new and existing gardens and helped spark the development of a countywide Community Garden Network.
Skills Used
Toolkit
Project role(s)
Project Samples
What this Work Enables
Relational Inquiry & Deep Listening
Establishing trust through interviews, site visits, and conversations; gathering stories in ways that honor the lived experience of gardeners and garden leaders.
Systems Understanding & Sense-Making
Translating dispersed information like organizational models, infrastructure, programming, conservation practices, into a coherent, readable landscape-level portrait.
Community Engagement & Convening
Initiating connections among gardens, surfacing shared needs, and laying groundwork for a countywide network rooted in mutual support and local wisdom.
Reflective Analysis & Ethical Communication
Approaching interpretation with humility, avoiding prescriptive recommendations, and foregrounding community voice and context.
Accessible, Inclusive Design
Crafting a visually engaging digital document that welcomes a wide audience, mirrors the diversity of gardens, and supports equitable access to knowledge.
Insight-Driven Program Development
Turning qualitative and quantitative findings into practical understanding that helps guide new gardens, partner agencies, and future initiatives.
Social Media
Note: All materials demonstrated on this webpage belong to the Placer County Resource Conservation District and are presented here to illustrate my skills and experience.