Berryland
Berryland is a project of the 5% Local Coalition and Urban Tilth. Our goal is to create an inviting, delicious attraction on the Greenway. We hope that Greenway users, especially children, will learn to mark the seasons by the ripening of the berries, tangibly connecting with natural cycles and a diverse, productive ecosystem. We also wanted to pilot a low-cost model of edible landscaping on the commons.
We broke ground in July of 2007 and have had monthly volunteer workdays since then. There are approximately 20 raised planter beds filled with more than 12 kinds of berry bushes. The majority of the bushes are raspberries, but there are also blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, boysenberries, gooseberries, wolfberries, goumi berries and California native berries—thimbleberries, elderberries, alpine strawberries, and huckleberries. We also fudged a bit and planted a fig tree and 5 pineapple guavas. We cover cropped with snow peas which were a big hit among Greenway users last winter. This coming winter (2008-2009) we plan to cover crop with snow peas again. We will also interplant with garlic, thyme, and yarrow to increase Berryland’s biodiversity and provide habitat for beneficial insects.
Berryland has received significant support from the City of Richmond, Parks and Landscaping Division, Friends of the Richmond Greenway, Opportunity West/SAGE, Rosie the Riveter National Park, Annie’s Annuals, and RainTree Nursery.