We manage San Diego’s largest community garden, the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden, which is located in the South Bay. The garden contains 210 garden plots, a native pollinator hedgerow, and 10 quarter-acre plots. These quarter-acre plots were added in recognition of the need for more land for urban agriculture. The intended audience for the plots is beginner farmers as a way for them to test out if commercial farming is something they want to pursue, but we have also rented to established farmers looking to expand. Land access is a huge barrier for farmers in our region, as agricultural land is expensive and availability continually dwindles as fields are converted for development. There is a huge need for more incubator plots like this to allow farmers to build their experience and capacity.  

Availability

All ten quarter-acre plots are now full. We expect new plots to be available over time as farmers scale up their farms at new locations.

Rent is $1200 for the first year and $1400 for the next two years of the three-year lease period. Farmers have access to a gazebo which can serve as a farm stand. 

If you are interested, please submit this form to get on the list. For further application support and questions, you can also reach out to our Ag Director, Joel Kramer: joel.kramer@rcdsandiego.org.

Featured Farmers

• Pixca is a food cooperative owned by farmers of color. They offer CSA boxes of vegetables to the communities in the South Bay, host a weekly farm stand at the community garden and also specialize in growing flowers. They were also named New Farmers of the Year in 2022 by Community Alliance with Family Farmers.  
• On their quarter acre, GrowEco is able to grow produce year-round for 15 to 20 households, and runs their own weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) delivery program. They are also a regular contributor to other local CSA programs, like Foodshed.