{"id":231,"date":"2026-01-12T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T23:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/?p=231"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:18:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:18:02","slug":"world-soil-day-highlights-urban-soils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/world-soil-day-highlights-urban-soils\/","title":{"rendered":"World Soil Day\u00a0Highlights Urban\u00a0Soils\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

World Soil Day 2025, observed on December 5, focused on the theme \u201cHealthy Soils for Healthy Cities.\u201d To mark the occasion, our office highlighted the work of urban Healthy Soils Program<\/a> (HSP) awardee,  “Huerta del Valle<\/a>\u201d (\u201cValley Garden\u201d). With their flagship community garden in Ontario, a second site in Jurupa Valley, and an incubator farm opening soon, the organization is building a network of community gardens throughout the Inland Empire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huerta del Valley was founded by Maria Alonso after a doctor recommended she feed her children organically grown produce.  Although she was unfamiliar with organic agriculture at the time, Maria drew on the agricultural knowledge she learned from her parents growing up. After doing her own research, she decided the best way to provide healthy food for her family was to grow it herself.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLocal organic food should be a right, not a luxury,\u201d Maria says, \u201cGrowing food together has empowered our community, improved our environment, and helped us prepare for the risks to us posed by a changing climate.\u201d She adds that many volunteers now rely on the garden to help feed their own families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria began by cultivating a small plot in a school garden, where she quickly discovered strong interest from the surrounding community.  In 2013, the Ontario City Council donated Huerta del Valle\u2019s current site and rezoned the land for urban agricultural use, helping the organization implement a Kaiser Permanente grant through the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone Initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site was an untended vacant lot, and community members first worked together to remove litter and debris. To restore the heavily compacted soil, they planted fava beans as an initial soil-building crop. They then implemented the Indigenous \u201cThree Sisters\u201d planting system, in which corn provides a trellis for beans, beans fix nitrogen in the soil, and squash shades the ground with broad leaves. This system not only improves soil health but also produces the foundations of a nutritious diet. The garden also uses intercropping and seasonal crop rotations, growing a wide variety of vegetables that are sold at the on-site market. A nursery and production greenhouse allow Huerta del Valle to grow food year-round while improving produce quality and managing pests and diseases without chemical inputs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, a Healthy Soils Program grant supported major soil improvements in the garden. One way they did this was by incorporating large amounts of municipal compost into the soil and covering it with woodchip mulch. The compost added nutrients and jumpstarted the soil\u2019s organic matter, while the mulch conserved moisture, modulated soil temperatures, controlled weeds and contributed to long-term soil health. Since then, the Garden\u2019s volunteers have produced their own compost from horse manure, wood chips, and food wastes that are collected from local stores and a school (they still do this!). They have also been irrigating for several years with compost tea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HSP grant also supported the establishment of hedgerows, which provide habitat for native pollinators and beneficial insects. Many of the hedgerow plantings, including raspberries and blackberries, also produce fruit for the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, all these practices have created living, healthy soil that supports abundant, nutritious produce with minimal pest and disease pressure \u2014demonstrating how healthy soils can strengthen communities and cities alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Shows
Shows the high quality of the soil \u2013
note the color, moisture and friability.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A variety of produce flourishing due to the soil improvements.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

… and the Healthy Soils Program hosts its second Legislative Briefing <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to highlighting this project\u2019s success, the HSP also marked World Soil Day with a legislative briefing in the Capitol, on \u201cSupporting Fertility and Farm Profitability While Reducing Waste.\u201d<\/strong> As fertilizer, input, and labor prices continue to rise, growers are looking for long-term strategies that protect both productivity and profitability. The use of biological materials from off-farm, such as compost, digestate, and mulch, is becoming increasingly important. Thanks to policies and programs like those created in support of SB 1383, these recycled amendments have become more available, creating new opportunities for farmers. We are grateful to the speakers who helped bring these conversations to life: <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n