Riverside, CA – Riverside City College’s Community Garden will hold its annual Equinox Party on Saturday, September 24, from 6 to 8 pm. The event, which is free to attend, will include food, music, rock painting, a slideshow and special acknowledgements.

Now in its fourth year, the Garden’s mission is to provide space, guidance and support for making healthy, sustainable food available to the community through practice and education. The Garden was established in September of 2013 with the help of volunteer students, staff, faculty and community members. The College administration allocated space for the Garden, behind the Math and Science Building, and funded the irrigation main lines, fence, gazebo and ADA pathway. Staff installed the irrigation lines and helped to build the gazebo along with student, staff, faculty, and community volunteers. Other funding used to construct benches, purchase trees, build a compost bin and raised beds for wheel chair access was donated to the Garden by Calvary Presbyterian (coordinated by the Wood Streets Green Team), the Western Municipal Water District, ASRCC, and Seeds of Change. Corona Tools and Dr. Heather Smith donated Garden tools. Volunteers prepared cultivation beds, built benches, compost bins, and raised beds, designed the layout and installed the pathways.

The Garden is open to volunteers on Tuesdays and Fridays from 8-10 am as well as Sundays from 7-9 am. Produce generated from the Garden is distributed among volunteers. The Garden is also used by students from the botany and biology classes.