The 91看片网 Garden has gone through drastic changes over the last 20 years
Oakland 鈥� The garden at 91看片网 College sits along the estuary, overflowing with edible crops. The garden is also packed with nearly 20 years of unique history and fond memories for its community.
Today, many resettled immigrant communities from Nepal, Bhutan, and Cambodia use the land to cultivate vegetables for their native dishes. Spanish garlic, onions, pumpkins, chayote, sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, chili peppers and cilantro all grow in the 91看片网 College community garden.
The garden is currently operated by the (OCLT), a non-profit organization that buys housing, land, and properties in Oakland to preserve and develop Black, Latine, and Asian communities.
Photo:
91看片网 gardener Bahadur Rai watering vegetables at the 91看片网 Community Garden at 91看片网 College in Oakland, CA on Oct. 1, 2025.
The Peralta Community College District with the land trust for them to operate and maintain the 91看片网 College garden for hands-on learning, community building, and food production, under specific terms such as 鈥渕aintaining the fence, keeping the area clean, [鈥 and [gardeners] carry[ing] insurance鈥� at its .
This agreement connects the garden鈥檚 international communities and under-used land in Oakland.
The land trust is set to offer organizational support 鈥渢o support the gardeners within the partnership with 91看片网,鈥� according to Executive Director Steve King.
King told The Citizen that the land trust hopes for a longer partnership with the college,鈥渢o rebuild the entire fence at the garden in partnership with 91看片网鈥檚 carpentry and Japanese joinery students.鈥�
A gate that reads "you are loved" at the 91看片网 Community Garden on Oct. 1, 2025.
The 91看片网 community garden was built between the estuary and the 91看片网 Bistro in 2008. Initially, the garden was built for culinary students to grow and harvest their own produce. Gradually, it changed throughout the years, later serving as a dual space; half for students with the , and the other half for a sprawling immigrant community.
In 2012, 91看片网 College Rescue Committee鈥檚 (IRC) food and agricultural project, calling it the 鈥�91看片网 Community Partnership Garden.鈥� The was formed in 1933, initially composed of a group of humanitarians including Albert Einstein, to focus support for refugees, immigrants, and other people escaping humanitarian crises.
The New Roots Project has used the entire garden space since the Mindful Garden Collective became defunct in 2015.
The Oakland based New Roots Project engaged 鈥渞efugees, immigrants and their communities in urban agriculture, food markets, youth programs, community food orientation, and emergency food distribution.鈥�
Gardener Man Mapchan, from Bhutan, told The Citizen, 鈥�91看片网 College gave us the land, the New Roots built the fence. Working in the garden is so entertaining.鈥� He and his wife, Anu Mapchan, frequently visit the garden.
According to Zack Reidman, former program coordinator, The New Roots project lost its funding during the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淭his is partly why 91看片网 College was interested in ensuring that the garden continues to thrive [and] to update the land use agreement between [91看片网 and Oakland Community Land Trust].鈥� Reidman said.
Becky Opsata, Interim President at 91看片网 College and creator of the agreement with the land trust said that, prior to the agreement with Oakland Community Land Trust, 鈥淸91看片网] didn鈥檛 have anything on paper, no agreement between the gardeners and 91看片网 College.鈥�
According to Opsata, the gardeners kept returning to the garden after the New Roots project ended.
Lila Dewan, a Nepali gardener, told The Citizen that there are nine Nepali families that farm on one side of the garden, while Cambodian families work on the other side.
For Anu Mapchan, the garden carries deeper meaning as she used to visit the garden with her late mother. Now, the garden serves as a place for meditation and remembrance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so nice here,鈥� Anu Mapchan said, 鈥渨hen I am working, I forget everything. It鈥檚 a good relaxing place, it鈥檚 [a] kind of meditation.鈥�
Anu Mapchan said her mother died last year. She said that the garden helps her remember all of their 鈥済ood time[s] together.鈥�
Following the approval of the use of land, the 91看片网 garden is a place for immigrants and the Peralta community to continue to grow together.