Happy Earth Garden

Happy Earth Garden is a project of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. The project is a large organic vegetable garden (with room to expand!) and fruit tree orchard located in Fremont on the Dominican Sisters grounds. The garden is a response to the Dominican Sisters commitment to care for our Earth and all of creation. The garden addresses areas of destructive human behavior including: genetic engineering, use of pesticides, transportation issues, global warming, etc. Growing our own food and teaching others to do the same reduces our dependence on oil, thus reducing our ecological footprint and relieving the need for exploitation of third world countries. In doing this, we contribute our small part in addressing the systems that perpetuate the poverty of our world. Goals of this garden project include: 1. Responding to our moral responsibility to care for our Earth. 2. Promoting good nutrition, therefore mental and physical well-being by providing nutritious organic fruits and vegetables. 3. Collaborating with our lay colleagues; including education and training of our food service personnel to provide more nutritional meals for the sisters, as well as education for volunteers to the garden. 4. Responding to the Gospel and the example of Dominic and Mother Pia in our service to the vulnerable and the poor. 5. Providing community outreach to those in need, giving others the education and opportunity to help themselves as well as follow the gospel of love in providing for their brothers and sisters in need. 6. Providing an educational opportunity for our Kindergarten and local schools. 7. Reclaiming our underground water source in an earth-friendly manner. Our hopes would be that we could expand our volunteer base to help with the garden and encourage others to do more home gardening. Expansion of our outreach to those in need is a big part of this vision; increasing our support to Sunrise Village, Second Harvest, the local women�¢ï¿½?�?s shelter and the Holy Family sisters.