Welcome to Shelby’s Gardens page. "Growing Veggies So Nutritious That Your Dinners are Delicious." Shelby’s Gardens was proudly founded by a family that GROWS together, with more than 70 years of military service and a love for healthy, naturally grown produce for the community. In doing this, Shelby’s Gardens hopes that others in the community will benefit from the nutritious produce we
grow. Our family has a priority of constantly improving in the fields of sustainability and conservation with the intent of having our actions produce environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity progression. A Quick Look Back:
Shelby’s Gardens was established by a family that had a focal point of showing one little girl the most amount of love that any child could possible receive. While the plan was in full swing, many hiccups took place as Shelby and her mom, Jessica – aka Mama (that’s me), took on the world. However, there was never a lack of love for my lil’ redhead. One of the many areas of high concern for me was the type of food that she consumed to sustain her health and mental development. Knowing the dangers of processed food, such as many being high in sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, which is linked to significant weight gain, obesity, and diabetes in children, made it hard for me to justify feeding her those items. There were other concerns, such as the amount of artificial ingredients added to processed foods for various reasons and the overwhelming lack of nutrients. Healthy food options can be difficult at the best of times, and it only becomes more so when one has a limited budget, multiple jobs, student obligations, and lives in costly San Diego. Even though Shelby was lucky not to go without healthy food very often, it brought to my attention that there were way too many children out there without the resources and in some cases guidance to have an adequate diet for proper development. How The Ball Got Rolling:
Reflecting on my childhood, my favorite memories from growing-up are of the time I spent on my grandparent's produce farm, Fender's Produce, in Levy, South Carolina. My grandmother, Nana, would pay my sister and I twenty-five cents for each basket of tomatoes we picked (lol, that was a loooong time ago). The urge and joy from growing plants and produce has never left me. Shelby also belongs to a large military family. Her aunt grew-up along with me in South Carolina before we relocated as young teens to San Diego, California; she is a naval officer with 21 years active duty -aka Auntie. Shelby’s grandfather also grew-up farming in the Salinas Valley and retired with 20 years of honorable Naval service in 1999 – aka Papa. Last but not least, her grandmother more recently retired from the Navy with 30 years honorable service– aka Mima. Once Mima retired, she made it her mission to get as close to her grandchild as possible. Mima and packed the truck and headed to America’s Finest City, San Diego. Immediately upon arrival, the family came together and continued our established roots of growing up on produce farms, in gardening, and the desire to be self-sustainable with quality, naturally grown produce. Many of the family conversations would turn to how great it would be to share what we were doing with the community. The issues of sustainability and conservation topped many of those conversations as solutions. Shelby’s family naturally began the research and took the steps to establish Shelby’s Gardens in 2016. We took that concept of loving and providing for just one little girl and extended it to as many children in the community as we could reach. This vision is still moving forward and expanding with intention to be a greater service to promote youth in farming, veterans in farming, and food equality. We look forward to you joining us at local farmers markets and community events soon. Scheduled events will be posted as available.
