San Ramon Opens Accessible Culinary and Pollinator Garden at Alcosta Senior and Community Center

The City of San Ramon Parks and Community Services Department welcomed older adult residents on Friday morning to the newly completed Accessible Culinary and Pollinator Garden at the Alcosta Senior and Community Center at 9300 Alcosta Boulevard. Approved by the San Ramon Senior Advisory Committee earlier this year, the $185,000 courtyard renovation replaces aging timber planters with twenty-four wheelchair-accessible redwood and western red cedar raised beds built at thirty-two-inch ergonomic standing and seated working heights. Decomposed granite pathways stabilized with permeable resin binder now connect the garden patio directly to the center's nutrition dining room and outdoor gazebo.

Each raised bed is plumbed with pressure-compensating drip irrigation lines controlled by a smart weather-station timer donated through an East Bay Municipal Utility District water-conservation landscape grant. Master Gardener volunteers from the University of California Cooperative Extension in Contra Costa County worked alongside senior garden club members on Friday to plant winter crops including Tuscan kale, fava beans, rosemary, Meyer dwarf lemons, and native California milkweed.

Fresh herbs, leafy greens, and seasonal citrus harvested from the courtyard beds will supply the Alcosta Senior Center's weekday congregant lunch kitchen as well as hands-on Farm-to-Table cooking workshops starting in November. In addition to the vegetable beds, the west perimeter features a fragrance and sensory border designed specifically for older adults participating in memory-support and gentle movement classes.

Funding for the courtyard upgrade combined $130,000 from San Ramon's Park Development Fund with $55,000 raised by the San Ramon Senior Foundation during its annual spring benefit. Residents aged 50 and older can sign up for a free plots-and-harvest orientation or view the November culinary class schedule at the Alcosta Senior Center front desk on weekday mornings between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM or online via the San Ramon Recreation Guide.