Essex volunteers showed their volunteer spirit! On November 17th, 20 E-Team members volunteered at Fertile GroundWorks, a charitable and educational nonprofit organization that has sprouted and taken root in Livermore, California.

In 2019, Fertile Groundworks harvested over 23,000 pounds to share with their neighbors in need. Working with local community kitchens and food pantries, they operate year-round to provide a continuous stream of produce to help feed the hungry in the Tri-Valley region. Volunteers learn sustainable food production techniques, such as bio-intensive gardening, small-scale organic orchardry, soil fertility, composting, and water conservation. Fertile GroundWorks also provides education and support to local schools, corporations, and other community groups to help them create and sustainably operate their own gardens.

The team divided and conquered responsibilities throughout the garden, including shelling a whole crate of black-eyed peas and gleaning Thai chili peppers, weeding and preparing garden beds for future seedlings, and planting and amending additional beds, and working on orchard fences.