This little garden is the current project of Sodexos General Manager, Nicole Hoffman, of Food and Nutrition Services at Sharp Coronado. Her goal is to grow fruits and vegetables that can be used in the hospital’s new Mindful Cafe, which opened in April 2015. “Our plan is to plant new herbs and vegetables that we will regularly use, produce that is prolific and has a short growing season so we can utilize them.” Nicole and her assistants will harvest the vegetables regularly for use in the cafe, which is enjoyed daily by patients, families, hospital staff, and the local Coronado community.
Yes, the garden has fruit trees, too: one small avocado tree and one very heavy persimmon tree, bending over the weight of its rapidly ripening fruit.
Sharp Coronado has had a garden before, but over time the soil lost its richness, and Nicole was ready for a fresh start. She hired a company called Gro Organic, and says she is “really happy with the team thats come out. They needed to put a good rich soil back into the beds. We used a lot of organic composting, but when you use too much of it, you lose the soil. So you have to put the soil back in, which is what they did.”
Nicoles plan is to eventually invite volunteers from the community of Coronado to care for the garden. “[Gro Organic] will be providing education and how to maintain the garden and learn about the techniques to harvest vegetables and herbs. We will start launching the education portion in October, and ideally we will have a monthly educational period.
Being partners with the community is important to us and the garden allows us another opportunity to share common goals, she says.
Those interested in becoming a volunteer gardener can contact Nicole at nicole.hoffman@sharp.com or by calling Sharp Coronado at 619-522-3715.
Until September 25th, the garden will be rapidly producing its first harvest for Coronado to purchase and enjoy — Nicole just hopes the persimmons can wait that long!
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Becca Garber
Staff Writer
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