Sunflower Hill broke ground in April 2015 on it’s first program for special needs individuals, operating a sustainable Sunflower Hill Gardens at Hagemann Ranch, located at 455 Olivina Avenue in Livermore, California.
SFH Gardens Mission
The purpose of the Garden Committee is to develop, manage and maintain the Sunflower Hill Gardens at Hagemann Ranch.
SFH Gardens Vision
Develop a garden to provide educational and vocational horticulture opportunities for special needs individuals, and be a ‘flagship’ program for Sunflower Hill, enabling advancement of SFH overall
Garden Designed for Special Needs
We designed the Sunflower Hill Gardens at Hagemann Ranch to provide educational/vocational services to special needs individuals and we donate produce to the disadvantaged in the local community. SFH Gardens at Hagemann Ranch was inspired by Bittersweet Farms in Ohio and the Alice Waters Edible School Yard (ESY) Program, which board members Lynn Monica (Garden Operations Director) and Chris Bogert (Programs Director) attended in 2014. The SFH Gardens is designed specifically to meet the needs and run programs for special needs individuals. Thanks to a partnership and contract with the City of Livermore, Sunflower Hill is able to use 1 acre of the historic Hagemann Ranch for our garden. We broke ground in April 2015, planted a wide variety of produce, an orchard, and of course sunflowers, and began running programs in May.
Gardens Results
Since breaking ground we have serviced over 150 special needs individuals in local Tri-Valley high school, adult transition, and adult day programs, as well as bi-monthly family workdays. We have had help from over 300 general volunteers helping to maintain the garden and work on specific projects. We harvested over 17,000 pounds of food and donated approximately 70% or ~12,000 pounds to local food banks who distribute the food to low income families and individuals. For more information about garden and results, see our 2015 and 2016 End of Year reports.
Hagemann Ranch
Sunflower Hill will is one of 4 non-profits working on programs on Hagemann Ranch. This five acre parcel is a historically significant remnant of the original Rancho el Valle de San Jose Mexican land grant award in 1839 to the Bernal, Sunol and Pico families and later owned by Martin Mendenhall, brother of the city of Livermore’s founder, William Mendenhall. In 1896, it was sold to the Hagemann family and continued to be operated as a working farm until 2006. First purchased by a private developer and then by the city of Livermore, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contact the SFH Gardens Team
If you have any questions or want to contact the garden team, please send us an email.
Garden Volunteers
We still have a lot of work to do throughout the year, so volunteers are always needed! If you are interested in volunteering in the gardens and get your hands dirty, please check our SFH Gardens volunteer page for the days, forms, and other details.
Donate to Sunflower Hill Gardens
We can also always use donations to our Sunflower Hill Gardens. Sunflower Hill is an IRS recognized 501c3 non-profit organization: Tax ID #80-0897595. Donations are appreciated and tax deductible. If you’d like to donate to Sunflower Hill Gardens at Hagemann Ranch with a credit card, please use the secure form by clicking this button:
Donate Now
Alternatively, checks made out to “Sunflower Hill Gardens” can be mailed to:
Sunflower Hill
P.O. Box 11436
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Breaking Ground Photos
