\u201cOur community was given just 20 days\u2019 notice to leave,\u201d Sofie Gmerek, a volunteer at the garden, said in a statement. \u201cWe are launching an emergency campaign to raise $2.5 million to place a counteroffer or fund an emergency relocation before the land is bulldozed and replaced by urban sprawl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board member Jessicka \u201cJoosey\u201d Chamberlin said the organization has been upgrading the property, which has been a costly endeavor and has impacted its ability to pay $8,000 a month in rent to property owner Fred Soltanzad.<\/p>\n
Soltanzad did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince we\u2019ve been regenerating the organization, we haven\u2019t been able to pay rent because it\u2019s just been so hard to,\u201d Chamberlin told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cHe just kept increasing the rent all the time. But I haven\u2019t paid it for the last 18 months, and he\u2019s been extremely gracious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chamberlin said the board would love to buy the land, but the only way it can do that is with community support. The less than half-acre property includes a structure at the back of the garden and a house at 80 Race St. Chamberlin said it will cost tens of thousands of dollars to start anew.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not just trying to raise the $2 million to buy the land, we\u2019re trying to raise an extra $700,000 to finish \u2026 a strategic plan and vision for the property,\u201d Chamberlin said. \u201cWe need to make some important upgrades to our existing infrastructure. Many of the additions on the property are falling apart with leaking roofs.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/PXL_20261019_200931001-1024x771.jpg\")
Plant & Soul California board member Jessicka \u201cJoosey\u201d Chamberlin is hoping for community support to buy the property or help the organization relocate. Photo by Lorraine Gabbert.<\/p>\n
She also wants to hire one to two people to help manage the garden and create a native plant nursery. Chamberlin said if Plant & Soul owned the land, it could be fully sustainable with its landscaping design-build business and nursery rebooted.<\/p>\n
Paige Sweetin, chief operating officer of San Jose Opera, reached out to Plant & Soul upon hearing of its predicament. She suggested the organization relocate and create its community garden at the historic home of the opera\u2019s founder Irene Dalis on the outskirts\u00a0 of downtown San Jose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had this long-term dream that it would be a community garden,\u201d Sweetin told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cBut we\u2019re an opera company. We don\u2019t have the resources. It doesn\u2019t align necessarily with our mission to run a community garden ourselves. But we are big on community partnerships. We want to help other organizations thrive here as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sprouting a garden<\/p>\n
In 1999, founder Alrie Middlebrook, who rented the property from Soltanzad, began transforming a vehicle repair shop and parking lot into a demonstrative garden supported by her landscape design business that featured native plants, Chamberlin said. In the summer of 2022, Chamberlin started volunteering at the garden and joined the board in 2023.<\/p>\n
When Middlebrook retired in 2024, the garden became Chamberlin\u2019s full-time job. Chamberlin and her partner David Shapiro took over Middlebrook\u2019s landscape design-build business and nonprofit California Native Garden Foundation, which they renamed Plant & Soul California.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/PXL_20261019_200059247-1024x771.jpg\")
The garden provides youth education programs, art classes and a space for community gatherings. Photo by Lorraine Gabbert.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very unique organization that we actually have something that brings in money,\u201d Chamberlin said. \u201cI want us to stay here and also help the opera create a community garden. And then do another one here and another one there.\u201d<\/p>\n
If they receive the necessary funding and the current sale falls through, Chamberlin envisions creating a zero-waste store selling locally grown beans and pesto made with basil from the garden.<\/p>\n
The group has hosted a variety of community events including a folklorico band that had everyone dancing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe served hot chocolate made from sacred cacao and homemade focaccia and pesto,\u201d Chamberlin said. \u201cWe throw our love into everything we serve. We feed the community and we teach them about all the native plants. San Jose needs a place like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garden assistant Kendra Hein said the garden is a place that reminds people they\u2019re engaging in a partnership with the land and bringing it to life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe brought it from the bare asphalt into the place you see now, where we have birds coming and eating fennel,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe have crows dropping acorns to crack them and eat them. It reminds us there are places where we can just be without societal pressures. With your hands in the soil, you\u2019re calm, you\u2019re centered.\u201d<\/p>\n
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