Sama Reitzes is all about building stronger communities through good food, sustainable practices and making gardening accessible to everyone. The UC Davis alum earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and environmental education last winter and continues to grow that work on campus, where she’s joined efforts to install a new ADA-accessible garden and make green spaces more inclusive for all.

The new accessible garden is located off Orchard Park Drive not far from the Student Farm and the Domes, a living-learning cooperative student community. The space features several raised garden beds, a three-compartment composting area, hammocks and a shade structure.

While she was an undergraduate, Reitzes served as a peer mentor with the Redwood SEED Scholars Program at UC Davis, which supports young adults with intellectual disabilities through inclusive academics, campus living, internships and peer mentorship. As a student studying agriculture, she saw an opportunity to expand the curriculum to include lessons about gardening and growing food while also encouraging scholars to connect with nature.

“There wasn't much of an environmental or agricultural education component to the Redwood SEED Scholars Program, and I felt like if it's at Davis, they should get to experience that stuff as well,” said Reitzes. “I started wanting to have some kind of garden education program for those students.”

Reitzes’ idea for an accessible garden eventually got woven into a larger project, Accessibility in the Sustainable Living and Learning Community (SLLC). SLLC is a student-driven initiative that combines experiential learning, cooperative living and sustainability education across campus. It’s managed by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, which is housed in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES).

JayLee Tuil, research and academic engagement coordinator for the SLLC, is leading the project and has played a key role in securing funding and managing students with the UC Davis College Corps, who have worked for the past year to construct ADA-compliant pathways that weave throughout the SLLC, including the Domes and the ASUCD community gardens.

Tuil, who earned her bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees at UC Davis, drew upon her own personal experience of being in a wheelchair to help launch this meaningful project.

“I was hit by a trolley as a pedestrian and because that happened, I was confined to a wheelchair, with limited mobility for a number of months,” Tuil said. “I learned firsthand how hard it is to be at the edge of places all the time and how hard it is to not be able to go into places. And so, I can't discredit that that experience is part of what's driven me to do this project, to bring people into spaces and not confined to the edges.”

Two UC Davis students, Diego Lopez, who graduated in March with a degree in environmental analysis and planning, and engineering major Ryan Nguyen, spent many hours clearing out dirt and grass to make way for the new hex pave accessible paths, which are smooth, stable walkways made from interlocking hexagonal pavers that provide safe, wheelchair-friendly access to outdoor spaces. Throughout the process, Tuil said she and the students could feel they were paving the way for a more inclusive and welcoming space.

“The whole time we've been building it, it's like, I don't know who we're building this for, but I can't wait to meet them,” Tuil said.

Gardening without limits

One person who will likely visit the space is Jacob Priley. The 31-year-old was hit by a car while riding an e-bike in New York City nearly two years ago. He is recovering from a traumatic brain injury that left him unable to walk or talk. Mackensie Priley, director of development with CA&ES, is his younger sister, who along with their parents, has helped care for him and find opportunities to bring him back to the things he loved before he began using a wheelchair. Mackensie said her brother is a plant enthusiast with a ‘green thumb’ but hasn’t been able to garden like he used to.

This spring, the Priley family joined Tuil and Reitzes in the accessible garden to demonstrate how someone in a wheelchair could navigate around the space.

“When we went and tested the paths, we were able to go up to a few of the garden beds that they had made and offered some suggestions on how to alter them so that people with wheelchairs could reach them a little better,” said Kim Priley, Jacob’s mother.

Jacob and his family also planted herbs and flowers in the garden. He helped choose which seeds to plant and took part in watering.

“This opportunity was a joy for not only him, but for my parents and me as well,” Mackensie Priley said. “I’m grateful to be working for a college that does such impactful work.”

Plant it and they will come

Reitzes and Tuil also got some help from a Boy Scout troop from Davis that volunteered to build three redwood planter boxes and a three-compartment composting area. The boys also helped pull weeds.

Earlier this year, the SEED Scholars planted vegetables, herbs and flowers in the garden. All the scholars are required to visit the garden each week as part of their academic schedule. Reitzes teaches them how to take care of the garden, including the ecology of various plants, soil health and composting. They even get to harvest, taste and cook with the crops.

“A lot of students have been telling me that the garden is their favorite part of the week, that they're so happy and they love being out there,” Reitzes said. “We're just having so much fun.”

Work is still underway, and more support is needed to get all the elements of the accessibility hub complete. Tuil said thanks to funding from Healthy UC Davis and The Green Initiative Fund, they were able to install a drinking fountain and are formulating plans to install another one soon. Students are also building benches that will be placed along the paths.

For Reitzes, planting the idea of an accessible garden has blossomed beyond her expectations, and she’s excited about the learning and connections this space will offer students, scholars and the community.

“Every day, I walk in there and I see our tall plants and the flowers blooming, and I'm just blown away because first it was nothing, and now it's really something, and it's so cool to see,” she said.