Please book your tickets in advance. The Ballroom will be closed for renovations through September 2024. Stay tuned as viewing stations may be opened on a day-to-day basis.
The Vegetable Garden
Food is universal and has been used across cultures and time to bring people together. Filoli’s renovated Vegetable Garden is now a place to gather with friends, learn about Bay Area food cultures, and hear from Filoli horticulturalists on how to care for your own garden.
New Features Include:
- Renovated and ADA accessible berry cage
- Tips in the demonstration garden
- Partner plots celebrating the Bay Area's immigrant communities
- New plant beds, including raised plant beds for greater accessibility
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Shaded seating area with an outdoor classroom and demonstration space
A Self-Sustaining Estate
Filoli was originally envisioned as a self-sustaining estate and has a long history of food production. The Vegetable Garden was where produce was grown for the Bourn and Roth families. In August of 2022 it will open to the public for the first time.
Modern Use
Watch this section of the Garden grow into abundance through fall, demonstrating beautiful design in an edible landscape. Visit often to see how the trees and new garden beds fill with vegetables, herbs, and fruits. The season’s harvest is used in products for the Clock Tower Shop, shared in public programs, and is donated to local food banks.
Partnership
Filoli has partnered with The Garden Route Company to create a conceptual and schematic plan. Garden Route provided basic site analysis and structural and functional design of path flow and irrigation. The work of their principal is a pro bono partnership.
Summer Garden
Fall-planted vegetables like cabbage, kale, lettuce and other winter/spring greens will reach their peak. Perennial herbs like oregano, thyme, and rosemary will flush out beautiful new growth. Lavender will bloom in late spring to provide a pop of purple, and pollen for pollinators. Expect lots of turnover in the Vegetable Garde when classic summer vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, pole beans, and basil are planted
Plant Seeds for the Future
Youth Programs
Filoli works with staff from Chinatown Community Children's Center and Peninsula Family Service to develop programming for each unique group of preschoolers. The children pick fruit and vegetables from Filoli's Garden and then eat a colorful salad, visit the beehives and taste honey, and sort and smell flowers and petals and learn about the pollinators that visit them.
People's Garden Initiative
We are proud to share that Filoli is officially recognized as a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) People's Garden! People’s Gardens across the country grow fresh, healthy food and support resilient, local food systems; teach people how to garden using conservation practices; nurture habitat for pollinators and wildlife and create greenspace for neighbors.