Sherril Nell Wells, a volunteer UC Master Gardener since 2019, has embraced the program’s aim to fight local food insecurity.
She personally grows an abundance of food and donates it to local charities, advocates for the national "Plant a Row for the Hungry” program – which encourages home gardeners to grow extra produce and donate it to food banks – and she teaches families how to supplement their diets with fresh, home-grown food.
“I’ve been lucky in life,” says the retired Fresno County Superior Court research attorney. “I want to give back.”
Wells grew up in Dodge City, Kansas. With a combination of intelligence, hard work and good fortune, she earned a history degree from UC Santa Cruz, did graduate work in Chinese literature at UCLA and completed a law degree at UC Davis. In her 40s, she married the love of her life, career Navy veteran Rodney Wells. The couple moved from Los Angeles to Fresno for the position Sherril took with Fresno County Superior Court.
While Sherril practiced law, Rodney managed a four-acre organic farm, which became known as “Rancho de Rodney.” The rewarding project proved to be economically unsuccessful, so the couple sold the farm and bought a home on Fresno’s historic Huntington Boulevard. While their neighbors mostly have vast lawns and lovely flowers, Rodney built 54 raised vegetable beds in their front and back yards to grow food to give away. Sherril and Rodney joined the African American Farmers of California, a Fresno-based non-profit organization that provides support and resources for Black farmers. At the AAFC county-owned demonstration farm near Kearney Park, Rodney tended 30 rows of vegetables, gave most of his crops away and enjoyed working the earth.
Tragically, a 2020 heart attack took Rodney’s life. Sherril was devastated by her loss and uncertain about her future, but she knew she didn’t want to see the food he was growing go to waste. She took it upon herself to irrigate, weed, harvest and distribute the bounty to be sure it was used to feed those in need.
“This was very healing for me,” she said.
Sherril established a non-profit organization, calling it Rancho de Rodney, and began donating her own money to maintaining her husband’s generous legacy. Since then, fresh food donations have flowed from Rancho de Rodney to St. Benedict Catholic Worker, Fresno International Refugee Ministry, Catholic Charities of Fresno, the Unitarian Universalist Church, Heart of Miracles Church, Lemoore Naval Air Station, and to student pantries at Clovis, Fresno, and Reedley city colleges. To date, Rancho de Rodney has donated more than 14,000 pounds of produce to local families.
Plant a Row for the Hungry
Plant a Row for the Hungry, launched in 1995, has been encouraging home and community gardeners to grow more fruit and vegetables than they plan to use themselves and donate the excess to help feed neighbors in need. Millions of pounds of fresh produce have been donated through the campaign. Because of her extensive experience and connections in boosting Fresno area food security, Sherril is helping fellow Master Gardener volunteers and the public to grow, gather and distribute donated food to local families.
To facilitate Plant a Row for the Hungry in Fresno, Sherril:
- Offers space in her personal cold storage unit to keep donations fresh while food transfers can be coordinated.
- Works with Master Gardeners who don’t have extra garden space at home to cultivate food for those in need by joining the effort in the Rancho de Rodney non-profit section of the African American Farmers demonstration garden.
- Teaches Master Gardeners and Fresno County residents how they can be part of the food security solution by collecting unused fresh fruit in their neighborhoods – such as from unharvested citrus trees – or creating community or school gardens that can take part in Plant a Row.
Empowering families by teaching gardening
UC Cooperative Extension offers a federally funded nutrition education program to recipients of CalFresh (the state’s version of what was formerly known as Food Stamps). CalFresh helps families make the most of their benefits by shopping smart and cooking healthy, economical meals. UC CalFresh partners with the UC Master Gardener and UC Master Food Preserver programs to teach sustainable gardening and safe food preservation. Sherril is a certified volunteer for both programs.
As such, she teaches families how to grow food in whatever space they have available – flower beds, former lawns, large pots and community gardens. And since vegetable gardeners often produce more food during peak growing seasons than they can eat, she trains participants in canning, dehydrating, fermenting and pickling food. The process benefits families with better nutrition, knowledge about food systems and food budget savings.
“We encourage them: grow stuff in your yard. You’re going to get better food and the price is right,” Sherril said.
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To get involved or for more information, contact Sherril Nell Wells at sherril.nell.wells@gmail.com.
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Written by UC Master Gardener Jeannette Warnert