community garden Archives

Denver Urban Gardens Hits Major Milestone with its 200th Community Garden

The largest independent community garden organization in the country just reached a significant milestone this year. On October 13th, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) transformed an orphaned plot of city-owned land that sat vacant for more than 60 years into The 48th & Julian DUG Community Garden— making it the network’s 200th community garden across seven counties in the Denver Metro area. This is a monumental achievement not only in Colorado but in the U.S.

For 45 years, DUG has worked towards its mission: build a garden in every neighborhood, create community and cultivate food and climate resilience. “When people hear about community gardens, they think “that’s sweet” or that it’s a hobby. What they don’t realize is that they are extraordinary constructs for a city,” said DUG CEO Linda Appel Lipsius. “It’s a way for people, especially city dwellers, to grow organic,

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Atwood Community Garden provides fresh produce, resources to Madison

As the demand for urban garden space in Madison rises, the waitlist for renting a plot at the Atwood Community Gardens becomes longer. The supply for garden spaces is small, resulting in a three-year wait and limited accessibility for Madison-area residents.

The garden inhabits space along a bike path that runs from Waubesa Street to Jackson Street, parallel to St. Paul Avenue. The city of Madison leases the land to the Goodman Community Center, and the garden contains 115 rentable plots of land.

Dewayne Powell, Goodman Community Center vice president of financial and business services, told The Daily Cardinal Goodman’s initial reason for creating the Atwood Community Garden was to provide opportunities for urban gardening on Madison’s east side.

“The waitlist for Atwood Community Garden is so long because the supply for urban garden space is so small in Madison and the demand is so high,” Powell said. “Another factor

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Bishopville thief steals materials for community garden

Partners involved in making a community garden are now asking for community donations and support after a thief stole their materials.

BISHOPVILLE, S.C. — The City of Bishopville is recouping after a thief stole $2000 worth of materials from a community garden before it was able to start growing.

On Saturday, Luke Giddings, the Mayor of Bishopville took to Facebook to say, “A big thanks to all those who showed up and wanted to help. Unfortunately, someone decided to cut through the locked fence and steal the metal-raised garden beds, sprinklers, and other supplies that Clemson Extension provided for the community garden. We will revisit this project once we check the cameras and allow the police to complete their investigation. This is disappointing and sad that anyone would steal from a cause such as this. However, if, and when the person behind this is discovered you have my word

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Community garden provides fresh produce for local families

CALDWELL, Idaho — A group of volunteers have been coming together for five years to tend to a garden for the community.

What was once an empty plot at the Canyon Hill Church of the Nazarene in Caldwell is now a place where residents can enjoy a supply of fresh produce.

“Every week I drop off a bunch of stuff, and ever since school started it’s gone by the time everyone is done picking up their kids, and everyone has gone home,” says parent volunteer Heather Terry.

The garden partners with Sacajawea Elementary School to give freshly picked produce to students and their parents.

Heather Terry is a parent who volunteers every week. Her kids attend Sacajawea, and it was after her son told her about the community garden that she figured she could help out and give back to her community.

Just five years ago, two churches in the

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Treasured community garden in Highland Park could be uprooted in land dispute

A community garden on Avalon Street in Highland Park sits next to a boarded-up house. Partially tucked under a canopy of trees, the garden supplies fresh produce for neighbors nearby and regulars from Detroit to Madison Heights.

Large planters hold cherry tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, string beans, cabbage and kale. During the summer, the space is a classroom where children learn how to start a garden, and identify and grow plants.

The garden, run by the nonprofit Avalon Village, has been around since the spring of 2022. Before that, the lot was overgrown with bushes and weeds, said Sandra Sanders, an Avalon Village volunteer who started the garden and maintains it today.

“It’s for everybody,” Sanders said. “It started out for the community.”

Volunteer Sandra "Garden Diva" Sanders, 66, of Detroit, center, hands a bell pepper to Theora, 5, while picking vegetables from the community garden at Avalon Village in Highland Park, Mich. Grace Juarez, 71, of Madison Heights, left, and Andaiye, 6, of Detroit, right, look on, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. A community garden run by Avalon Village in an empty lot is at risk. Premier Michigan Properties LLC with a mailing address of La Jolla, California, owns the vacant home next to the garden and wants to buy the lot. So does Avalon Village. Now, neighbors are fiercely pushing back against the company. — Volunteer Sandra “Garden Diva” Sanders, 66, of Detroit, center, hands a bell pepper to Theora, 5, while picking vegetables from the community garden at Avalon

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Want a garden in your neighborhood? Columbia’s Community Garden Coalition has the resources

Kathy Doisy, board president of the Community Garden Coalition, speaks in October about the resources the coalition can provide to people seeking to start a neighborhood garden from the one at Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services. The coalition is among the more than 150 nonprofits partcipating in the 2022 CoMoGives campaign.

The Victory Garden — a concept during both world wars — meant people would grow their own fruits and vegetables on community plots.

That same idea gave the start to the Community Garden Coalition in Columbia in 1983. This nonprofit provides equipment and support to those who want to establish community or neighborhood gardens throughout Columbia.

It also is one of the more than 150 community nonprofits seeking community support through the annual CoMoGives Campaign, starting on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 29.

The Community Garden Coalition is one of the myriad nonprofits with a smaller request in

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Round Rock residents learn how to grow, donate food at Unity Park Community Garden

Cara Wellner started growing seasonal vegetables in Unity Park Community Garden nearly three years ago to teach her children healthy eating habits.

“I figure if they’re growing the food, they will be more apt to want to eat it,” Wellner said. “That has definitely been the case.”

In addition to learning about gardening and farming, Wellner said the garden presents an opportunity for her children, who are homeschooled, to get outside and give back to the community.

Besides providing rentable garden plots for those without the space at home, the community garden supplies fruits and vegetables to the Hope Alliance and Round Rock Area Serving Center.

Holli Haswell, board president of both Unity Park Community Garden and Neighborhood Harvest Project in Round Rock, said the garden was founded in 2009 by Jeff Ferris of the radio talk show “Gardening Naturally,” although he is no longer affiliated with the project. Before

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NAYA Family Center has a vision of abundance for Native community garden in Portland

When harvesting sweetgrass, you thank the plant by offering tobacco, or even a bit of your hair. You cut it at the base, just below where the stalks turn purple. You only take what you need, and leave the rest for others. This is how you honor and respect the plant, ensuring its sustainability for years to come.

That is what Mick Rose, community garden volunteer at the Native American Youth and Family Center, tells the Native community members at NAYA’s recent U-Pick event.

“This whole thing,” says Rose, as they gesture to the garden, “is about learning and sharing with each other.”

Every Monday and Saturday in September, Native people and the public were invited to pick their own fresh greens, herbs and veggies. NAYA’s “market garden” provided everything from kale, lettuce, arugula and collard greens to basil, dill and parsley, as well as zucchini, cucumbers, tomatillos, beans,

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Drax donates supplies to help the Ester Gallow Community Garden in Monroe | KTVE

MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Drax announced on Monday, September 12, 2022, that they donated wheelbarrows, garden composters, and a variety of gardening tools to help a community to bloom through a new community garden project in Monroe, La.

The Ester Gallow Community Garden is a public garden that will be a collaborative space for seniors at Booker T. Senior Village and children at Roy Neal Shelling Elementary School. The garden will offer volunteers an opportunity to plant their own seasonal vegetables as well as provide an inclusive place to socialize and connect with others.

The land for the community garden was donated by Monroe resident Christopher Davis, whose late mother, Ester Gallow, was passionate about helping the community and was influential in establishing the Booker T. Senior Village located next to the garden.

We partnered with colleges, the city, and local organizations to try and put together a

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Sudbury news: City welcomes accessible community garden

A fully accessible community garden is now open at Ryan Heights Playground in Sudbury.

Those involved in the project say they have removed a number of barriers to accessibility to ensure anyone with a green thumb can join.

“This was a huge need in the community,” said Kryslyn Mohan, youth program co-lead with Sudbury Shared Harvest.

“After multiple years of vandalism, this space was not only uninviting, it was inaccessible, it was unsafe.”

Mohan said they have installed accessible pathways that have the right width and appropriate turning space.

“We also have raised beds for a diverse number of needs for community residents, such as those who use wheelchairs, those who prefer to garden from a standing position and those with small kids who need beds that are closer to the ground,” she said.

Mohan said there are between 30 and 40 community

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