If you desire to grow fruit, vegetables, or flowers, but don’t know how to get started or don’t have space, why not join a Community Garden near you? Nearly every city and town have at least one, sometimes popping up guerilla-style on vacant lots in South Los Angeles (see Ron Finley’s TED talk about this below), well-planned spaces in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, and wide-open spaces in the Midwest.
Community Gardens are a great way to get started if you’re a little intimidated about learning how to garden. With a community garden, you’ll be responsible for a small plot. Still, more importantly, you’ll be able to swap information with and learn from fellow gardeners (and oh, how we gardeners love to share what we do). Some communities also offer classes and camps. All you really need is the desire to grow your own food, a little spare time, and no fear of getting your hands dirty. The satisfaction of eating the food you personally grow or the joy of seeing cut flowers you nurtured from seed can’t be described, only experienced.
Community gardens provide fresh food in urban neighborhoods
In the middle of many big cities, it’s difficult to find a grocery store that sells fresh fruit and vegetables. This adds to the obesity crisis and many other health problems. When no stores that sell fresh produce are within walking distance or a short mass transit ride, the closest option wins. Unfortunately, that usually means a steady diet of fast food and highly processed, packaged foods, which is good for no one.
In many cases, community gardens provide the only fresh food in these food deserts. But community gardens also create an appreciation for the outdoors and connects kids to the source of their food. Growing food encourages a healthy lifestyle and good eating habits – as Ron Finley says, “If kids grow kale, they eat kale. If kids grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes.”
Community gardens build skills in youth and adults
Community gardens are also an excellent place to pass gardening skills from one generation to the next, provide direction for at-risk youth, and strengthen ties within the community. And if we really pay attention, gardening teaches us about botany, biology, soil science, horticulture, water conservation, and patience.
Studies also show that gardening has a positive impact on your health. Toiling in the garden improves mood, reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, reduces BMI (Body Mass Index – a measure of body weight based on height and weight), and more. It’s also been shown to increase the quality of life, increase physical activity, and to increase cognitive function in the elderly.
Buy on Amazon: Fiskars Garden Tool Set, 3 Pieces, Trowel, Transplanter and Cultivator Black/OrangeHow to find a community garden
There is most likely a community garden near you, whether you live in a rural, suburban or urban area. You’ll find them in the backyards of churches, adjacent to community centers, on college campuses, schools, local farms, on green space set aside by your city, and many other areas. Some – and these are my favorite – are created with children in mind, like those designed by Penn State Master Gardeners.
To find a community garden near you
- Visit the national website of community garden.org.
- Google “community gardens near me” to find local organizations that provide garden space.