Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) was established in 1985 to support Denver residents in creating sustainable, food-producing neighborhood community gardens. In the past 35+ years, our network of community gardens has grown across six metro Denver counties, and our reach has extended to offering youth education and community training programs, as well as providing access to seeds, seedlings, and resources to build community resilience by growing local, fresh, organic food.
We currently operate more than 180 community gardens throughout Metro Denver, including more than 70 school-based community gardens. In addition to building and supporting community gardens, we operate DeLaney Community Farm, the Master Composter Training Program, the Master Community Gardener Training Program, Grow a Garden, and provide extensive opportunities for youth education in nutrition and gardening.
How We Support Our Gardens
- Provide approved access to the land where communities can come together to grow food
- Establish and maintain working relations with garden property owner agencies
- Negotiate and maintain garden site use agreements
- Recruit & support garden leadership
- Support gardener recruitment and placement
- Mediate inter-community gardener conflicts when necessary
- Respond to inquiries from the general public
- Provide liability insurance coverage for gardens
- Serve as liaison between gardens and city officials, agencies and water providers
- Provide fiscal management of garden accounts (when requested)
- Provide garden maintenance support (eg, turning water off/on seasonally, helping with repairs, etc.)
- Coordinate volunteer groups and supervise large maintenance and improvement projects
- Provide school gardens with volunteer background checks, approved protocols and programming support
Meet our Team
Learn more about the dedicated staff and board members of DUG.
Volunteer with us
Learn more about how to get involved with our garden workdays and other special projects.
