Press & Media
Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) provides access, skills, and resources for people to grow healthy food in community and regenerate urban spaces on the Colorado Front Range and Metro Denver.
Founded in 1985, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) supports a network of community gardens and food forests across Colorado. Through garden leadership training, youth education, food access initiatives, and climate-resilient growing programs, DUG works to ensure everyone has the opportunity to grow healthy food in community. DUG partners with neighborhoods, schools, and local leaders to cultivate food security and urban ecological regeneration.
FEATURED COVERAGE
The Packer
People and Plots: How Denver Urban Gardens Cultivates Community and Resilience
With a network of over 200 gardens and food forests across seven counties, Denver Urban Gardens is cultivating more than food — it’s growing community leadership, health equity and environmental resilience.
5280
The Health Benefits of Community Gardening
Breakthrough science from the University of Colorado Boulder reveals how gardening can boost your wellbeing.
CPR News
New seeds program creates chance to grow vegetables and build community through urban gardens
DUG’s Culturally Inclusive Seeds program is a response to the need for cultural recognition and giving gardeners access to seeds from their native homes.
ALL MEDIA COVERAGE
By Topic
Community Education
- Martha Stewart – Marigolds Are the Ideal Companion Plant for These 24 Fruits and Vegetables
- KDVR – Garden guide: Earliest and latest dates to plant flowers, fruits and vegetables in Colorado
- 9News – Water-Wise Gardening at Denver Urban Gardens
- Colorado and Company KUSA-TV – Start a Garden! Learn How with DUG
- FOX31 News – Garden guide: Earliest and latest dates to plant flowers, fruits and vegetables in Colorado
Community Gardens
- 303 Magazine – Denver Urban Gardens Hits Major Milestone with its 200th Community Garden
- 9News – Partnership creates a new milestone in north Denver
- Denverite – There used to be a rat infestation and lots of fear about crime. Now there’s a community garden
- LoDo Neighborhood Association – Union Station Neighborhood Steps in to Create Activated Public Space, Community Gardens
Food Access
- CPR News – New seeds program creates chance to grow vegetables and build community through urban gardens
- Westword – Plant Now, Eat Later: The DIY Food Revolution Starts Today
- Rocky Mountain PBS – In Westwood’s food deserts, families prepare gardens for growing season
- 9News – Denver community garden helps address food insecurity
Food Forests
- 9News – Denver Urban Gardens creates food forests for people to plant, eat, donate and share
- Planetizen – Denver, Colorado Bursts with Dozens of ‘Food Forests’
- Civil Eats – Denver’s Food Forests Provide Free Fruit While Greening the Environment
- Denverite – How many tons of apples could you pick in Denver’s backyards?
- Yale Climate Connections – Denver nonprofit transforms city lots into lush food forests
- The Colorado Sun – What’s a food forest? Metro Denver already has 19 of them.
- Westword – Denver Urban Gardens Continues to Grow Its Impact With Food Forests
GENERAL / ABOUT DUG
- The Denver VOICE – For 40 years, DUG has helped communities grow and share food
- The Packer – People and Plots: How Denver Urban Gardens Cultivates Community and Resilience
- The Colorado Sun – New urban gardens are coming to West Denver neighborhoods thanks to $500,000 EPA grant
- CPR News – New federal grants will help Colorado groups address environmental injustices across the state
HEALTH BENEFITS OF GARDENING
- reasons to be cheerful – The Benefits of Gardening Just Keep Sprouting
- WZZM-TV / 13 On Your Side – Harvesting an apple a day can keep the psychiatrist away, find out how
- Greenhouse GROWER – New Research Shows Gardening Can Improve Mental Health
- Denver7 – Therapeutic garden coming to Firefly Autism
- 5280 – The Health Benefits of Community Gardening
- Patch – Denver Urban Gardens Promotes Sustainable Gardening with Residents at Independence Residential Community
- The Packer – Fresh Produce Friday: Growing Community One Garden at a Time
- CPR News – Community gardening can also grow a bounty of physical and mental health benefits, a CU study finds
KEY FACTS
- 186 community gardens and 27 food forests in 7 counties across Metro Denver
- 34 acres under stewardship
- 4,500+ garden plots activated, which provide fresh & healthy food to 17,000+ Denverites
- 62,500+ pounds of food donated annually
- 627,000+ pounds of food grown annually
- 40,000+ people engaged in our programs
- Almost 4,000 volunteers active who give 5,000+ hours annually
- 10,500+ seed packets donated to the community annually
- Subsidize 66% of community education workshops
- 200+ classes taught in Denver schools
STORY ANGLES WE CAN SUPPORT
- Urban agriculture & food access
- Climate-resilient gardening
- Community-led land stewardship
- Youth garden education
- Volunteerism & civic engagement
