By Judy Elliott, Education and Community Empowerment Coordinator
For over 15 years, Denver Urban Gardens has partnered with Denver Recycles to offer the Master Composter Training and Outreach Program. This annual train–the–trainer program provides over 40 hours of education in composting biology and micro-biology, vermicomposting with red wiggler worms, an understanding of integrated solid waste management, and most of all, an opportunity to directly educate people about the magic environment of the compost pile.
The course, which accepts 30 volunteers each year, has a large emphasis on demystifying the science behind the process, and involving participants in creating the healthiest soil amendment, compost. Our volunteers utilize seasonally available materials, such as: thatch (un-decomposed stems of grass plants in the spring), landscape prunings, the unmentionable contents of refrigerator produce bins, the two foot long zucchini that is not even appropriate for zucchini bread, and learn to create material that smells like the soft, moist environment of a rain forest.
We creatively reduce our carbon footprint by keeping those bags of leaves out of the landfill and use them as part of the structural component of compost piles. Master composters create strong bonds with their animals, carefully brushing them, gathering the fur, knowing that it is savored as a nitrogen-rich ingredient of the pile. They savor their environmentally conscious attitudes of eliminating pesticides and chemical fertilizers, knowing that compost stimulates the growth of beneficial soil microorganisms, opens up air channels for deeper rooting patterns and is a source of both major and minor plant nutrients. They learn to appreciate receiving their water bills, well aware that compost enriched soils have the ability to decrease their water usage by 20%.
Our volunteers, although required to ‘give back’ 40 hours teaching composting, often stay with DUG for long periods of time. They are active year-round, volunteering at Earth Day events, our many community gardens, six farmers’ markets, street fairs, with other urban agriculture programs at Harvest Mountain Farm and the Sustainability Park. They reach out to the public from May through mid-October, teaching at our Gove Composting Site and become our ambassadors for modeling sustainable gardening practices. They reclaim their ‘inner child’, working with children at elementary schools, teaching the wonders of creepy crawly worms, using fall leaves and torn strips of newspaper, making ‘yucky worm sandwiches’ with the youth, introducing them to the basic processes that teach ways of living lightly on the earth and giving back more than you receive.
Most of all, master composter volunteers develop a strong network of friends, reinforced by monthly potlucks, united by a desire to plant new seeds of environmental respect.
Composting is truly more than a recipe. It is the very foundation of organic gardening, requiring nurturing, non-judgmental attitudes and an ability to think outside the box. DUG is looking for 30 exceptional people to be ‘with’ us on this journey in 2013. We will have an updated program schedule on our website by the end of the third week in October. If, after viewing this information, you are inspired to schedule a program interview, please contact Judy Elliott, Education and Community Empowerment Coordinator and lead trainer for the program at: judy@dug.org, 303.292.9900. She’ll promptly be in touch (after she finishes turning the compost pile).
Fairmont Elementary Youth Farmers’ Market, Photo by Heidi ObermanYouth Farmers’ Markets have started, so come out and support youth gardening programs and buy some fresh, local produce!
A youth farmers’ market (YFM) is an educational opportunity where elementary students are given a real world venue to share their knowledge of science, gardening and healthy eating, as well as a chance to show-off their math skills. It is appropriately titled a youth farmers’ market because many of the youth working at the market have grown the produce in the garden at the school. This garden produce is supplemented with locally grown produce that can be difficult to grow in a small garden plot, such as Western Slope peaches and sweet corn. Most markets are held in the fall and after school to take advantage of the productive gardens and a natural customer base of parents and teachers. Community members and passersby are also encouraged to shop at the markets. All of the market proceeds go directly back into the gardens.
Youth farmers’ markets are coordinated by the Denver Youth Farmers’ Market Coalition, which is a partnership between Denver Urban Gardens and Slow Food Denver. Through the youth farmers’ market program, youth have the potential to learn how to grow their own food, increase their intake of fresh healthy produce, and germinate an interest in sharing what they are learning with the broader community. A YFM focuses on promoting healthy eating habits, reinforcing traditional academics, such as math and science, and building life skills such as customer service, conflict resolution and entrepreneurship. Often a local chef will use the fresh produce to demonstrate the preparation of a healthy meal.
Fairview Youth Farmers’ MarketFairview Elementary, in the Sun Valley neighborhood, has been holding a YFM for almost a decade. This program empowers youth in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Denver by giving them the opportunity to feed their community. “The way I know that we are helping people is by helping them eat healthy food,” states Lucienne Ndautau, a fifth grader participating in the Fairview Elementary market this summer.
This year, DUG is fortunate to partner with Wholesome Wave to offer the Double Value Coupon Program at a few of the youth farmers’ markets. The Double Value Coupon Program (DVCP) doubles the value of SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) spent on locally grown foods. For every dollar of federal benefits that a shopper spends at the market, DVCP provides a matching dollar. The implementation of DVCP has the potential to increase consumption of healthy produce by participating community members and support the viability of small and midsize farms by creating new revenue streams. DVCP generates economic stimulus in communities by keeping federal nutrition benefit funds within local and regional communities.
This will be the eighth year the Coalition has been running YFMs, and this year it looks like we will have over 30 schools and afterschool programs holding markets. A few markets have already started, but the majority will be held in September and October. For a full list of markets, locations and times, click here.
As a resource to other communities and new schools wishing to start a youth farmers’ market program, the Denver Youth Farmers’ Market Coalition has created a best practices handbook. Check out the digital version here, or contact us for a hard copy!
Don’t miss this annual community event at Rosedale Community Garden located on Logan just south of Iliff, across the street from Harvard Gulch Park. Rosedale is one of the largest and oldest community gardens in Denver, and it will be open to the public for a community sale on Saturday, August 18th from 8:30am until 2:00pm. Organic vegetables, flowers and herbs grown at Rosedale will be sold as well as baked goods, jams/jellies made from the Rosedale orchard, fresh made salsa, fresh cut flowers and yard sale deals. This year we are introducing a kid’s booth with some fun kids crafts, snacks and a tour of the garden. For more information, contact activities@rosedalegarden.org.
Join Sandor Katz for learning, touring and delicious food! Five Points Fermentation is presenting an evening with Sandor Katz, fermentation genius, with all proceeds benefitting Denver Urban Gardens. This event will take place on August 15th, 2012 and will begin and end at the Queen Ann Bed & Breakfast, located at 2147 Tremont Place. The evening will kick off at 5:00pm, starting with a lecture by Katz, and will then continue with a tour of MoonDog Farms, managed by Produce Denver, which supports Five Points Fermentation and Mercury Cafe. To conclude this fantastic event, there will be a fermented feast at the Queen Ann Bed & Breakfast, and will be presented by Five Points Fermentation and Beet Box Bakery. Admission to the event is a sliding scale suggested donation of $15-$25 dollars and you can reserve your space by emailing fivepointsfermentation@gmail.com. You can also learn more about the event and its participants here. Come learn, eat and enjoy the company of others interested in urban agriculture and food preservation!
Now that summer is here, GOOD is interested to learn how others are using their time in the great outdoors to create social change. In order to help you ‘do GOOD’ while enjoying some fresh air, GOOD Maker is giving away $5,000 to help a project along.
This is a wonderful opportunity for DUG gardeners to procure funding for your garden projects! If you are interested in applying, go to the “Do GOOD Outdoors” challenge here. It takes only 10 minutes to complete your submission. The deadline is July 19, but the earlier you submit, the more time you have to rally your supporters. If you would like to learn more about other current grant opportunities, you can contact us here.
Applying Lessons Learned from the Master Community Gardener Program
By Shannon Spurlock, DUG Community Initiatives Coordinator
Denver Urban Gardens just completed the fourth year of the Master Community Gardener Program, an eleven-week program designed to further engage people in building community through supporting community gardens. Program participants, in exchange for partaking in the program, commit to a minimum of 30 volunteer/GiveBack hours. Each year, participants, through the varied ways in which they earn GiveBack hours, enrich and strengthen neighborhoods throughout the Metro Denver area.
Therese Revitte and Sandy Peletier, two Master Community Gardeners from the 2010 Program, reflect on the multitude of ways in which the knowledge and experiences gained from the Master Community Gardener Program affected, and positively changed, the places in which they focused and earned their GiveBack hours. Denver Urban Gardens greatly looks forward to the many ways in which the 2012 Master Community Gardeners will affect the places in which they apply their knowledge and community building skills.
How Do We Grow Community in the Community Garden? Try Work Days (Really!)
By Sandy Peletier, DUG Master Community Gardener, and long-time gardener at DUG’s West Washington Park Community Garden
We enter the community garden for many reasons. High on the list is undoubtedly a vision of fresh green beans and award-winning tomatoes. In our eagerness to get digging and planting in our assigned plot we may overlook the fact that we have also signed on to a “community” garden. Growing community can be as elusive as growing the perfect tomato. So how do we grow “community”?
From my DUG Master Community Garden program, I learned valuable principles and guidelines to organize and grow communities. At the core is valuing the individual and recognizing that each gardener has something to contribute. The key is building on those strengths and assets. As a co-leader of West Wash Park Community Garden’s maintenance committee, I believe community work days are a great way to foster community spirit and cohesion when they focus on the individuals as much as the tasks. Work days create a communal opportunity to work side by side and get to know each other, which transforms us from being gardeners in a community to becoming a community of gardeners.
Here are some thoughts and ideas to bring people together at your next work day or on a special project.
Gardeners working on a new compost system for the West Washington Park Community GardenStart with an organized work plan with clear priorities. Give people as much choice in work tasks as possible and latitude to do it their way. When given options and flexibility people will surprise and delight you with their skills, creativity, and diligence. We can count on one of our gardeners with a yearn to put his portable power washer to use to show up when a work day includes hosing down a dumpster pad, outdoor furniture, or patio pavers. What a great resource!
Pair/team up people on tasks. Even if there’s more chit chatting than weed pulling, that’s OK. It fosters camaraderie.
Encourage ownership of the commons by establishing an “Adopt-a-Patch” system. Assign interested individuals sections of the common garden areas to tend for the duration of the garden season, like a communal herb garden or those often neglected hell strips along fences and sidewalks. This fosters personal investment in, attention to, and stewardship of the greater community. Admittedly, establishing and managing such a system requires greater coordination to be successful but ultimately it’s satisfying to gardeners who like having sole responsibility for a specific area, and they appreciate having the flexibility to do the work when and how they want.
Turn a work day into a “work out.” We found no lack of volunteers for the hardier composting chores when some of our more “he-man” folks figured out what a great physical work out turning compost or chopping veggie waste is. An “al fresco” gym workout is better than lifting weights inside a fluorescent lit building any day.
Host a painting party. We turned a daunting to-do list of repair and painting projects into a done list by inviting those with interests and skills to help. One person with an electric sander and saw horses single-handedly prepped all five of our picnic tables and benches, and another gardener arrived equipped with an impressive array of carpentry tools and the know-how to use them. When word of the special projects got around, people joined in the fun of the progressive painting parties to paint the tables, benches and garden gate. The participants seemed to enjoy the camaraderie and sense of accomplishment as well as being able to fit work hours into their schedules. In no time WWPCG was freshened up for the new garden season.
Although having opportunities for work sessions outside scheduled community work days is a great way to optimize overall participation and individual contribution, formal community work days remain an essential fulcrum in creating a strong culture of community.
After a work session don’t forget to reinforce the effort and results with a thank you posting on the bulletin board. We all need an attaboy. And consider the honor system to log work hours. Trusting the individual builds trust in the system.
Even if all the weeds don’t get picked or the painting isn’t professional quality or the garden waste isn’t chopped into precisely two-inch pieces, that’s OK too. You’re growing community. And there’s always another work day.
A Community Garden in the ‘Burbs
By Therese Revitte, DUG Master Community Gardener
It seemed like such a simple and inspired idea . . . an unused and unkempt corner of our subdivision with plenty of full sun, a neighborhood in need of a central amenity to draw people together, a political and environmental climate ripe for local growing. And don’t be fooled – there are generations of people in the burbs who don’t know that vegetables don’t come from the grocery store. The benefits of building a community garden in our neighborhood seemed endless. As with all community gardens, the vision was to beautify an area, educate folks, and grow community.
Happy gardeners, after a hard day’s workThe Arapahoe Estates Community Garden and Garden Club started with a proposal to the HOA Board in 2008. In a covenant-controlled community, you have to consult with the decision-makers at each step. I was given permission to determine neighborhood interest in a community garden– all 164 households. In fact, there were several interested households and many supportive comments. I was feelin’ the love! I started investigating funding options. Since we weren’t a charitable nonprofit, we were not eligible for grants and most donations. Funding would have to come from the HOA.
That’s when concerns started being voiced. An HOA Board is tasked with spending the homeowners’ money wisely, and suddenly what seemed like a simple and inspired idea became much more complicated.
Was there enough money in reserves to build a functional garden that met aesthetic standards?
Wouldn’t that money be better spent upgrading other areas of the subdivision?
Will people get bored with the community garden in a few years and leave the garden unused?
How would the Board justify spending all that money when only garden members would benefit from the garden?
Neighbors spoke out both for and against the idea. The Board became divided. In the end, after a close Board vote, the garden was approved, established and built.
The cost to start a community garden is significant. There has to be good faith between the Board and the garden members. Our HOA Board showed good faith in funding the construction of the garden. To reciprocate, the garden members did a large amount of the design and construction themselves, saving on labor costs – hard team-building work. They consulted with Board members to meet aesthetic standards. They paid for walkways, garden tools and the shed out of their own pockets.
A key discussion related to an HOA building a community garden is whether the garden will be considered an amenity for the whole subdivision. Will its existence benefit all homeowners, justifying the cost of building it? Or will it just be a neighborhood club, benefiting only the households who are garden members? To support the idea that our garden is an amenity to the neighborhood, a policy was made to link plots with the garden members’ addresses, giving garden membership real estate value. If a garden member sells his or her house, the new owners have first right of keeping or refusing the plot. Instead of tennis courts or a swimming pool, realtors put “Community Garden” as an amenity on their listings. Neighborhoods with an amenity have higher home values than neighborhoods without.
The question of how to be inclusive of all neighbors is still evolving. To make sure the garden isn’t an exclusive club, Garden membership is open to all neighbors. To date, there is no waiting list for plots. All neighbors are invited to attend children’s garden activities, social activities and educational events, regardless of membership. Plans are being proposed to make the area surrounding the garden into a park destination for all neighbors to enjoy.
Ours is still a young, growing garden. My instincts told me that there would be a core group of people who would stick with it, while other households joined and un-joined. That has proven to be true so far, but we don’t take that core group for granted. We continue to strive to be dynamic, to improve growing conditions, making for a successful gardening experience. We offer a variety of garden experiences – personal plots, a children’s garden, a shared communal garden, on-going education. Each garden member brings his or her own talents to the garden, whether it be educating others, helping with construction, leading children’s garden activities, or taking food to the food bank.
I recently made a presentation to the HOA Board about the good things we’re doing in our garden. I asked neighbors, members and non-members alike, to write down their thoughts about how the garden has benefited our neighborhood. The top two responses, voiced in heart-felt eloquent ways: The garden brings together our community and beautifies our neighborhood. And after all, that’s where the simple and inspired vision started. We’re on our way.
To learn more about DUG’s Master Community Gardener Program, click here.
Click here to return to the Spring 2012 edition of The Underground News.
By Emily Frost, Events and Garden Leader Coordinator
Len Lingo was the first garden leader I ever met. It was October of 2010, and right off the bat, it was apparent that this man had a clear vision for the Taxi Community Garden. Len welcomed my colleague and me into the garden, a covert affair tucked behind the creative business community just off the Platte River, known as TAXI. He gave us the tour of the collection of raised beds, noting which plot belonged to whom and what was growing in it. He led us to the picnic table in the back of the garden and told us about the space he had come to care for so much already.
Newly planted raised bed at the Taxi Community GardenTaxi Community Garden opened in Spring 2009, with support from a variety of partners including DUG, Zeppelin Development, Blue and Yellow Logic, and Fuel Cafe. Len, along with his wife Kathy, runs an architect firm in one of the TAXI buildings. He was interested in the garden early on, and became involved in his current role of garden leader during the season of 2010.
During his time as garden leader, Len has gone above and beyond in serving DUG and his fellow gardeners. He compiled a history of the garden, composed weekly newsletters to keep gardeners apprised of any upcoming deadlines and events (it even included garden trivia!), and he coordinated a variety of work days and fundraisers, from “Cupcakes & Cocktails” (pictured) to a collaborative event involving multiple players from the larger TAXI community. This event, called “Take Root. Rise Up” was a fundraiser for three nonprofits located in the TAXI community, including The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking, SalusWorld, and the Taxi Community Garden. It was hosted at neighboring Fuel Cafe (which, by the way, grows a number of organic veggies in their garden plot for use in their seasonal-based menu) and raised money and awareness for three unique causes linked by a common theme of “community”. Len has also created a webpage for the Taxi Community Garden, which you can visit at: www.taxidug.com.
When I recently bumped into Len at another community fundraising event, where he was supporting his TAXI nonprofit neighbors, I expressed gratitude for all of the fabulous work he was doing as community garden leader. In response, Len smiled, humbly shrugged, and said “It’s really fun,” and gave props to his wonderful co-leader, Stephanie Krause. And that is truly apparent in what DUG has seen Len and the Taxi Community Garden accomplish in its early years. Thank you, Len, for your great attitude and ongoing support. You are a pleasure to work with.
To all of our wonderful volunteer community garden leaders: thank you for the good work that you do daily to keep your communities and your gardens growing. DUG owes many successes to you and your hard work, and we so value your partnership. Let DUG know how we can continue to support you! We can help with grant writing, event planning, garden education and more.
Click here to return to the Spring 2012 edition of The Underground News.
By Jessica Romer, DUG Community Initiatives Coordinator
Colorado has the fourth fastest growing population in the United States.1 At the same time, Coloradans use 208 gallons of water every day, while the average national per capita water use is 179 gallons per day.2 In Denver, landscape irrigation accounts for 55% of residential water use, and the EPA estimates that more than 50% of water used in outdoor landscapes is wasted due to poor irrigation practices.3,4 Because of the enormous potential for improvement, water conservation programs often target outdoor water use.
As of April 25th, 2012, Denver Water has declared a Stage 1 drought, which is a voluntary reduction in outdoor watering. With this news, Denver Urban Gardens encourages community gardeners to take water conservation into their own hands by watering smarter. The first step is becoming aware of how we use water and how water is used by the soil and plants. In the vegetable garden, we can follow a few simple guidelines and become experts at reading our plants and environmental indicators so that we use just the right amount of water, no more and no less.
Water when the plants and soil need it, not out of habit. With the exception of the beginning of the season when young plants and seeds are establishing themselves, vegetable gardens should only need to be watered 2-3 times per week. Even in the heat of summer, gardens do not need to be watered daily. Though it may not be intuitive, we are actually watering the soil, not our plants. Plants absorb water through their roots in the soil, and plant roots grow towards water in the soil. When a gardener provides smaller amounts of water on a frequent basis, the roots have no reason to expand into a strong, expansive system. This practice can be very detrimental to plant growth and is an ineffective use of water. The smarter technique is to water less frequently, but deeper. This practice, especially employed early in the growing season, encourages plants to grow deeper roots that will help them to maintain strength during the hotter, dryer periods later in the growing season.
In the heat of the day, plants may look droopy, and soil often looks dry from the surface. Before going straight to the hose, take a moment to dig into the soil to determine if the buried soil is as dry as the surface. If so, it’s time to water. Before doing so, use a hand tool to lightly break up the crusty surface of the soil between plants so that water can easily penetrate. This can be done on a weekly basis to encourage soil health throughout the season.
Get to know your soil. Water must first be able to enter the given soil, and then the soil must have the capacity to hold the water so that it is available for the plants. Clay soils are dense which makes it difficult for water to enter the soil. Once water does percolate into the soil, clay soils will hold water much better than sandy soils. Water percolates through sandy soil very quickly, but also dries out faster, so plants will require more frequent watering. You can easily determine what soil texture your garden has by doing a simple ribbon test. Whether you have clay or sandy soil, adding compost breaks up dense clay soils making it easier for water to penetrate and improves the water holding capacity of sandy soils. Soil enriched with compost can result in a 20% decrease in water usage. Add 1-2 inches of compost to the garden in the springtime.
Water by hand. The EPA estimates that gardeners who water by hand use 33% less water than those who use automated irrigation systems.5 Hand watering allows gardeners to respond to changing soil moisture conditions as watering occurs. For instance, when water begins to pool on the surface, stop watering. Wait for the pool to disappear and then try watering again. If the soil accepts the water, then continue watering until water has penetrated just beyond the root level. You may need to dig around with your hands initially to get a sense of how much water is needed for your soil. This practice uses water more efficiently by getting water into the target area, which reduces fugitive water and is more beneficial to plant health. Be sure to target water towards the soil at the base of the plants, being careful not to water the plant’s foliage.
Reduce water loss. Evaporation is water loss from the soil surface and transpiration is water loss from the plants’ foliage. To limit evapotranspiration (ET), plan your garden so that the leaves of mature plants are just barely touching. This limits the amount of exposed soil that is susceptible to evaporation. Mulch so that you have little to no soil exposed on the surface. Mulch reduces the amount of soil exposed and in turn reduces the amount of water needed, particularly in sandy soils. Newspapers, straw (my personal favorite), dry grass clippings that have not been treated with chemicals are all relatively inexpensive and free mulch options. As mulch decomposes, it increases the organic content of the soil, which provides a consistent source of nutrients throughout the season. ET is highest during the heat of the day. Watering before 10am or after 6pm allows plants to better access the water provided to them, opposed to the water evaporating before it gets down into the plants’ root zones. Water loss can also occur from loose hose connections. Make sure to tighten your hoses and use o-rings in the base of the hose so that water isn’t dripping unnecessarily. O-rings can fall out of hoses or dry up in our climate, but replacements can be purchased at any hardware store.
So this summer, push your plants to their limits. It will make them stronger in the long run. Water deeply, only 2-3 times each week. Challenge your fellow gardeners to model responsible gardening practices by collectively using as little water as possible. For example, set up a watering schedule for common areas in your community garden so that overwatering does not occur. Water conservation will help your garden have less weeds, lower water bills, and help to maintain a positive image of community gardens across the city. Every drop saved is one more drop saved for a time when we may need it even more than now.
By Lauren Christensen, DUG Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator
Denver Urban Gardens would not be able to achieve what it does without the help of dedicated volunteers. These volunteers help us find roots in communities, help move our mission forward and inspire us every day. One such volunteer is Rachel McNeill, who has taken on the mission of identifying outreach locations for our Youth Farmer’s Market and created a map based off of those locations for maximum impact. Rachel decided to become involved with Denver Urban Gardens because, as a resident of downtown Denver, she lacks access to a garden and loves that DUG brings gardens to communities, as well as wanting to be involved with an organization that brings her joy. What Rachel enjoys the most about being involved with DUG is getting to know the staff, as well as seeing the inner workings of the organization. Rachel says that seeing how hard everyone works makes her happy to contribute to the mission and inspires her to keep supporting Denver Urban Gardens. She loves the good energy at Denver Urban Gardens and Denver Urban Gardens thanks Rachel for all that she’s done!
Click here to learn more about volunteering with Denver Urban Gardens.
Click here to return to the Spring 2012 edition of The Underground News.
Every year, Denver Urban Gardens assists community members at every step in the process of creating their own community gardens, with land preservation, agency coordination, neighborhood organization and construction management. The majority of our community gardens are in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, and many gardens specifically serve the homeless; the physically, developmentally and emotionally challenged; and families and children in severe poverty. These days, we are working with communities to build 15-20 new community gardens each year.
In late 2011 and early 2012, several community gardens were completed and are now enjoying their first full growing season. Here’s a little about just a few of those gardens:
Denver Green School Community Garden, Denver The Denver Green School is a DPS Innovation School, which means that all school curriculum, programs, and policies are educator-directed. The school community is one of the most earnest we have ever worked with, with teachers taking advantage of the garden as a learning tool whenever possible. Garden features include a classroom-sized amphitheater for school programs and performances, as well as a small orchard of peach, apple, and cherry trees, and raised “sensory” beds planted with varieties with unique smells, colors, and textures. This garden is also adjacent to Sprout City Farms’ first school farm site.
Students planting raspberries at the Denver Green School Community Garden
Charles Hay Elementary School and Clayton Elementary School Community Gardens, Englewood Enthusiastic school communities and tireless volunteer garden leaders characterize each of these two new gardens, our first school-based community gardens in Arapahoe County. All that enthusiasm and effort paid off, as Englewood has gained two new beautiful and productive gardens that are off to a great start.
Planting beds at Charles Hay Elementary School Community Garden
Maplewood Apartments Community Garden, Lakewood The Maplewood Apartments Community Garden was developed in partnership with Metro West Housing Solutions, and serves low-income youth, families, and seniors by providing a space for growing fresh, healthy food, and fostering intergenerational learning. The numerous raised beds in this garden accomodate senior and disabled gardeners that may have difficulty with traditional garden beds.
Maplewood Apartments Community Garden, with mural by students at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design
O’Connell Middle School Community Garden, Lakewood The O’Connell Middle School Community Garden marks DUG’s first-ever junior high garden. We are thrilled to be able to serve older students in this garden, as well as participants of the adjacent Boys & Girls Club. This garden’s special features include a large, interactive exploratory garden, designed to engage older students. The school community has fully embraced the garden as a teaching tool, and has even hired a part-time coordinator to work with teachers, volunteers, and parents in implementing school garden curriculum.
Spencer Garrett Community Garden, Aurora The newest addition to DUG’s family of Aurora-based community gardens, Spencer Garrett, is open for gardening. Located in the Northwest corner of Spencer Garrett Park, this 36-plot garden is one of the many treasures this newly revitalized space offers the neighborhood. In a grand opening event in October, city officials and neighbors came to celebrate all that the space has to offer. In addition to the beautifully new community garden, built in partnership with Aurora Parks and Open Space, there is a huge playground that the kids at the event wasted no time in christening, scrambling up, down and over brightly colored jungle gyms and slides. Parents watched from the shade of the covered picnic tables nearby, as neighbors got in their daily exercise by walking together around the perimeter path surrounding the park. Gardeners at Spencer Garrett have a variety of other amenities to make good use of, including an onsite storage shed for tools and shaded picnic tables.
East 13th Street Community Garden, Denver In 2005, Denver Urban Gardens worked with Mercy Housing to build a garden to serve a refugee population in Denver’s East Colfax neighborhood. The garden was so popular that gardeners requested an expansion. In 2011, we worked with the Trust for Public Land and the City and County of Denver to transform the adjacent derelict lot, which children were using as a play area and soccer field, into a community park and expanded community garden. The new garden space is located opposite the original garden and is greatly expanded, with 40 plots, a tool storage enclosure, compost bin, and benches and picnic tables. The adjacent park is being built by our partners at the Trust for Public Land and Denver Parks, and will include a playground and soccer field, and a shaded community gathering space. This garden is also served by one of our new Free Seeds and Transplants distribution centers, at the nearby Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Aurora.
Throughout the spring, summer, and fall of this year, we will be working on close to a dozen new gardens that will be open in time for the 2013 growing season. Here’s a summary of a few new gardens in planning:
Lakewood Dry Gulch Community Garden, Denver In partnership with Denver Parks and Recreation, this garden is to be located along the Lakewood Dry Gulch Greenway adjacent to a new playground and will serve residents from the surrounding West Colfax Community.
Lowry Boulevard Apartments Community Garden, Denver This garden is being developed in partnership with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, to serve impoverished families in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood.
Maxwell Elementary School Community Garden, Denver This garden will serve a primarily Latino school community in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood. This garden is also located near Montbello High School and Montbello Central Park.
Morey Middle School Community Garden, Denver This garden will be located in Denver’s densely populated Capitol Hill neighborhood, and will be DUG’s first middle school garden in the City and County of Denver. An enthusiastic group of teachers, parents, and community members are helping to make this very urban garden a reality.
Focus Points Family Resource Center Community Garden, Denver This garden will serve clients of Focus Points Family Research, which serves primarily young, low-income, Spanish-speaking immigrant families in northeast and north central Denver through family-literacy programming.
Jefferson High School Community Garden, Edgewater This will be our first official high school community garden! The school community that will be served by the garden is low-income and very diverse, and we are working with an enthusiastic group of parents, school officials, teachers, students, and schoolvolunteers to complete this garden by late August, in time for Fall planting.
Site plan for the Jefferson High School Community Garden
The Learning Preserve Community Garden, Lakewood The Learning Preserve Community Garden will be located at the Belmar Literacy Center in Lakewood, and will serve adult and youth clients of The Learning Source’s education programs.
Samuels Elementary Community Garden, Denver This garden will serve a diverse and low-income school community in Denvers Hampden South neighborhood.
Thank you to all our incredible supporters, partners, and volunteers for helping to make each garden a reality and an ongoing success. To view our complete list of active gardens, click here.
Click here to return to the Spring 2012 edition of The Underground News.
