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by Brenda Stuart

Your thumb doesn’t need to be any shade of green to get involved in a community garden. It’s a great way for beginners to learn about horticulture from those who have been gardening for years. 

Denver Urban Gardens brings Denver folks together (for more than 35 years now!) to grow local, fresh, organic food. Not only does this benefit our tables, but people in tight-knit communities tend to be healthier.

Physical Health

Gardening may not look physically challenging, but even a moderate workout has benefits. There’s a lot of bending and stretching, reaching, pulling, and squatting involved, and you can burn up to 300 calories in 30-45 minutes of working the soil.

Treat gardening as a workout for the best physical benefits. It’s useful for older and younger adults and kids, all of whom are welcome in community gardens. Of DUG’s 180 gardens, only a few target specific communities. The majority are open to the public. 

You can expand your “gardening workouts” beyond your own family and invite others in the garden to join in. Gardeners get about 30% more moderate exercise each week than non-gardeners. You may soon have others in the community improving their health, and looking forward to these gardening sessions.

What you eat also impacts your physical health. Community gardens result in neighborhoods with healthier diets. More than 50% of gardeners meet federal guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake compared to 25% of non-gardeners.

Mental Health

Stress is a killer. It causes all parts of your body to decline, from eyes and gums to your heart. Gardening fights off stress by decreasing cortisol in the body (a stress hormone) and restoring your good mood. 

There are several advantages to practicing green-care therapy with the community:

• Socializing  – Working with companions toward a common goal increases your sense of well-being. It also sharpens your memory and cognitive skills, and it may help you live longer.
• Sunlight – Exposure to the sun increases the brain’s release of serotonin, a hormone thought to boost mood and help you feel calm and focused.
• Being Outdoors –  Calming nature sounds (birds, insects) and even outdoor silence help distract your mind from negative thoughts. The visuals of nature have a similar effect.
• Exposure to Plants – Greenery cleans the air. Plant leaves remove toxins, dust, and microorganisms and freshen the air you breathe.

Spending time outdoors surrounded by natural elements helps you forget the pressures you face in the rest of your life, like deadlines at work or family dilemmas. Community involvement in a garden offers these queting benefits to everyone in the neighborhood.

Overall Neighborhood Impact

How well do you know your neighbors? Community gardening creates a positive atmosphere in which people get to know one another and enjoy their living space. 

Community gardeners nurture relationships with the folks next door, are more involved in civic activities, eat better, and stay longer in their neighborhoods. People who garden together say their communities are cleaner, safer, and more beautiful; all qualities that promote healthier living.

If you’re ready to try your hand, or thumb, at a worthy project, take a look at the gardens in Globeville, Ruby Hill, or any of the other best community gardens around Denver. Most gardens not only feed the neighborhood, they donate produce to food banks and other food charities. You aren’t only helping yourself and your community, you’re providing help to others throughout the city. If you’re ready to dig in, contact us here at Denver Urban Gardens.

Brenda Stuart is a journalist and avid gardener in Denver. She takes a lot of pride in planting tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli, which she’ll sometimes trade with her neighbors for carrots and peppers.

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.

Position: Marketing and Communications Intern 

DUG is looking for someone passionate about urban gardening to join the team and assist marketing and communications efforts. This position is an excellent opportunity to learn, practice, and grow your skills across various areas within non-profit marketing and communications.

In this role, you can expect to: 

• support in creating new content and maintaining DUG’s social media presence
• assist in planning, writing and managing programmatic and fundraising communications in Mailchimp
• draft and publish news releases, media alerts, and other stories for our blog 
• assist with the design of flyers, graphics, and other marketing material
• update and edit content on DUG website (using WordPress)
• film, edit and publish short educational videos with support of our Education team

We’re looking for someone with:

• a strong understanding of DUG’s mission and a passion for our work 
• experience with social media management (personal or organizational)  
• good attention to detail and an understanding of effective writing practices
• the ability to communicate in a professional manner with our team and community members 
• a drive to learn and an interest in learning new things   
• good organizational skills and the ability to prioritize, multi-task and meet deadlines 

Position open until filled, requires 3 – 6 month commitment. Hours: 8 – 12 hours/week, remote. 

Compensation: This is an Unpaid/Volunteer internship. 

To Apply: Please send your resume and a personal introduction that explains why you’d like to intern at DUG to Niko Kirby, Director of Marketing and Communications, at communications@dug.org. 

Denver Urban Gardens is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, age, national origin, ethnic, background, disability or any other characteristic protected by law.