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Community Gardens

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GRASSROOTS… LITERALLY*

every garden grows something different – but all grow community.

DUG’s network of 200+ community gardens grows more than food — it transforms neighborhoods.

On land stewarded by cities, schools, and faith groups, we support volunteers to lead, plant, and build together. These gardens offer more than produce. They provide a place to gather, share, rest, celebrate, and reconnect—with each other and the earth.

DUG gardens are comprised of several separate garden plots that are each cared for by individuals or families.

Community gardeners care for and harvest from their own plots, or growing spaces. Plot sizes vary from garden to garden but most are 10 feet by 15 feet, or around 150 square feet.

Shared spaces like pathways, perennial herb and flower beds, sheds, and gathering spaces are cared for by all community members.

Many gardens also have spaces dedicated to growing extra produce for community redistribution in partnership with local food banks, community organizations, and mutual aid groups. Additionally, DUG community gardeners commit to donating 10% of their harvest each growing season.

Community Gardens Impact

352
Garden Leaders
10
Food Donated
2,875
Gardeners
40,000
Denverites Supported

”The other gardeners know me on a personal level and ask me questions about my life outside of the garden. I am committed to this community garden because of the friendships I have made and the impact I have had on the surrounding community from my volunteering.

DUG Gardener

Our Gardeners at a Glance

Age Groups
DISTANCE TO FRESH FOOD
RACIAL IDENTITY
Household Income
EXPERIENCE GARDENING
GARDEN ACCESS
Languages Spoken

ARABIC ASL BURMESE CANTONESE ENGLISH FRENCH GERMAN HINDI ITALIAN JAPANESE KOREAN MANDARIN NEPALI RUSSIAN SPANISH SWAHILI TURKISH UKRANIAN VIETNAMESE

The information in these graphs and charts is collected from DUG’s plot registration forms and excludes figures from gardeners who abstained from answering or left no answer. These figures may shift from year to year. 

How DUG Supports our Community Gardens:

  • Cultivate community-driven garden leadership, including volunteer Gardener Leader recruitment and placement
  • Provide garden maintenance support
  • Provide fiscal management of garden accounts (as requested)
  • Provide liability insurance coverage for gardens and serve as liaison between gardens and city officials, agencies, and water providers
  • Establish working relations with garden property owner agencies and negotiate and maintain garden site use agreements
  • Coordinate volunteer groups and supervise large maintenance and improvement projects
  • Mediate inter-community gardener conflicts as requested
  • Offer EPA soil testing to determine soil characteristics and potential contaminants
  • Organize community networking and learning events for gardeners and garden leaders
Learn More

History of Community Gardens

LATE 19TH CENTURY

Demands of urban allotments (i.e., garden plots) increased as a way to relax and garden, and the presence of ‘pleasure gardens’ increased.

Source: learning with experts

GREAT DEPRESSION ERA (1929-1939)

Having access to food-producing garden plots was essential for supplementing families’ diets through a steady source of fresh and healthy food. Gardening provides a source of food, but also a way to combat social isolation and depression that accompanied the economic uncertainty of the decade.

Source: learning with experts

WORLD WAR I AND II

During wartime, the government encouraged “victory gardening” to support access to food with the slogan “Dig for Victory.”

Source: learning with experts

1970’s

Gardening gained greater traction as a way to grow your own food, be “cool”, and engage in a popular cultural passtime.

Source: learning with experts

1978

Denver Urban Gardens was established by Hmong women in North Denver’s Highlands neighborhood with the Pecos Community Garden. For these women, gardening was a source of cultural connection and social belonging where food and growing transcended country of origin and language barriers.

Source: learning with experts

1990s – NOW

Organizations like DUG have sprouted around the world as a way to champion growing food, bettering the climate, and building community. At DUG, we’ve expanded to 200 community gardens and food forests in metro Denver, all of which are stewarded by the community and for the community.

Source: learning with experts