According to Marin Master Gardeners, "a community garden is any piece of land gardened by a group of people, utilizing either individual or shared plots on private or public land". Community gardens provide fresh products and plants as well as contribute to a sense of community and connection to the environment and an opportunity for satisfying labor and neighborhood improvement. They are publicly functioning in terms of ownership, access, and management, as well as typically owned in trust by local governments or not for profit associations. Community gardens vary widely throughout the world. In North America, community gardens range from "
victory garden" areas where people grow small plots of vegetables, to large "greening" projects to preserve natural areas, to large parcels where the gardeners produce much more than they can use themselves. Non-profits in many major cities offer assistance to low-income families, children's groups, and community organizations by helping them develop and grow their own gardens. In the UK and the rest of Europe, the similar "
allotment gardens" can have dozens of plots, each measuring hundreds of square meters and rented by the same family for generations. In the developing world, commonly held land for small gardens is a familiar part of the landscape, even in urban areas, where they may function as
market gardens. Community gardens are often used in cities to provide fresh vegetables and fruits in "food deserts", which are urban neighborhoods where grocery stores are rare and residents may rely on processed food from convenience stores, gas stations, and fast-food restaurants. Some writers have proposed re-framing the concept of "food deserts" as "food apartheid," emphasizing that neighborhoods lacking access to healthy food have been racially oppressed through segregation, redlining, and limited access to land. Some Black, Indigenous, and people of color have supported self-sustaining community gardens, recognizing that their liberation requires access to both land and healthy food. Community gardens may help alleviate one effect of climate change, which is expected to cause a global decline in agricultural output, making fresh produce increasingly unaffordable. Community gardens are also an increasingly popular method of changing the built environment in order to promote health and wellness in the face of urbanization. The built environment has a wide range of positive and negative effects on the people who work, live, and play in a given area, including a person's chance of developing obesity. Community gardens encourage an urban community's
food security, allowing citizens to grow their own food or for others to donate what they have grown. Advocates say locally grown food decreases a community's reliance on fossil fuels for transport of food from large agricultural areas and reduces a society's overall use of fossil fuels to drive in agricultural machinery. Community gardens improve users’ health through increased fresh vegetable consumption and providing a venue for exercise. The gardens also combat two forms of alienation that plague modern urban life: they reconnect urban gardeners with the source of their food and reduce isolation by fostering a sense of community. Community gardens provide other social benefits, such as the sharing of food production knowledge with the wider community and safer living spaces.
Ownership Land for a community garden can be publicly or privately held. In North America, often abandoned vacant lots are cleaned up and used as gardens. Because of their health and recreational benefits, community gardens may be included in public parks, similar to ball fields or playgrounds. Historically, community gardens have also served to provide food during wartime or periods of economic depression. Access to land and security of land tenure remains a major challenge for community gardeners worldwide, since in most cases the gardeners themselves do not own or control the land directly. Some gardens are cultivated collectively, with everyone working together, while others are divided into individual plots, each managed by a different gardener, group, or family. Many community gardens include both common areas with shared upkeep and individual or family plots. Though communal areas are successful in some cases, in others there is a
tragedy of the commons, which results in uneven workload on participants, and sometimes demoralization, neglect, and abandonment of the communal model. Some relate this to the largely unsuccessful history of
collective farming. Unlike
public parks, whether a community garden is open to the general public is dependent upon the lease agreements with the management body of the park and the community garden membership. Open- or closed-gate policies vary from garden to garden. Community gardens are managed and maintained by the gardeners themselves, rather than tended only by a professional staff. A second difference is food production: Unlike parks, where plantings are ornamental (or more recently ecological), community gardens are usually focused on food production.
Types of gardens There are multiple types of community gardens. •
Neighborhood gardens •
Residential Gardens •
Institutional Gardens •
Demonstration Gardens Plot size In Britain, the 1922 Allotment act specifies "an allotment not exceeding 40 [square]
poles in extent"; since a rod, pole or perch is 5.5 yards in length, 40 square rods is 1210 square yards or 10890 square feet (equivalent to a large plot of 90 ft x 121 ft). In practice, plot sizes vary; Lewisham offers plots with an "average size" of "125 meters square". In America there is no standardized plot size. For example, plots of 3 m × 6 m (10 ft × 20 ft = 200 square feet) and 3 m x 4.5 m (10 ft x 15 ft) are listed in
Alaska. Montgomery Parks in
Maryland lists plots of 200, 300, 400 and 625 square feet. In Canada, plots of 20 ft x 20 ft and 10 ft x 10 ft, as well as smaller "raised beds", are listed in
Vancouver.
Location Community gardens may be found in neighborhoods and on the grounds of schools, hospitals, and residential housing. The location of a community garden is a critical factor in how often the community garden is used and who visits it. Exposure to a community garden is much more likely for an individual if they are able to walk or drive to the location, as opposed to public transportation. The length of travel time is also a factor. Those who live within a 15-minute or less travel distance is more likely to visit a community garden as compared to those with a longer travel time. When considering a location, areas near industrial zones may require
soil testing for contaminants. If soil is safe, the composition should be loose and well-draining. However, if the soil at the location cannot be used, synthetic soil may also be used in raised gardens beds or containers. Local nonprofit beautification and community-building organizations may contribute as well. There are many different organizational models in use for community gardens. Most elect their leaders from within their membership. Others are run by individuals appointed by their management or sponsor. Some are managed by
non-profit organizations, such as a community gardening association, a community association, a church, or other land-owner, others by a city's recreation or parks department, a school or a university. Gardens are often started when neighbors come together to commit to the organization, construction and management of a garden, and are assisted by experienced organizers such as the
Green Guerillas of New York City. Alternatively, a garden may be organized "top down" by a municipal agency. In Santa Clara, California a non-profit by the name of Appleseeds offers free assistance in starting up new community gardens around the world. Rules and an 'operations manual' are invaluable tools; ideas for both are available at the American Community Gardening Association and in the United States, from local
master gardeners and
cooperative extensions.
Membership fees In most cases, gardeners are expected to pay monthly or annual dues to pay for water, infrastructure, garden-provided tools, water hoses, ordinary maintenance, etc.
Health effects of community gardens Community gardens have been shown to have positive health effects on those who participate in the programs, particularly in the areas of decreasing
body mass index and lower rates of
obesity. Studies have found that community gardens in schools have been found to improve average body mass index in children. A 2013 study found that 17% of obese or overweight children improved their body mass index over seven weeks. Specifically, 13% of the obese children achieved a lower body mass index in the overweight range, while 23% of overweight children achieved a normal body mass index. Participation in a community garden has been shown to increase both availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables in households. A study showed an average increase in availability of 2.55 fruits and 4.3 vegetables with participation in a community garden. It also showed that children in participating households consumed an average of two additional servings per week of fruits and 4.9 additional servings per week of vegetables. Community gardens also have notable positive effects on mental health and well-being. Participation in gardening activities has been associated with reduced stress, enhanced mood, and improved overall mental health. Studies show that engaging in community gardening fosters a sense of belonging and social connectedness, which can mitigate feelings of loneliness and isolation, particularly in urban environments. For instance, community gardens provide safe, communal spaces where individuals can form social bonds, build relationships, and support each other through shared activities. These interactions can help create resilient communities by improving both individual mental health and broader social networks. However, community gardens compete with the interests of developers. Policies can be enacted to protect community gardens from future development. For example, New York State reached a settlement in 2002 which protected hundreds of community gardens which had been established by the Parks and Recreation Department GreenThumb Program from future development. At times, zoning policy lags behind the development of community gardens. In these cases, community gardens may exist illegally. Such was the case in Detroit when hundreds of community gardens were created in abandoned spaces around the city. The city of Detroit created agricultural zones in 2013 in the middle of urban areas to legitimize the over 355 "illegal" community gardens. == Examples ==