In recent years, there has been an advent in the amount of urban community gardens “sprouting up” throughout Denver communities. The practice of urban gardening—which usually requires a collective effort on behalf of a community to see the growth and maintenance of a neighborhood garden—can have several benefits, among which includes the development of edible produce, an added aesthetic to a neighborhood, and even the addition of income for a community with the garden’s produce being sold at various farmers markets around the Denver area. Anybody can become involved in an urban garden initiative; and the best part is, the success of a garden usually requires a mutual effort on behalf of all participating parties, so in the end there is a nice sense of community that “springs” out of your urban gardening effort. Here ares some useful tips and resources on how to become involved in your local community gardening effort:
Denver Urban Gardens—a.k.a. “DUG”—is an urban gardens initiative 25 years in the making, whose solve vision is to develop a thriving and connected network of deeply-rooted community gardens, conceived of, cultivated and supported by local residents and institutions throughout the urban neighborhoods of Metro Denver. In 2010, DUG broke ground on its 100th community garden, and in its 25 years DUG has become a community focus for producing food, fostering neighborhood activities and hosting education programs for over 32,000 individuals annually. Visit the DUG website today for any number of resources on how to get involved, and click HERE to find the nearest community garden to you and see where you can start getting your hands dirty!
An event worth mentioning is DUG’s upcoming GreenShots2, an evening celebrating urban agriculture, gardening, and community on Wednesday, June 22. In addition providing a chance to meet others with a passion for gardening and urban agriculture, this year’s GreenShoots event will feature documentary film screenings with appetizers and drinks at Root Down in Denver, a fantastic restaurant and supporter of community agriculture!
Re:Farm Denver is a non-profit initiative aimed at educating families in underserved areas on the process of urban farming. The initiative is expected to reach 80 families in west Denver this year, up from 38 last year. Read more on the topic in this interview from Matthew Rodriguez at YourHub.com: http://ow.ly/4WL7U
Perhaps the initiative that gets today’s reward for most interesting and innovative is the Denver Urban Truck Farm. Inspired by a similar project in Brooklyn, the Denver Urban Truck Farm was started in 2010 by two Landscape Architecture graduate students and highlights the growing trend of urban agriculture in a unique and mobile form. The Farm is constructed in the bed of a 1966 Ford F-250 pickup truck and provides approximately 40 square feet of growing space. Food crops for 2011 will include tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, lettuces, radishes, leafy greens, and a variety of herbs. The Farm will include two crops, a spring cool season crop of lettuces, greens, radishes, and broccoli, and a summer warm season crop of tomatoes, peppers, and other hardy vegetables and herbs. All crops will be grown organically from seed. The Denver Urban Truck Farm will be participating in several local events in 2011, including the Old South Pearl Street farmer’s market on Sundays, and the Civic Center Eats Lunchtime Market on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer.
Which brings us to our final point. If the concept of urban gardens is something that you want to support, but you don’t necessarily have the green-thumb gene, might we suggest heading to one of the various farmers markets that bear the fruit of these urban gardens’ labor. Here is a great list of farmers markets opening in the spring/summer months, courtesy of Yelp, Denver: http://ow.ly/4WN8E
