Best Cities for Urban Gardening? You Decide.
March 6, 2010 by Robin Plaskoff Horton
Seattle urban garden, photo: The Daily Green
According to the Huffington Post, Seattle is one of the best cities for urban community gardens. Because of their P-Patch Program, there are 68 gardens scattered throughout the city and plans for four additional gardens by the end of 2009. Seattle’s program was created by the Department of Neighborhoods and the nonprofit P-Patch Trust in 1973. Their volunteer-run community gardens offer 1,900 plots and serves more than 3,800 urban gardeners on 23 acres of land. With a youth gardening program and a 12.3-ton produce donation last year, Seattle is a city built for horticulturists.
Portland, Oregon urban community garden, photo: The Daily Green
In Portland, Oregon, The Community Garden program has provided gardening opportunities for the physical and social benefit of the people and their neighborhoods since 1975. There are 32 community gardens located throughout the city, developed and operated by volunteers and Public Parks & Recreation staff. There is a Produce for People program, which donates fresh produce to local hunger agencies as well as an in-school and after school gardening program. Gardeners can choose from various plot sizes.
Find a local community garden in your back yard.
Readers, what cities do you feel are contenders and why?
via Huffington Post, The Daily Green
Category: Birds, Bees, and Butterflies, Community Gardens, Composting, Edible Landscaping, Green & Sustainable, Greening, Permaculture, Urban Agriculture
Tags: local food, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, urban community farms, urban community gardens
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I love how Chicago’s Downtown has been gardenized! The mayor has been a prime influence in making gardens everywhere downtown, lining the streets with island gardens, Millinium Park, etc.
Eileen
— March 6, 2010 @ 15:31
New York City comes to mind as do Boston and San Francisco.
— March 6, 2010 @ 20:17
I will give a shoot out for San Francisco. Matti
— March 6, 2010 @ 21:53
Philadelphia has a nice network of real (not a new trend of stylized “insta-gardens” that have cropped up in NYC). But seeing the unexpected incredible burst of flowers in NYC – – well, nothing beats it because it is so built up!
This picture of Seattle and Portland – – well – this looks more rural than city!?
— March 7, 2010 @ 16:18
Women Landscape Architects Making an Impact | Urban Gardens | Unlimited Thinking For Limited Spaces Pingback said:
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— January 8, 2011 @ 14:58
Documentary Preview: Women in the Dirt | Bitch Flicks Pingback said:
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— September 28, 2013 @ 12:18