Community Gardens are spaces individuals can rent for the growing season to plant vegetables and flowers for their own use. In Rhode Island, nonprofits have organized Community Gardens in vacant lots and church lawns. Sometimes a group of neighbors work with city officials to create Community Gardens in part of a park or other publicly owned land. In the case of the West End Community Garden at Westminster & Bridgham in Providence, the garden organizers are working with the business that owns the land. The possibilities are many!
Some national organizations that encourage Community Gardens are:
- The American Community Garden Association ~ has extensive information about organizing and maintaining Community Gardens
- Community Greens ~ [this website does not appear to be up to date - SK]
This page lists the known Community Gardens in Rhode Island. It aims to be a complete list of Rhode Island Community Gardens that wish to have a public face. In other words, The Providential Gardener only shares information that Rhode Islanders want to publicize and respects the privacy of groups and individuals who wish to keep their projects to themselves.
The early leader in Community Gardening in Rhode Island is Southside Community Land Trust. Now, Farm Fresh Rhode Island also has a Community Garden page that currently (June 2007) lists 21 gardens, many of them organized by Southside Community Land Trust. There is some overlap between their lists, but the lists are not identical.
One special twist on Community Gardening is the Rhode Island Community Food Bank's Community Farming Program. Volunteers are maintaining gardens whose produce is donated to the RI Community Food Bank. Kristen French is the Volunteer Coordinator.
The Providential Gardener has contact information for some of these Community Gardens. If you have other information about Community Gardens in Rhode Island, please email The Providential Gardener.
Providence Community Gardens. [Compiled mainly from SCLT, Farm Fresh ~ sk.]
Note: Southside Community Land Trust has set up numerous Community Gardens in the south and west of Providence. See the map for general locations. The Farm Fresh Rhode Island's Community Garden list has 21 gardens in Providence as of June 2007. If there is publicity on the web about these individual gardens, I will add links. Here is a comprehensive list of community gardens in Providence. Go out and take a look at what's growing on!
- 125 Amherst St (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Brown University Community Gardens (SCLT map)
- Burnett & Bucklin (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Chapin Street & Sycamore Street (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- City Farm (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- 564 Dexter (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Duke Street (SCLT map)
- Federal Hill (SCLT map)
- 111 Grove St (SCLT map)
- Gano Street (Fox Point) Community Garden (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- 31 Glenham (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Grove Street (FFRI map)
- Manton Ave (FFRI map)
- Mount Hope Community Garden (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Mystic Miner (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Olneyville (SCLT map)
- Peace and Plenty (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Potters Avenue Community Garden & Park (SCLT Map) (FFRI map)
- Prairie North (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Sessions Street Community Garden (Jewish Community Center on SCLT map) (FFRI map)
- Somerset (FFRI map)
- Urban Environmental Lab (Brown, 135 Angell) (FFRI map)
- West End (Urban Greens) Community Garden (FFRI map)
- Wilson East and Wilson West (SCLT map) (FFRI map)
Bristol
- Magaziner Farm, 192 Poppasquash Road (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
Mount Hope Farm, 250 Metacom Avenue (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
Cumberland :
- St. John Vianney Church, 3655 Diamond Hill Road (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
- Franklin Farm (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
East Greenwich:
- Boesch Farm, 830 South Road (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
Foster:
- Border’s Farm, North Road (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
Kingston:
- Agronomy Garden, University of Rhode island (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
Pawtucket
- Nickerson Street (FFRI map)
- Good Shepard Church Community Garden (Broadway) (FFRI map)
Portsmouth:
- Green Animals, 380 Cory’s Lane (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
Smithfield:
- St. Philip’s Church, 622 Putnam Avenue (RI Food Bank Community Farm)
