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OSUE Office Building
Ohio State University Extension, Cuyahoga County
9127 Miles Road
Cleveland, OH 44105
Phone: 216-429-8200
Contact us by email at cuya@cfaes.osu.edu
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Community Gardening

Last modified 2009-05-22 14:48

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New Publications for Organizing Your Community Garden

The Community Gardening Toolkit is available for order and download from the University of Missouri Extension at http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/miscpubs/mp0906.htm.  This 24 page, illustrated guide is intended to be a resource for Extension educators, agency professionals and community garden organizers.  The toolkit offers step by step advice and practical tools for starting new community gardens, organizing and involving gardeners, and sustaining community gardens over time.

Also available from the University of Missouri Extension website is The Gardeners' Welcome Packet which is a set of documents that can be edited and revised by gardeners and garden leaders. The packet is intended to be a tool for organizing your garden, introducing new gardeners to the policies, procedures and people that keep the garden running smoothly, and keeping returning gardeners updated and involved. It is also intended to help gardeners find a clear and easy way to play an active role in the garden's management and upkeep.

CG Toolkit (University of Missouri Extension)

Community Gardening and Urban Agriculture in Cuyahoga County

Beekeeper

Who We Are

For over 30 years the Community Gardening Program has provided the resources to help people grow healthy, nutritious food, develop important life skills, build stronger communities, and create healthier environments. Through the program’s guidance and expertise, community and market gardeners in Cleveland and surrounding suburbs have used vacant land and sweat equity to put fresh, nutritious food on their tables and into local markets.

Front Page Plant

Their energy transforms not only their neighborhoods but also policy associated with food in northeast Ohio. As the number of gardens has grown, the Community Gardening Program has continually provided new and experienced participants with the information they need, when they need it, and where they need it.

What We Do

We support local, neighborhood efforts to organize community gardens by cultivating community leadership skills, providing technical assistance, and teaching educational workshops in order to create long-loved, productive food gardens.

Our other focused initiatives include:

  • Market Gardener Training

   

A 12 week course for entrepreneurs to develop the small-scale agriculture and business skills necessary to sell produce at local markets and to restaurants. For more information contact Morgan Taggart: 216-429-8238.

  • Garden Preservation

    

Empowering communities and advocating with local government and community organizations to develop models of permanency for garden sites. We partner with the Cuyahoga Community Land Trust, the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Ecocity Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and others, working to find preservation solutions for community gardens in the city.  This collaboration encompasses a pilot project with the Ecovillage Garden in the Detroit-Shoreway Neighborhood and the Morganic Garden of Slavic Village, as well as other gardens throughout Cleveland.  A goal of the project is to provide two specific models for further preservation and to create a framework for the preservation process in Cleveland. 

    

Working with the Cleveland Department of Public Health, staff of the Community Gardening Program is helping to develop gardens in targeted neighborhoods in order to increase residents’ access to fresh produce and to provide opportunities for physical activity through gardening.  We will teach and promote the connection between gardening, nutrition, and physical activity to new audiences.

  • Suburban Copmmunity Gardening in Cuyahoga County (made possible through funding provided by the George Gund Foundation)

   

Engaging suburban gardeners to connect their communities through growing nutritious foods. For more information please call 216-429-8200.

  • Other projects include:

    

Managing the City of Cleveland’s Summer Sprout  program.

Reaching out to inner-ring suburban populations.

Working with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition

Progressing legislation to include the needs of community gardeners and urban farmers.

Publishing a quarterly community gardening newsletter.

In 2008:

More than 1,200 community members were reached by our programming and services.

Over 20 urban farms and one bee-keeping enterprise have been established in Greater Cleveland as a result of the Market Garden Training course.

More than 200 Urban Gardens in the City of Cleveland, tended by more than 4,000 gardeners, produced more than $2.1 million worth of produce, providing nourishment and well-being to every neighborhood in the City.

Urban Garden Zoning Districts were created in Cleveland resulting from the collaborative efforts of the Community Gardening Program, Cuyahoga Community Land Trust, Cleveland Botanical Garden, and the City of Cleveland.

Five Steps to Starting a Community Garden:

  • Find 5-10 like-minded people who are determined to contribute time and energy.
  • Hold an organizational meeting to decide group rules, policies, and cooperative uses of the space and materials.
  • Look for land near you that is suitable for gardening (6-8 hours of sun and a water source are important!)
  • Find out who owns the land, get written permission to use it, and test the soil for composition and contaminants.
  • Identify sponsors who can contribute necessary resources (humus, tools, storage, etc.)

Interested in starting your own community garden? Fill out this Summer Sprout Interest Form, and mail to:

                    OSU Extension, Cuyahoga County
                    ATTN: Brad Melzer
                    9127 Miles Avenue
                    Cleveland, OH 44105

More Resources

OSU Extension www.extension.osu.edu
OARDC www.oardc.ohio-state.edu
American Community Gardening Association www.communitygardening.org
Openlands
www.openlands.org

Contact Us

OSU Extension
Community Gardening Program
9127 Miles Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44105
Phone: (216) 429.8224
Fax: (216) 429.3146
E-mail: communitygarden@ag.osu.edu

We gratefully acknowledge the continued help and financial support of our local county commissioners.
We appreciate their input and participation in our programming efforts.