Bountiful Backyard Gardens

By Kymisha Montgomery, CGC Urban Agriculture Coordinator

Having over 60 community gardens in the CGC network is definitely something to celebrate. But this year we decided to meet people where they are and eliminate some of the barriers people might have to access fresh local food. From there blossomed our Bountiful Backyard Garden program.

The idea was to successfully grow produce in urban areas and build gardens to provide access to fresh local food in these spaces. The average food item travels 1,500 miles, and many of the benefits of our current food system aren’t present in urban areas. By partnering with organizations whose missions and values align with ours, we made this program a reality and were able to decrease those miles to only footsteps. The response was overwhelmingly good! Based on a pool of applicants, we chose a mixture of new gardeners and those who wanted to rekindle their love of gardening and harvesting, which made for a really cool community of backyard gardeners.

 We supplied them with raised beds and even accommodated those with mobility issues with elevated garden beds so they wouldn’t have to bend and kneel, making their gardening experience more enjoyable. Plants, seeds, trellises, soil, compost and other organic materials and supplies were also provided to ensure a healthy harvest and an intake of healthy food.

Check out the bountiful harvests grown throughout the spring and summer seasons with our backyard gardeners!