When choosing a location for your garden it is important both physical attributes (e.g. sun, water availability, accessibility) as well as administrative attributes (e.g. site ownership, permits, formalizing agreements).
The resource below is specifically for those involved with community gardens, with an emphasis on the knowledge and skills to organize and sustain healthy community garden organizations.
For educational resources on general gardening (for food), see the "General Resources" section on Backyard Vegetables and Fruits.
Title: American Community Garden Association (AGCA) Resources
Sponsoring Organization: American Community Garden Association (AGCA)
Description: The AGCA is "a grassroots non-profit advocacy organization focused on community gardening." Their mission is "to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada." They sponsor training events (both virtual and in-person) for community gardeners on topics such as organizing and sustaining healthy community garden organizations.
Title: Our Community Growing Academy
Sponsoring Organization: Westchester Local Food
Description: D.I.G. Farm and The ARC of Westchester have partnered together to offer the new Mt. Kisco Growing Academy (formerly known as the Mt. Kisco Community Garden), a hands-on outdoor classroom that will empower community members of all ages to learn to grow food, utilizing regenerative agriculture and permaculture techniques to help to heal the soil and heal communities.
These can provide calming and restorative spaces for healing, and can also provide fresh foods for dietary health.
Title: How Hospital Gardens Help Patients Heal
Sponsoring Organization: Scientific American
Description: Short magazine article discussing research about the medical benefits of hospital gardens; includes a checklist, based on research, of what garden features work best for healing.
Title: What Are Healing Gardens?
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota
Description: One-page overview of healing gardens.
In these resources, local municipalities and community advocates can find ideas and models for local policies and/or regulations that can help support and encourage community gardens.
Title: Zoning for Urban Agriculture: A Guide for Updating Your City's Laws to Support Healthy Food Production and Access
Sponsoring Organization: Healthy Food Policy Project
Description: Web page also downloadable as a PDF. "This resource summarizes zoning laws that promote and support agriculture in urban municipalities and highlights examples of strategies from around the country." Although it covers all urban agriculture, some sections are specific to non-commercial agriculture including community gardens. Includes a section on "Promoting Equity in the Zoning Code," which discusses policies and zoning code changes to ensure access to marginalized communities. A section on "Action Steps: How to Change the Zoning Code" is particularly useful for community garden advocates, urban farmers, and others who seek to make their local municipal codes more supportive of urban agriculture and reduce zoning barriers. Includes a New Rochelle example.
Title: Cultivating Community Gardens -- The Role of Local Government in Creating Healthy, Livable Neighborhoods
Sponsoring Organization: Local Government Commission
Description: Web page (information also downloadable as a PDF) on community garden benefits to their communities and how local governments can help, with strategies and examples from communities around the USA. "Local government leaders are in a unique position to promote healthy eating and active living in their communities by supporting community gardens.... Such gardens can improve nutrition, physical activity, community engagement, safety, and economic vitality for a neighborhood and its residents. Barriers, such as liability expenses, code restrictions and a lack of resources, which often make it difficult for communities to establish or maintain gardens in their neighborhoods, can be overcome with local government engagement."
Title: Urban Agriculture
Sponsoring Organization: American Planning Association
Description: A collection of resources providing policy guidance and examples of local policies and regulations that allow or support urban agriculture, including the subtopic of community gardens. See page for links to articles and guides such as "Community Gardens Model Ordinance" (10 p.).
Title: Dig It! A Practical Toolkit: How Local Governments Can Support Community Gardens
Sponsoring Organization: American Planning Association (original source: British Columbia Ministry of Community Development)
Description: Excellent 53-page guide "provides guidance on various roles local governments can take to support community gardens. It provides context, explaining why and how local governments would want to support community gardens, describing the different types of community gardens, and listing the many benefits of community gardens. It then offers four strategies for successful community garden programs and several tools and templates for developing and supporting community garden programs. Appendices include design and siting guidelines for community gardens and sample rules and tips."
Title: County Health Rankings and Roadmaps: Community Garden Beneficial Outcomes and Evidence of Effectiveness
Sponsoring Organization: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute
Description: Includes links to model local government polices to encourage community gardens and urban agriculture.
Title: Community Gardening Policy Reference Guide
Sponsoring Organization: Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Description: This comprehensive 60-page guide "provides a road map for how local laws and policies can impact local gardening efforts." Useful for both community garden advocates and local decision-makers to craft local laws and policies that can help promote successful community gardens. Sections include such topics as community engagement; funding/donations; local zoning and land use regulations that affect garden uses, fencing, and structures, etc.; liability insurance and waivers; and much more. Includes many examples from around the U.S.
Title: Seeding the City: Land Use Policies to Promote Urban Agriculture
Sponsoring Organization: ChangeLab Solutions
Description: Download the Seeding the City Toolkit, a detailed 40-page PDF. "Communities around the country are looking to promote healthier eating by encouraging urban agriculture, especially through backyard gardens, community gardens, and urban farms...ChangeLab Solutions developed this toolkit to provide a framework and model language for land use policies that local policymakers can tailor to promote and sustain urban agriculture in their communities."
"To be successful, urban agriculture must be cultivated in a way that promotes food production without creating a nuisance for surrounding property owners and users. In addition, it should follow safe agricultural practices to protect farmers and gardeners, neighboring residents, and city governments from harm or potential liability costs. With careful planning and zoning, urban agriculture can be successfully and seamlessly integrated into urban environments."
Title: Community Garden Resources: Garden Politics
Sponsoring Organization: American Community Garden Association (AGCA)
Description: Page of downloadable articles useful for community garden advocates to learn how to gain community and government support for a garden, including "Ten Tips on Local Advocacy (Especially to Get Gardens Protected)," "How to Lobby Successfully," and "The Effect of Community Gardens on Neighboring Property Values."
School Gardens are a subset of Teaching Gardens and can serve many purposes--to teach children where food comes from, the benefits of growing fresh food and its importance to health, and also environmental science. Although many general Community Garden best practices cover how to run a School Garden, the initial process for approvals, planning and building a school garden can be very different, and maintaining a successful school garden over time can have its own challenges. Many of the resources below include information on these specific practices as well as lesson plans and curricula specific to school gardens.
Title: School Garden Resources for Educators
Sponsoring Organization: Life Lab
Description: Extremely comprehensive page of links to resources about school gardens, including how-to's, education, nutrition, curriculum & online lessons, funding sources, etc.
Title: KidsGardening.org Educator Resources
Sponsoring Organization: KidsGardening.org
Description: An extensive collection of resources to help teachers, volunteers, parents, and others plan and sustain successful youth gardens and implement effective youth garden programs. Offers lesson plans, books, curricula, garden activities, and more. A section on "Designing a School Garden" includes articles on designing gardens for those with special needs.
Title: 10 Best Practices for Sustaining School Community Gardens
Sponsoring Organization: Vermont Community Garden Network
Description: Though short, this 1-page PDF lists 10 important best practices that contribute to the lasting success of a school garden.
Title: AGCA Environmental Education in the Community Garden: Lesson Plans
Sponsoring Organization: American Community Garden Association (AGCA)
Description: Page of "Garden Learning" resources includes 10 downloadable lesson plans.
Title: Our Community Growing Academy
Sponsoring Organization: Westchester Local Food
Description: This local resource in Mt. Kisco, NY offers a workshop, "Boot Camp for Garden Educators"