Community Gardening: Websites

Offers a searchable database to determine ownership and taxes of a property.

Nonprofit corporation whose mission is the continuity and long-term preservation of community-managed gardens and green spaces in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Contains a list of community gardens within the Philadelphia city limits.

City of Philadelphia Mayoral office whose focus is to make Philadelphia the number one green city in America.

Greensgrow Farm is recognized as a national model in urban agriculture and runs a vibrant farm stand, nursery, and City Supported Agriculture (CSA) program boasting more than 300 members.

The Mill Creek Farm is an educational urban farm dedicated to improving local access to fresh produce, building a healthy community and environment, and promoting a just and sustainable food system.

Membership driven urban food cooperative and farm.

Comprehensive site on gardens and farms in the urban and rural landscapes of Australia.

Provides training and support for the most resource poor, enabling them to cultivate their own food rather than depending on aid, and to conserve important species to promote health and create plant-based livelihoods.

General information about community gardens in Toronto, Canada. The "In the Shed" page includes related resources on topics ranging from canning and preserving to square foot gardening techniques.

Organization in the United Kingdom that provides support and resources for community managed farms, gardens and other green spaces. Produces publications on related topics; some of the articles are available as free downloads.

The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for a Livable Future provides a vetted collection of reports, journal articles and other resources.

Nonprofit organization based in Milwaukee, but with a national focus to develops community food centers and provides resources, education, and support to develop community food systems.

POP works with community-based groups and volunteers to plan and plant orchards filled with useful and edible plants to provide healthy food, green spaces and community food security.

A guide to getting affordable, healthy food. Has information and a map of your neighborhood's food programs.

RUAF is an international network of regional resource centers on Urban Agriculture and Food Security whose mission is to reduce urban poverty, generate employment and food security and to stimulate participatory city governance and improved urban environmental management.

Masters of Urban and Regional Planning Major Paper, Virginia Tech, 2009 by Basil Hallberg that explores the potential of community gardening as a tool to augment food security efforts within low-income communities.

Article produced by the Ohio State University Extension that shows how edible landscapes offer an alternative to conventional residential landscapes that are designed solely for ornamental purposes.

Edible landscaping tips, food, and gardening advice from Rosalind Creasy, a pioneer in the field of edible landscaping.

Articles, questions and answers, and resource guide on edible landscapes and vegetable gardening from the National Gardening Association.

Search for available properties.

FAQs page on Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority website on buying or leasing properties.

PlanPhilly's news item announcing Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority's new vacant land policies and procedures.

TreeLink, along with its website and iTreeBank program, are now part of the national nonprofit, Alliance for Community Trees.

This network of community-based organizations is dedicated to improving the livability of their towns and cities through planting and caring for trees.

The ACGA is a nonprofit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities whose mission is to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada.

While public agencies often have land that could be used to grow food – like vacant fields, school yards, utility rights-of-way, and even the rooftops of public buildings – community groups and nonprofit organizations don’t always have the tools to access those sites. This guide seeks to change that.

Recognized as a model program by World Hunger Year, this Santa Cruz, California-based organization practices and teaches economic and environmental sustainability and provides homeless men and women with job training and transitional employment.

The NGA is a nonprofit organization whose focus is to make available free educational materials and resources on plant based education, health and wellness, environmental stewardship, and community development.

NYRP restores, revitalizes and develops under-resourced parks and community gardens throughout the city’s five boroughs, working to ensure that every New York City resident, family and neighborhood has access to vibrant, green spaces

Works to acquire, build, preserve and protect community gardens in Seattle's neighborhoods.

Shared Earth is a free website that connects land owners with gardeners and farmers. Are you a gardener looking for land? A landowner looking for gardeners? This site will match you up.

Garden manuals designed to give many different groups the basic information they need to get their gardening project off the ground.

Ground Rules ; A Legal Toolkit for Community Gardens consists of model community garden leases, gardeners' agreements and rules addressing how a garden will operate, and outline gardeners' privileges and responsibilities. Includes checklists. PDF.

Intended to help neighborhood groups and organizations
along the path to starting and sustaining a community garden.

Good overview that defines what a community garden is and identifies some of the basic steps and challenges to one.

Texas Agrilife Extension Service that serves to provide gardening and horticultural crop production information.

Use this United States Department of Agriculture site to locate your nearest Cooperative Extension office. County extension offices are excellent sources of information on gardening in your area.

Useful instructions for getting your garden started by propagating seeds indoors.

Created by the Untied States National Arboretum, this Hardiness Zone Map indicates the cold hardiness ratings (zones).

Teaches people how to grow food in the city, compost their waste and take care of their home landscape in an environmentally responsible way.

Biointensive is a high-yielding, sustainable agricultural system that emphasizes local food production and is based historically on intensive gardening systems.

Publication list covers a variety of topics that might be useful for community gardeners including water and pest management, soils and composting and horticultural crops.

Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

Brings environmental subjects to life through the power of visual storytelling. Provides educational opportunities through story-based video segments, supported by classroom guides, community-based service learning projects, extension activities, and a network of other resources to provide educators with the tools they need to engage students.

The Edible Schoolyard (ESY), established in 1995, is a one-acre garden and kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California.

Part of the Texas A&M Cooperative Extension Program. Mission is to grow good kids by igniting a passion for learning, success and service through a unique gardening education.

Resources for teachers and parents on school gardening including research supporting the benefits and impact of school gardens on children.

Life Lab Science Program helps schools develop gardens where children can create "living laboratories" for the study of the natural world.

Pamphlet promoting environmental stewardship and the benefits of doing so with youth.

The Rain Garden Network is a small organization based in Chicago, IL concerned with developing resource options and creating solutions to storm water runoff such as rain gardens and rainwater harvesting.

Resource material on the planning, design, installation and maintenance of rain gardens compiled by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Developed by the Low Impact Development Center, this site focuses on the design techniques associated with rain gardens.

Site provides basic information on how to use rain barrels for rain water harvesting.

Blue Thumb, an educational program of the Rice Creek Watershed District provides resources for homeowners on how to design and install a rain garden to reduce runoff.

Comprehensive guide in PDF format, compiled by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on how to plan and construct a rain garden.

A guide to creating rain gardens in Delaware.

Brochure in PDF format produced by the University of Wisconsin Extension.

General information, manuals, factsheets and websites for creating rain gardens and reducing stormwater runoff in New Jersey.

Includes suggested native plants for Pennsylvania.

Program offered by the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State University for analyzing soil samples.

Soil testing service provided by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Information presented as part of the WHYY series You Bet Your Garden with Mike McGrath. Provides resources for acquiring soil test kits in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Get a lead test the first year that you plan to grow food in a new area if you suspect that it has been exposed to lead.

Provides general information on how to compost, regional programming initiatives, environmental benefits, and related publications on the topic.

Organization whose goal is to help Philadelphia achieve a zero waste future by keeping food and yard waste out of landfills through composting in our neighborhoods.

Gives instructions on how to build a bat house.

Practical guide to introducing bees to your garden.

Resource for purchasing ready made raised beds.

Step by step instructions on how to build a raised garden bed, including materials list.

Article discusses effects of using treated lumber in the garden.

University of Wisconsin Extension article on specialized gardening techniques.

Simple instructions for building a PVC hoophouse to extend your growing season.

University of Missouri, Extension Service fact sheet on extending the growing season by using hotbeds and cold-frames.