Denver Urban Gardens Hits Major Milestone with its 200th Community Garden

by

The largest independent community garden organization in the country has just reached a significant milestone this year. The 13th of October, Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) he transformed an orphan plot of land from the city he sat on vacant for over 60 years in The 48th & Julian DUG Community Garden– makes the network 200th community garden in seven counties in the Denver Metro area. This is a monumental achievement not only in Colorado but in the US.

In order 45 yearsDUG worked towards its mission: bcreate a garden in every neighborhood, build community and cultivate food and climate resilience. “When people hear about community gardens, they think ‘it’s sweet’ or that it’s a hobby. What they don’t understand is that they are extraordinary constructions for a city,” he said. Linda Appel Lipsius, CEO of DUG. “It’s a way for people, especially city dwellers, to grow organic, hyperlocal, highly nutritious food. It’s also great for people who weren’t born in the United States to grow the food they grew up with and they can’t find it in the shop.”

Photo courtesy of Denver Urban Gardens

Not only does it increase the food supply, but community gardens can remedy loneliness. “On the community side, a few months ago, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared an epidemic of loneliness, and there is an increase in depression and anxiety due to social media and the pandemic. And there is also a drop in the third places– Places you can go to hang out or work with someone on something,” said Lipsius. “Community gardens are those – places to get to know your neighbors or people you don’t normally know and grow food.” Mental well-being can come from creating these little oases.

DUG benefits neighborhoods throughout the Mile High. From south of Lone Tree, north of Westminster and west of Denver in Golden, the organization has built a garden in every type of neighborhood. “We don’t own the land on our gardens, so we have partnerships and ownership agreements with cities, Parks Departmentshousing authorities and school districts,” Lipsius said.

Person walking in the garden

Photo courtesy of Denver Urban Gardens

Over the years, DUG has maintained a great relationship with the Parks Department, building 12 gardens in its space. In the ’60a remainder of Parks’ land was cut off Rocky Mountain Park after the construction of I-70 created a separation. The orphan plot was empty until this year when Councilor Amanda Sandoval he was able to transform. Sandoval asked DUG “regenerate the earth, reduce the heat island effect, improve access to food and bring the community together in nature” with a new garden. The last construction took place at the beginning of October, with 30 volunteers and DUG staff members creating infrastructure to prepare wood, hammering garden beds, shoveling compost and planting trees. A food forest is located adjacent to the garden to provide food for the community. The garden gates will open after the first growing season next spring.

Lipsius and the DUG family look forward to creating an even greener future after receiving a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through the support of the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program.the organization will use these funds in six West Denver neighborhoods, including Barnum, Barnum West, Sun Valley, West Colfax, Valverde and Villa Park, to address public health and environmental justice issues. “The West area is historically red and has the lowest tree canopy in the city,” Lipsius said. “There are no parks, just sidewalks. It just seems like a smaller area that we can really focus on.”

Two people out, woodworking

Photo courtesy of Denver Urban Gardens on Facebook

DUG hopes to have built at least six community gardens and created nine additional food forests in the future with the help of the grant. The organization also wants to make an impact not only in Colorado, but across the country. The urban garden projectin its early stages, it will be a way to support garden and food forest organizations across the United States

For anyone looking to connect with their community in Denver and dig in with DUGfrom drop-ins to projects, the organization is always looking for volunteers.

76 thoughts on “Denver Urban Gardens Hits Major Milestone with its 200th Community Garden”

  2. Impressive, this is positively mind-blowing! Kudos for the work you invested in sharing this valuable data. It’s always exciting to stumble upon well-written and insightful posts like this. Continue the fantastic effort!

    Reply

  4. Березин Андрей Евроинвест [url=http://antennadaily.ru/2023/06/23/andrey-berezin-euroinvest/]http://antennadaily.ru/2023/06/23/andrey-berezin-euroinvest/[/url].

    Reply

  6. Березин Андрей Евроинвест [url=http://newizv.ru/news/2023-08-28/berezin-andrey-svedeniya-o-developere-419032/]http://newizv.ru/news/2023-08-28/berezin-andrey-svedeniya-o-developere-419032/[/url].

    Reply

  7. Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Nikolaev [url=http://spacecoastdaily.com/2023/08/vyacheslav-nikolaev-ecosystem-builder/]http://spacecoastdaily.com/2023/08/vyacheslav-nikolaev-ecosystem-builder/[/url].

    Reply

  9. Nikolaev [url=https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/57820/20230802/vyacheslav-konstantinovich-nikolaev.htm]https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/57820/20230802/vyacheslav-konstantinovich-nikolaev.htm[/url]

    Reply

  27. Эдуард Давыдов [url=https://www.panram.ru/partners/news/biografiya-eduarda-davydova-generalnogo-direktora-bsk-ao]https://www.panram.ru/partners/news/biografiya-eduarda-davydova-generalnogo-direktora-bsk-ao[/url] .

    Reply

  63. аппарат для лазерной сварки металлов цена [url=https://apparat-ruchnoy-lazernoy-svarki.ru]https://apparat-ruchnoy-lazernoy-svarki.ru[/url] .

    Reply

Leave a Comment