Residents who are interested in growing more of their own food have a number of different options of where and how to grow in the District.
Growing in a Community Garden or Communal Farm
- Start your own garden plot in a DPR Community Garden: The Department of Parks and Recreation runs community gardens across the city. Learn more and find a community garden near you: Community Gardens.
- Join the DPR/OSSE Shared Roots program: An OSSE/DPR partnership program that matches people with garden sites that needs gardeners (unused school gardens during summer, community gardeners that need help due to a mobility issue, or unused home gardens) with gardeners looking for a place to garden. More info here.
- Volunteer at a DPR Communal Farm: DPR Communal Farms are urban Ag sites that are organized as communal production farms, managed by DPR staff and community volunteers, with the purpose of providing various ways for community members to receive free food, volunteer, and participate in hands on educational opportunities. Communal farms can produce more food than community gardens but are more communal than partner urban farms. More info at this link.
- Volunteer at a DPR Partner Urban Farm: DC Parks and rec (DPR) has 7 partner urban farms throughout the city that are managed by non-profits in coordination with DPR and focus on either garden education and/or local food production. Most of these sites have volunteer hours and opportunities. To learn more visit this link for contact info for each partner at each site.
- Find a spot in a community-managed garden: Take a look at our Urban Agriculture Dashboard to see some of the other sites near you that are growing, including privately-managed community gardens.
- Match with a neighbor to grow near you: Farm the District has started a Harvest Collective, which is matching residents seeking to grow with residents who have yard space. You can learn more and sign up for more information here: https://www.farmthedistrict.org/harvest-collective
Learn more about how to grow at home:
The following organizations all offer trainings for residents of various ages. The Urban Ag Working Group is working to update this list with more details about each offering, but in the meantime, we hope this list will be helpful.