Meander down a path through the Timnath Community Garden and you’ll see a late-season ensemble of tangled pumpkin and squash vines, corn stalks (gnawed on by raccoons), towering sunflowers and a myriad of plants in a mosaic of square plots covering an acre of land. You might see a baby bunny under a pumpkin leaf, and you may hear a discussion among gardeners about the best solutions for tomato blossom end rot. You might hear a boy bragging about the size of his pumpkin, or you may hear a toddler utter her first words—“hose” and “flower” (which sounds more like “wower”).

The personality and goals of each gardener shows from the care and design of their plot and the varieties planted. One gardener grew gourds for art projects for at-risk girls. Another garden, a “square foot garden” packed with tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, and sunflowers, was planted by a Traut Elementary kindergarten class. One gardener grew corn and cucumbers he didn’t have room for at his home garden. A retired couple grew Yukon Gold potatoes measuring 6” in diameter! One gardener strives to learn how to keep his tomatoes alive. Another simply wants to grow turnips.

Community gardens have evolved over the years and have a history dating back to the “potato patch” movement in the late 1800s, when cities were expanding and many people were out of work. To help the poor, cities began offering plots for people to raise their own food.

In the early 1900s, Liberty Gardens emerged. Patriotic citizens grew food for the war effort during World War I. The War Garden Victorious, published in 1919, included a chapter on community gardens titled “COMMUNITY GARDENING: Putting ‘Slacker Lands’ to Work.” A poster from the same time period stated “Every Garden a Munition Plant” and instructed citizens to write to the National War Garden Commission for free books on gardening, canning and drying.

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Relief Gardens were promoted “to improve people’s spirits, and to provide food and work.”

In the 1940s, the Victory Garden campaign was launched. Twenty million Victory Gardens produced 44% of the fresh vegetables in the U.S.

The present day community garden began in the late 1960s and serves a variety of purposes: growing fresh vegetables, improving neighborhoods, expressing and preserving cultural traditions and providing food for the hungry with contributions to local food banks.

When Robyn Dolgin, the Horticulture Director at Gardens on Spring Creek, was asked why someone would want to garden in a community garden rather than at home, she said “Gardeners can share their passion. Also, more knowledge is gained in a communal setting.” Dolgin mentioned one gardener who grew unusual vegetables, including artichokes and tomatillos. “Gardeners connect more to a community [in a community garden] and to a sense of place. They feel that they are a part of something greater than themselves,” said Dolgin.
Some gardeners just need more space, said Nancy Kurtz of the Assistance League of Greeley, who coordinates the community garden at the Houston Gardens in Greeley. Several gardeners at Houston Gardens are apartment dwellers who can’t have a garden at home.
But community gardens also provide an avenue for community programs. Houston Gardens leases plots to a pre-school and to the Weld County Partners mentoring program.
A statement from The American Community Gardening Association states it best:

“The Association recognizes that community gardening improves the quality of life for people by providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food, reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education.”

Certainly, more than plants grow in a community garden.

In conjunction with the Timnath Founders Day Festival on Saturday, September 23, the Timnath Community Gardens is hosting a vegetable judging contest. If you have the best tomatoes in the neighborhood, this event is for you! Check-in for the event begins at 10am at the Timnath Community Garden and judging begins at 11:30am. You can enter in more than 30 vegetable categories, and also win a ribbon for the largest tomato, pumpkin or potato.

Have you ever raced zucchini? Now is your chance! The Founders Day Festival will have a Zucchini Race on September 23. Registration begins at the Timnath Community Garden at noon, with races starting at 12:30pm. Prizes will be award according to age, and special ribbons will be given for the most creative zucchini racecars!

For more information on the Timnath Founders Day Festival, please call Rose Moon at 970/412-4998.

If you are interested in participating in a community garden, contact one of the gardens listed below:

Gardens on Spring Creek (Fort Collins)
Plot Sizes: 10’x15’-- $40/plot; $20 deposit
Call: (970) 416-2486

Houston Gardens (Greeley)
Plot Sizes: 10’x60’-- $35, ½ plot-- $20
Call the Bargain Box Thrift Shop: (970) 353-2226

Timnath Community Garden (Timnath)
Plot Sizes: 16’x30’-- $30; 16x12-- $15
Email: gardens@timnathgardens.org

The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.

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This page updated:  September 28, 2006