2008 Parade Of Community Gardens

August 16th
10:00am -- 2:00pm

45 Community Gardens

Stillwater, Northfield and Mankato, and Twin Cities metro area

Take a self-guided tour or hang out at your neighborhood community garden and get to know these community spaces and the people that make it happen!

Experience the unique and individual gardening efforts happening around the state. Gardens will feature a variety of attractions including music, a labyrinth, cool treats, massage, chickens, heirloom tomato festival, a beehive and more!

Participating community gardens are featured on the map below.
Click on a garden to read more about the garden.

Download the Parade Brochure (includes map and garden addresses)

Navigating the Parade of Community Gardens: Helpful Hints

How do I decide which gardens to visit?
Print off the brochure, read the garden descriptions below and then map out your route based upon your interests! Stay in your neighborhood or visit across the Twin Cities!

What else should I bring with me when I go to the gardens?

• Suntan Lotion
• Water Bottle
• Camera
• Umbrella
• City Map

What if I can’t find a garden?
Gardens will have bright orange signs located on the way and at the garden.

Map of 2008 Parade of Community Gardens

Participating Community Gardens

1. Crystal Care Center Garden
3245 Vera Cruz Ave N

Our garden park has many accessible areas open to those who want to do some gardening (or have a "dirt manicure") and enjoy the outdoors to dig in the dirt, weeding, watering, or just sit and relax/meditate-with family or by themselves. Come learn more about the growing annuals, perennials to cut and bring in, and vegetables to snack on or cook with.

2. JD Rivers' Children's Garden
Glenwood Ave. & Washburn Ave. N

Stop by the JD Rivers' Children's Garden and meet our flock of chickens. Crawl through the caterpillar tunnel, sample tomatoes, view the worm composting condo, and explore the prairie. Take time to tour the many children's garden plots. Bring your lunch and picnic in the park - we'll provide dessert!

3. Kids Cook-Loring Schoolyard Garden
2600 44th Ave. N, south of Loring School at Thomas Ave. & 44th Ave. N

In the third year of cultivation, the garden has integrated its many teachings into the Loring Elementary school curriculum and is the outdoor classroom for Kids Cook. During the summer families of the school and community garden, harvest and celebrate with potluck picnics. Meet our gardeners while enjoying music, photography, garden inspired art and pizza.

4. Common Ground Community Garden
52nd & Newton Av N, north of Shingle Creek

Managed by area residents, this community garden features sustainable, native landscaping and plot gardens. Enjoy a tour of our prairie area, or relax by our winding shady path reminiscent of northern native woods. Sample our herb garden and see our raised vegetable beds. Visit us to learn more about the garden and how to become involved!

5. 15th Ave Community Garden
1312 15th Ave N

Our garden a project started this last spring about six different neighborhood households. The lot has set empty for the last four years plus. After getting permission to use the lot we have turned it into a flourishing vegetable garden. Come enjoy some free food and great conversation around the garden.

6. Lind Community Garden
51st & Dupont Ave N

Get a tour of this new community garden! With 10 raised beds for 20 plots, this garden sits on the grounds of Jenny Lind School in the Lind Bohanon neighborhood of North Minneapolis, in the same location as a garden created in the 70's by the principal of the original Jenny Lind School!

7. Camden Gateway Sculpture Garden
42nd Ave N and Lyndale Ave N

This block-long garden was created in 1996 by gardeners, neighborhood organizations and the Minneapolis Arts Council. Zoran Moisilov installed the stone sculptures and the Camden Garden Club planted and maintains the perennial garden. See the Sesquicentennial display of Camden historical photos and enjoy refreshments. We're located on the Grand Rounds, the bus line, and parking is across the street.

8. Soo Line Community Garden
2845 Garfield Ave. S (off the Midtown Greenway)

Located on the Midtown Greenway in the heart of Lyn-Lake, this Parks Board supported garden has over 100 gardeners who grow vegetables and flowers organically in individual plots. Community areas include an orchard, raspberry patch, and native plant monarch way-station. Enjoy food, drink, artists, music and scheduled events, gardening advice, and biking maps to other area community gardens.

9. Hawthorne Neighborhood Garden
2826 N 4th St

Sited on the site of a former crack house, Neighbors succeed in establishing this lot as an official community garden in 2002 when ownership passed from MCDA to the Sustainable Resource Center. This city lot contains vegetable and flower beds, lawns, and a few follies from gardening neighbors. Join us through the grape-vine covered front gate.

10. Sheila Wellstone Community Garden
3351 4th St. N, NE corner of school

A 2006 recipient of the Minneapolis Blooms Garden of Merit Award and adjacent to a city park, the garden has 25 plots, a rain garden, prairie garden, raspberry bushes, flowers, and benches to enjoy the breath-taking Minneapolis skyline. We'll have live music, salsa from the garden & chips, homemade lemonade, plus a veggie and fruit carving demo!

11. La Salle Community Garden
1729 & 1809 LaSalle Ave

Founded in 1997 from two vacant lots that were former crack houses, the gardens are separated by an apartment building. Each has their own unique personality and host interesting architectural elements installed by U of M architectural students (1999). Enjoy a message from one of our gardeners and enjoy tasty treats from the gardeners.

12. Eat Street Community Garden
2416 1st Ave. South, south of 2412 a purple victorian house

The Eat Street Community Garden exists as a unique collaboration between the adjacent Omega One cooperative house and Whittier neighborhood residents. We welcome visitors of all ages for a day of sunflower celebration filled with friendly garden chats, kiddy arts and crafts, root beer floats, random badminton matches and refreshing dips in a wading pool.

13. Youth Farm & Market Project - Powderhorn Neighborhood
3644 Chicago Ave S, north of the Baha'i Center

Visit the Powderhorn Youth Farm and Market Project at our Baha'i Farm. Enjoy shade, sun, yard games, tours, farm work, lemonade and treats. There are beautiful outdoor sculptures from the Speak Project, created by Baha'i youth. Bike, bus, walk or drive- a perfect picnic or nap destination.

14. The ArtStop Garden
3201 Chicago Ave S, SE corner

Our garden began eighteen years ago when neighbors transformed this bus stop corner filled with weeds, tires, broken cement, and little hope into another Powderhorn Neighborhood symbol of revitalization. Now this peaceful garden of flowers, trees and sculpture is the setting for arts activities, plantings, harvestings and community gatherings. Enjoy green space, "family garden art" activities, water and snacks.

15. Brian Coyle Community Garden
1515 Chicago Ave S

Nestled in the heart of Elliot Park neighborhood bordering downtown Minneapolis, the garden bookmarks Buri Manor. Learn more about the garden's kids gardening program and visit the eclectic variety of gardens, from those gardening herbs and vegetables to a beautiful array of flowers. Enjoy the brilliant annuals that ring the walking path in the memorial garden.

16. 12th & 13th Avenue Block Club Garden
2728 12th Ave.

This Midtown Phillips garden began in 1996 as a block club crime and safety initiative. Its success is linked to the success of the neighborhood. In 2001 we purchased the lot, becoming the first resident-owned community garden in Minneapolis. Stop by, relax and enjoy the garden with us!

17. Bancroft Meridian Garden
12th Ave & 38th St., SE corner

The Meridian and the Chicago Avenue Fire Art's Center invite you to see our blooms, new compost bin, and metal art sculptures created by neighborhood artists working with CAFAC. Stop by to see these and more changes at the Meridian, meet the CAFAC folks, and enjoy a cool beverage.

18. Powderhorn Park East Community Garden
3217 15th Ave S

Started in 1995 with a block club grant, Jenny Jenkins purchased the narrow lot adjacent to her home in 2000 and began coordinating the garden. This year we have 13 gardeners from the Powderhorn neighborhood. For the Parade, each gardener will contribute one recipe using garden ingredients, and we will give away booklets containing all the recipes.

19. East Phillips 17th Avenue Community Garden
2428 17th Ave S

Started in the 1990s as a gorilla garden to reclaim the empty lots left from three burned-out houses and prevent drug dealers and others from using the lots. Neighbors built an impressive garden entrance and fencing, bringing together this multiracial community. Get a tour and enjoy lemonade, conversation, and shelter under our tarp from the sun.

20. 18th Avenue Green
18th Ave & 33rd St, on the corner

The 18th Avenue Green began in its current location in 2006 after being bumped from a block away when a house was built on the former site. We are a very young community garden with lots of dreams. We're currently growing flowers and vegetables in about a dozen plots and we have two child play structures. Drop by for refreshments and treats, especially if you're on the South Minneapolis garden bike tour, and enter a drawing for prizes!

21. Cedar Highrise Gardens

4 gardens...

• 620 Cedar Ave S.
• 630 Cedar Ave S
• 1611 S 6th St
• 1627 S 6th St

The Cedar Highrise Community consists of new immigrants, elderly and disabled people living in the four Minneapolis Public Housing highrises whose gardens are in the Parade. Most gardens feature beautiful flowers and some small vegetable gardens. Through gardening, we are working through barriers of age and culture to work together to make our lives and our city more attractive and beautiful. Together we make a difference.

22. Augsburg Community Garden
20th Ave and 6th St, SE Corner

Our garden is in its first full season of operation and consists of 40 individual plots open to produce, flower, and perennial gardening. A cooperative effort between Augsburg College, immediate neighbors, and various organizations in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, the garden space also contains a brand new labyrinth and native plantings in the border. Come see our progress!

23. Grassy Knoll Garden
Johnson Street NE and 16th Ave NE, at the corner. Go to end of the Johnson Street NE extension (about ½ block from 18th Ave NE)

The "Grassy Knoll" is a perennial garden and grove of trees and a gateway welcoming visitors and residents to the neighborhood. Neighbors adopted this large area in 2005 and reclaimed and beautified the space. A sculpture trellis called "Wind in the Trees" was added this spring.

24. Waite Park Community Garden
3601 Johnson St NE

Waite Park Community Garden was established 1998. The quarter of an acre garden is nicely fenced in and sits on CP railroad land at 3601 Johnson St NE Minneapolis. The garden holds 69 six-inch raised plots (roughly 12' x 12' or equivalent) and two handicap plots. The garden provides dirt, compost, wood chips and a pressurized water system with spigots located through out the garden.

25. Minnehaha Avenue Community Garden
3128 Minnehaha Ave. S

In it's 11th season, the garden is a project of the Longfellow Community Council and started with Neighborhood Revitalization Funds. Neighbors come to grow vegetables with some herbs and flowers. Learn more about our outreach with the VA and a medicinal herb plot and enjoy a beverage and snack supplied by this season's gardeners.

26. Accord Community Garden
15th Ave. & Como Ave. SE, SW corner

Pause to refresh yourself at the Accord Community Garden beneath the towering wind chime sculpture from which this spot gets its' name. Join us in this small but unique native plant garden for birthday cake to celebrate while gathering info on native plant gardening from a Hennepin County Master Gardener.

27. OWLS Garden

26th Ave SE and Weeks Ave on the RR easement. Take the alley easement that heads SW off of Weeks between 25th and 26th Ave towards the RR tracks, the garden is on the left after the tracks.

The OWLS Garden is on a RR easement near Mannings Bar on Como Ave. We are a communally managed garden where all land is gardened by all gardeners and harvest is shared amongst us and twelve seniors from the neighborhood. Come see our 250 gallon rain barrel water tower used for watering our veggies. It's worth finding!

28. Dowling Community Garden
39th St. & 46th Ave S

Heirloom Festival 11am-2pm. It's Dowling Garden's 65th Anniversary! Join us for a celebration of old-fashioned varieties. Taste flavorful tomatoes and peppers, learn how to make natural dyes, attend a gardening seminar, and stroll through this historic Victory Garden. For a schedule of events, visit www.DowlingCommunityGarden.org.

29. Saint Anthony Park Community Garden
2217 Robbins St., northside of Robbins St. & west of Raymond Ave.

The community garden was established in 1981 by neighborhood gardening enthusiasts. The organic garden includes ninety-six plots of three types: perennial, plowed, and flower. During the Parade of Community Gardens you can learn more about this large community-council owned garden, browse the garden for new ideas, eat treats, and meet neighbors.

30. Cornercopia Student Organic Farm
Corner of Cleveland & Larpenteur Aves

A student-run certified organic farm on the UMN St. Paul Campus! Students plan out the season in the spring and summer interns see the plan through the season. We grow 100+ varieties of fruits and vegetables, and a small flock of laying hens, who range the pasture in chicken tractors! Tour the farm! Taste 25 varieties of heirloom tomatoes!

31. Falcon Heights Community Garden
2050 Roselawn Ave, in the Falcon Heights Community Park (Roselawn & Cleveland), SW of park building

With Falcon Heights' large number of apartment/townhome dwellers, and many home lots blessed with mature shade trees (but not a lot of garden sunshine!), the garden provides a much needed resource to our city and to the residents who grow vegetables, flowers, herbs and neighborly relationships. Come for a tour and learn more!

32. Celeste's Dream Community Garden
1884 Randolph Ave, south of Carondelet Center

The garden is supported by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and is located just east of the College of St. Catherine. A lovely grass labyrinth, oak savanna and restored prairie surround the garden - a spiritual oasis! This year, we are incorporating permaculture techniques and have planted a few perennials such as asparagus and medicinal herbs.

33. Hancock Inquiry Garden
1599 Englewood Ave

This schoolyard garden is used for environmental science instruction at Hancock School. We are trying to attract and support birds and butterflies in our urban setting. Come see the student-made decorations of mosaic pavers and ceramic tiles and join us for art and beverages in the garden!

34. Midway Greenspirit Community Garden
SW corner of Pierce Butler & Hamline Ave. N, enter from Albert St. N.

Organized and run by the Midway Greenspirit Gardeners since 2003, gardeners have been working to create a place for people to garden together, build community and beautify our neighborhood. This year we added beekeeping to the garden! Come see and learn more about the first beehive associated with a community garden in the Twin Cities!

35. Eleanor Graham Community Garden
1335 Ashland Ave, 2 blocks north of Summit Ave at the intersection of Hamline Ave & Ayd Mill Road

A 37-plot garden (mainly vegetables) with a small orchard and a hazelnut patch in its early stages. A compost bin was installed last fall. Join many of the gardeners during our monthly workday and learn more about the garden while working side by side! Learn about the garden redesign that we hope to complete next year.

36. Community Design Center
731 E 7th St, next to Swede Hollow Café

The Community Design Center's teen Garden Corps interns will proudly provide tours of their beautiful garden and sell their fresh vegetables, herbs and flowers alongside one of the best outdoor patios in the metro area. The Garden Corps Program trains approximately 25 St. Paul youth each year in sustainable agriculture.

37. Phalen Poetry Park
988 Ivy Ave. East, in Phalen Regional Park, east of MN Humanities Commission's parking lot, located between Forest and Earl St. on Ivy Ave

The East Side Arts Council sponsors this small, almost hidden garden. Playfully designed as a sleepy dragon whose spikes of feather reed grass encircle a dry pebble pond where children hop from stone to stone. Benches cast in the shape of open books invite contemplation and enjoyment of the plantings.

38. Phalen Village Community Garden
1530 East Maryland Ave, S of Maryland Ave westside of Hazelwood St, mid-block

Authentic Hmong gardens at work! Come and see the traditional and cultural crops growing on the Eastside of St. Paul, similar to the mountaintops of Laos, homeland to the largest Hmong population in the USA. You won't want to miss out on taking a tour of Southeast Asian Gardens. Food tasting & recipe available.

39. Prosperity Park Community Garden
1595 Maryland Ave

Come check and get a tour of the newest Food Community Garden on the Eastside of St. Paul! Lots of thriving Southeast Asian traditional vegetables. Great opportunity to learn more about our traditions and culture while tasting our cultural foods. And learn some recipes at the same time!

40. Meadowlark Garden
Hwy 12 one block West of Manning Avenue/Hwy 15, about one mile North of 36.

The garden is 11 years old this year! Set in a rural landscape outside Stillwater, the community garden is surrounded by cropland, and has 30 individual plots of vegetables, grains, asparagus, berries and herbs. Come learn more, including our fruit trees, wildlife habitat, grapevines, foodshelf garden and our small shelter cabin!

41. Mankato Community Garden
170 Good Counsel Dr

The Mankato Community Gardens are located on the former farm site of the School Sisters of Notre Dame atop a sacred hill overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. With an historic and picturesque dairy barn at the heart of the gardens, neighbors and families gather to grow organic food and nurture a self-sufficient and empowered community. Gardening practices from around the world reflect the growing cultural diversity of Mankato in the 250 available garden plots.

42. Greenvale Park Community Garden
700 Lincoln Parkway

Come visit and get a tour of this small town community garden in its second year and growing! Our 30+ plots in this garden have transformed one end of a vast empty school yard into a wonderful profusion of color, with vegetables, flowers and scarecrows!