Friends of Burlington Gardens :: Vermont Community Garden Network

Group Garden Programs in Burlington

Group garden programs can flourish within a community, school, or neighborhood garden setting. In Burlington, group garden programs are managed by city departments, public and private schools, and a variety of nonprofit organizations and social service agencies. Group garden programs provide many social, educational, and recreational benefits to the community, but there are also many challenges involved in combining gardening with the other activities of the group.

Here are a few examples of group garden programs in Burlington:

The Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Garden was founded in 2002 by the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department to provide healthy activities for children and youth in the Old North End. The garden serves as a site for the Roosevelt Park summer lunch and recreation program during July and early August. Dan Cahill, who serves as a recreation coordinator with Burlington Parks and Recreation, has overseen the program since its inception. The garden is well respected and valued by adults and youth in the neighborhood.

Joseph's House is an outreach center, sponsored by St. Joseph's Church, which provides financial assistance, counseling, and group programs for low income Old North End residents.In the spring of 2005, Brian Callanan, who directs the outreach program at Joseph's House, asked FBG for assistance in designing a vegetable and flower garden. FBG staff worked with Brian and several clients of Joseph's House to construct the new garden, which is made of 4 x 4 cedar posts and filled with top soil. The garden is located on Allen Street and is easily maintained because it is "in sight, in mind."

The Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) Family Room, located at St. Joseph's School on Allen Street in Burlington, offers garden-based programming four days a week at the Winooski Valley Park Community Garden at Ethan Allen Homestead. The Family Room serves primarily families with young children from infants to kindergarten age. The VNA Family Room Garden is located in the southwest corner of the the WVP Community Garden. Programs also take place in the Children's Discovery Garden.

This page is just a sampling of group garden projects in Burlington. For more information on Project GEOS, in which FBG provides technical assistance to groups that are planning new neighborhood garden projects, please click on the education and outreach web page. For more information on garden programs for seniors and people with physical disabilities, please click on accessible gardens.

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Vermont Community Garden Network
180 Flynn Avenue Studio 3
PO Box 4504
Burlington, Vermont 05406-4504
802-861-GROW
www.burlingtongardens.org

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