Southwest Community Gardens

Being — 2013 — Lansburgh Park, DC

Southwest Community Gardens

The SW Community Garden is the result of community leadership, design collaboration, and sustained participation.

Opened in 2013, the garden has 37 total plots, two of which are accessible. The information below is excperted from the Southwest Community Garden Website https://swgardens.org/

Connecting Communities

Lansburgh Park is located in Southwest DC and was created during the post-World War II urban renewal phase. The Lansburgh Park Community Garden Group plans to use the park to help members of the diverse SW community grow food individually, and collectively, in a communal farming section, with the goal of bringing neighbors together, and improving the area’s access to local, healthy food.

Community Engagement

A key objective for the Garden Group is to have people from all ages and backgrounds take part in the garden’s development, helping to make it a beneficial component of the neighborhood. The Garden Group will run summer youth programs on sustainable urban farming for students attending Amidon-Bowen Elementary School and Jefferson Middle School, hold garden parties, grow community requested crops, and offer volunteers an opportunity to exchange the time they work in the garden for free goods and services through time banking.

Growing Fresh Produce

The Garden’s communal and individual plots will be used to grow seasonal fruits and vegetables that will be consumed by Southwest DC residents. Growing one’s own produce can save households large sums of money on their grocery bills and also gives residents more control over where their food comes from, and greater oversight of how it is grown and harvested. Lansburgh Park Community Garden will adopt organic and sustainable gardening practices that preserve the soil, environment, and surrounding wildlife for future generations.

Photos by Ryan Moody