Building Community Through Gardening – More on Capitol Hill’s Community Gardens
by Larry Janezich
Posted August 21, 2021
Community gardening is a global phenomenon and like its cousin, guerrilla gardening, it sprang from a grass roots movement. Both provide an additional dimension to the social fabric of the community and act as largely unacknowledged agents of community development, building community through legally sharing – or appropriating – common ground in a way that sustains the environment and improves neighborhoods. Capitol Hill community gardens tend to focus on food production. Guerrilla gardens focus on the ornamental. Both provide ways to make a meaningful contribution to the community. During the pandemic, many Capitol Hill gardeners found relief from social isolation in the community gardens. Some of the gardens have to be sought out – like Pomegranate Alley Community Garden; some are hidden in plain sight like the 13th Street Community Park and Garden and 1200 Potomac Avenue Community Garden.
Last week, CHC posted photos of four of Capitol Hill’s eleven Community Gardens – Hilton, King’s Court, Pomegranate Alley, and Virginia Avenue. Here are photos of the remaining seven. There are waiting lists for most garden plots; below, find contact information for all eleven.
Previously featured on CHC:
Hilton Community Garden. 6th Street between Constitution and C Streets, NE. 35 plots. mary.lifcher@gmail.com
King’s Court Community Garden 34 plots. In center of block bounded by 14th and 15th Streets and C Street and South Carolina Avenue, SE. Margaret.mook@gmail.com
Pomegranate Alley Community Garden 20 plots 911 11th Street, behind Ginko Gardens. mark@GinkgoGardens.com
Virginia Avenue Community Garden. 80 plots. In Virginia Avenue Park, 9th andVirginia Avenue, SE. This garden is part of the DPR Community Gardens program and maintained in part by DPR. See here for more information. https://dpr.dc.gov/page/community-gardens – contact commgarden@yahoo.com
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 