milwaukee community gardens, current trends and recommendations

8/8/2019 MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY GARDENS, Current Trends and Recommendations

1/50

MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY GARDENS

Current Trends and Recommendations

University of Wisconsin MilwaukeeSchool of Architecture & Urban Planning


2/50

MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY GARDENS

Current Trends and Recommendations

Matthew B. Mikolajewski

May 2002


3/50

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

This report was made possible by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and

through the support of the Wisconsin Food System Partnership and the Milwaukee

Urban Food Systems Initiative.

As an urban planning graduate student, the preparation of this report was

extremely beneficial. I must acknowledge those individuals who significantly contributed

to this report, and in turn, my education. Professor Welford Sanders, of the University of

Wisconsin Milwaukee, Department of Urban Planning, provided valuable input and

assistance throughout all stages of this project and report.Through meetings and informal discussions, the following individuals provided a

wealth of information about community gardening in Milwaukee and elsewhere: Mike

Salinas, Milwaukee Urban Gardens Inc.; Dennis Lukaszewski, University of Wisconsin

Extension; Will Allen, Growing Power; Mark Weaver, U.S. Forest Service Americas

Outdoors Program; Martin Bailkey, University of Wisconsin Madison Department of

Landscape Architecture; Sharon Adams, Walnut Way Conservation Corps.; Tim Locke,

Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee; Prof. Jerry Kaufman, University of Wisconsin

Madison Department of Urban and Regional Planning; and the Milwaukee CommunityGardening Coalition meeting attendees.

Matthew B. Mikolajewski, May 2002


4/50

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .... 1

THE GARDENS ..... 3Rental ... 4

School .... 5

Youth .. 5

Demonstration ... 6

Accessible ..... 6

Neighborhood ... 7

COMMUNITY GARDENING ORGANIZATIONS ...... 8

Milwaukee Community Gardening Coalition..... 9

Milwaukee Urban Gardens Inc. ....... 9

University of Wisconsin Extension... 9

U.S. Forest Service...... 9

Growing Power...... 10

Milwaukee Community Service Corp. ...... 10

Hunger Task Force... 10

City of Milwaukee .... 11

Milwaukee County.... 11

Community Based Organizations ... 11

MAJOR ISSUES ..... 12

Land Tenure .......... 13

Zoning ..... 15

Planning .. 16

Location and Design . 17

Maintenance ... 18

Organization ... 19

Funding ... 19

Government Cooperation.. 19

Public Education ... 20


5/50

CASE STUDIES ..... 21

Seattle, Washington... 22

Portland, Oregon 23

San Francisco, California.. 23

Boston, Massachusetts..24

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania... 25

Madison, Wisconsin... 26

RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 27

Community Gardening Organizations. 28

City of Milwaukee... 30

Milwaukee County.. 31

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.. 31

CONCLUSION . 32

REFERENCES .... 33

APPENDIX A: COMMUNITY GARDEN CONTACTS ... 29

APPENDIX B: COMMUNITY GARDEN MAPS ..38


6/50

LIST OF FIGURES

Cover: 5th Street and Mineral Street

Figure 1: 3

rd

Street & Bruce Street - rental garden .. 4Figure 2: 23rd Street & Ramsey Street - Victory School garden . 5

Figure 3: Demonstration garden .. 6

Figure 4: Garden Park - neighborhood garden . 7

Source: www.ouropenspaces.org

Figure 5: Garden Park Farmers Market .. 7

Figure 6: Garden Park 7

Figure 7: 5th Street & Mineral Street - rental garden .. 14

Figure 8: Seattle P-Patch Garden. 22

Source: www.cityofseattle.net

Figure 9: Village of Arts and Humanities - Philadelphia 25

Source: www.villagearts.org

Figure 10: Troy Gardens Plan - Madison 26

Source: http://designcoalition.org

Figure 11: 5th Street & Roger Street rental garden . 31

Unless otherwise noted, photographs are from the authors collection.


7/50

Milwaukee Community Gardens 1

INTRODUCTION

Milwaukee County is home to dozens of community gardens, serving a diverse

set of individuals and needs. For some, community gardening is a hobby. Communitygardening enables others on a limited food budget the ability to supplement their diet

with fresh produce. Community gardens provide open, green space within dense urban

neighborhoods, and teach area youth about the environment, while giving the elderly a

chance to stay active.

Community gardens within Milwaukee can be broadly described as rental,

school, youth, demonstration, accessible, or neighborhood. Numerous organizations

commit time, talent, and financial resources towards the maintenance and promotion of

community gardens throughout Milwaukee County. These organizations include the

Milwaukee Community Garden Coalition, Milwaukee Urban Gardens Inc., the University

of Wisconsin Extension (Milwaukee County), and Growing Power.

Although Milwaukee has a strong base of community gardens, there are some

improvements that can and should be made. Community gardens are currently

protected by local zoning ordinances and plans on a very limited basis. As such, the

land tenure of garden sites, frequently on publicly owned parcels, is often precarious. In

a similar manner, local government officials have not fully recognized the value of

community gardens as a way to improve and maintain residential neighborhoods.

Although most gardens are well managed, and provide an aesthetic improvement to

their surrounding neighborhoods, the ability of community garden organizations to

provide the funding and human capital required to fully maintain and expand gardens is

a source of concern.

All of these issues can be resolved, and have been resolved elsewhere in the

country. With renewed vigilance on the part of community gardeners, and increased

support from government officials, community gardening can remain an important and

valuable land use within Milwaukee.

This report describes the current status of community gardening in Milwaukee

County. First, a description of the types of community gardens is presented. This is

followed by a discussion about organizations that are currently involved with gardening

throughout Milwaukee. Next, some of the major issues facing gardens are examined.


8/50


This is followed by a series of case studies to show how many of the issues facing

Milwaukees community gardens are being addressed elsewhere. Finally, a series of

recommendations for how Milwaukees community gardens can be improved is

presented.

This report is written primarily for three groups of individuals. First, there are the

gardeners, who create, maintain, and preserve community gardens within Milwaukee.

This report summarizes what these individuals already know, while providing

suggestions on how community gardening can be improved. The second target

audience includes civic leaders and municipal employees who have influence over the

presence of community gardens throughout the Milwaukee metro region. This report

encourages these individuals to view community gardening as a legitimate land use,

worthy of further protection and promotion. County residents are the third group. This

report provides a summary for those individuals who would like to become more involved

with gardening in the Milwaukee area.


9/50


THE GARDENS

Community gardens can be found at several dozen locations throughout

Milwaukee County (Appendix B). These locations can be broadly described as rental,

school, youth, demonstration, accessible, or neighborhood gardens. Some locations are

a combination of these garden types.


10/50


Rental Gardens

Rental gardens are locations where people can rent garden plots for their

personal use. University of Wisconsin Extension (Milwaukee County) maintains over

1500 rental garden plots at thirteen locations throughout the county. Extension

employees prepare the locations for planting, provide water, and give technical advice to

gardeners. A 400 square foot garden plot rents for $15.00 a season, and a 900 square

foot plot rents for $25.00. Typically, these garden plots have 85% occupancy with an

annual turnover rate of about 20%. Over half of Extension garden locations are over ten

years old.

Extension rental gardens vary in size, form, and ownership status. With over 800

garden plots, the Milwaukee County Grounds (City of Wauwatosa) community garden is

the largest maintained by Extension. At the other end of the extreme, Extensions 3rd

Street & Bruce Street location contains only ten plots, and is nestled within a single lot

owned by the City of Milwaukee. Most Extension rental garden sites have 20-30 plots

on parcels owned by the City of Milwaukee. Although vegetables are most commonly

grown at rental garden locations, one will also find annual and perennial flowers.

Extension rental garden locations attract people from varying socioeconomic

backgrounds. Generally, renters at the County Grounds are individuals who travel from

outside the immediate area to garden. Those gardeners within the smaller,

neighborhood gardens are mostly local residents.

Figure 1: 3rd Street & Bruce Street


11/50


School Gardens

School gardens help to enrich the curriculum at seven local public and private

schools. School administrators and teachers generally maintain these locations. As

they are intended to help teachers assist with their environmental and natural science

classes, these gardens contain all sorts of vegetables and flowers, and are used for a

variety of different activities. School gardens, such as the one located at Victory School

(23rd Street & Ramsey Street), can greatly improve the appearance of the campus and

surrounding neighborhood. This garden includes a pathway and benches to be enjoyed

by all residents in the area.

Youth Gardens

Youth gardens, found at four locations throughout Milwaukee, provide area

children with educational and community building activities. Unlike school gardens,

youth gardens are not operated by the staff of a specific school. For example, Lynden

Hill (23rd Street & McKinley Boulevard) is a three acre youth environmental education

garden developed in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Services Americas Outdoors

program and the Milwaukee Public School District.

Figure 2: 23rd Street & Ramsey Street


12/50


Demonstration Gardens

Demonstration gardens, found at four locations, educate the public about the

importance of urban agriculture, while providing gardeners with valuable information. An

excellent example can be found at Growing Power (55th Street & Silver Spring Drive).

Growing Power staff provide formal and informal training sessions for people interested

in learning how to maximize the benefits of their garden plots.

Accessible Gardens

Accessible gardens provide space for gardeners with special needs at four

locations throughout Milwaukee County. These garden plots are often in the form of

raised beds that allow individuals with wheel chairs and walkers to garden. These

community gardens are available at public locations, such as Grant Park (City of South

Milwaukee), and private facilities, such as the St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care

(City of St. Francis).

Figure 3: Demonstration Garden


13/50


Neighborhood Gardens

Neighborhood gardens provide valuable green space within urban

neighborhoods at sixteen locations throughout the county. These gardens are

maintained by a variety of individuals and organizations. Garden Park (Bremen Street &

Locust Street) was a vacant lot that has been transformed into an attractive corner along

a busy city thoroughfare. Complete with public art and benches, Garden Park provides

a green oasis for residents of the surrounding Riverwest neighborhood.

Figure 5: Garden Park Farmers MarketFigure 4: Garden Park

Source: www.ouropenspaces.org

Figure 6: Garden Park


14/50


COMMUNITY GARDENING ORGANIZATIONS

Metro Milwaukee residents and civic leaders are fortunate to have numerous

organizations committed to fostering community gardens. Through time, talent, and

financial resources, the individuals within these organizations have sought to promote,

maintain, and expand gardens throughout Milwaukee County. Some of these

organizations are described next.


15/50


Milwaukee Community Gardening Coalition

The Milwaukee Community Gardening Coalition (MCGC) serves as a semi-

formal network of concerned citizens and professionals. Through monthly meetings,

coalition members seek to promote the long-term protection and sustenance of

community gardens in addition to providing training, education, support and resources

to groups interested in establishing community gardens and other neighborhood-scale

green spaces throughout Milwaukee County (MCGC 2000). Many members of the

additional organizations listed below are in regular attendance at MCGC meetings. As

such, the coalition serves as a centralized institution for supporting community gardening

within Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Urban Gardens Inc.

This new non-profit organization has created a land trust for the purpose of

purchasing and developing land for community gardens. Milwaukee Urban Gardens Inc.

provides education, design guidance, and some maintenance assistance to groups of

individuals interested in gardening the sites that they obtain.

University of Wisconsin Extension

The Extensions Urban Agriculture Program coordinates several gardening

activities in the region. These include the Accessible Garden Program, Project SEEDS

(School Environmental Education Demonstration Sites), Project FEEDS (Food and

Ecosystem Educational Demonstration Sites), and rental garden plots. Extension staff

provide gardening information and assistance to the public.

U.S. Forest Service

The Americas Outdoors program, of the U.S. Forest Service, promotes the

creation and protection of public open spaces, including community gardens, throughout

Milwaukee. Although the Forest Service does not maintain direct control over these


16/50


public spaces, the agency acts as a link between federal programs and local open space

efforts. The Americas Outdoors program provides environmental education for central

city youth.

Growing Power

This not-for-profit organization is involved in a number of urban food system

activities, including education, growing, processing, and retailing. Growing Power

maintains its own greenhouses, demonstration gardens, and retail establishment within

the City of Milwaukee. Growing Power hosts urban agriculture workshops and educates

school children about food system issues. Growing Power actively supports youth

entrepreneurial activities by aiding students in aquaculture (fish farming) and

vermiculture (the production of compost from worm castings). Students learn valuable

environmental and economic lessons, while earning money at the same time.

Milwaukee Community Service Corp.

In addition to its numerous landscaping projects throughout the City of

Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Community Service Corp. helps to maintain several

community gardens.

Hunger Task Force

Hunger Task Force supports the use of community gardens as a way of

combating food scarcity problems within the city. Although they currently do not

maintain any community gardens, they may be willing to do so as resources become

available.


17/50


City of Milwaukee

The City of Milwaukee provides short-term leases for individuals who would like

to garden on city-owned vacant lots. In general, the city does not view gardens as

permanent, and the sites are often developed into other uses when such opportunities

become available. Along with city administrators, the local Alderpersons play a crucial

role in the presence and permanence of community gardens within their districts. If an

Alderperson does not support a garden within their district, it stands less of a chance of

remaining a permanent fixture within that neighborhood.

Milwaukee County

For decades, rental garden plots have been located within the County Grounds

(City of Wauwatosa). In recent years, the county has sold a substantial amount of its

land holdings to private entities, removing garden plots. Although the county appears to

be willing to work with gardeners to relocate their plots, permanence of community

gardens on county land remains somewhat uncertain.

Community Based Organizations

Numerous community-based organizations exist throughout the Milwaukee area.

Many of these groups have the financial, personnel, and organizational structure

available to maintain a community garden. Each of these organizations would benefit

from community building activities associated with gardening. These organizations

should be included in the creation and maintenance of gardens throughout Milwaukee.

For example, the Walnut Way Conservation Corps. is using several community

gardens for community building and fundraising activities. Likewise, Garden Park serves

as a centerpiece for Riverwest neighborhood organizations.

Ultimately, it is the residents of Milwaukee who will determine whether or not

community gardens are considered a legitimate land use that should be located within

their neighborhoods. Likewise, Milwaukeeans will be the ones who are most benefited

by the presence of gardens within their community.


18/50


MAJOR ISSUES

A literature review and consultations with the organizations highlighted above

revealed the following issues that should be addressed at this time.


19/50


Land Tenure

Most community gardens are located on vacant, city-owned lots or county-owned

land. As alternative uses for the land arise, the gardens are often removed. For

example, the proposal to construct a new Super K-mart (20th Street & Garfield Avenue)

may necessitate the removal of a large rental and youth garden. Although this retail

establishment will greatly benefit the residents and economy of the surrounding

neighborhood, one must recognize that the store might be built at the expense of

community gardeners. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of

community gardens removed to fulfill similar development purposes. University of

Wisconsin Extension has lost about half of the nearly 3000 rental garden plots it

operated in 1997.

The relationship between community gardening and vacant parcels owned by the

City of Milwaukee must be further scrutinized. The city has assumed ownership of

hundreds of vacant parcels, and the number continues to grow. Although the city

actively attempts to redevelop these sites, many are and will not be developed in the

foreseeable future.

One reason developers shy away from these parcels is because they are located

within central city neighborhoods that are not considered attractive for new commercial

or residential development. The presence of community gardens, and other positive

amenities, could make these neighborhoods more attractive to new investment. The

City of Milwaukee must recognize the intrinsic value of community gardens, and their

role in neighborhood redevelopment activities.

Ironically, the ability of community gardens to improve neighborhoods can lead to

their own demise. Efforts must be taken to ensure that community gardens are

preserved in the face of potential development pressure. In other words, civic leaders

could use community gardens to help improve neighborhoods, recognizing that they

must be protected once the neighborhood has been rehabilitated.

The importance of protecting community gardens does not apply to only central

city neighborhoods, but to all locations throughout the county. County and other

municipal officials must recognize that community gardens located within more stable

and economically healthy neighborhoods can help ensure that communities stay that

way.


20/50


One may argue that community gardeners can simply move to another vacant

parcel once a proposal is submitted for a site that already contains a garden.

Unfortunately, this policy is a great waste of resources. It takes countless people hours,

hundreds of dollars of supplies, and years for urban soil to be cultivated into fertile

ground. In addition, the fences, paths, and sitting areas that often accompany gardens

are often wasted once a garden is removed. Every effort must be taken to ensure that

actively used, fertile garden plots are preserved and maintained.

Land tenure is a major priority among community gardeners within Milwaukee. In

addition to strengthening the preservation of gardens on underutilized county land and

vacant city parcels, additional alternatives for finding garden space must be explored.

These options may include the outright purchase of land by gardening groups or the use

of existing public open space, such as school sites, to create gardens. For example,

within Seattle, Washington, community gardens are located on city-owned parkland

(Seattles Park and Recreation Plan 2000). Likewise, Milwaukee Urban Gardens is

currently purchasing land for garden purposes. The positive and negative aspects of

each of these alternatives within Milwaukee must be continually explored.

Figure 7: Decorated fence at 5th Street & Mineral Street


21/50


Zoning

Directly related to the notion of land tenure is zoning. Currently, the City of

Milwaukee does not have zoning provisions that exclusively allow for, or protect,

community gardens. As a result, community gardens are often on sites zoned for other

uses, such as residential or commercial. When development proposals that are

consistent with the underlying zoning of a site evolve, gardeners have little recourse to

protect the elimination of their sites.

In other communities, such as Portland, Oregon, community gardening has

already been written into the citys zoning ordinance. The Portland zoning code defines

park and open areas as:

uses of land focusing on natural areas, large areas consisting mostly ofvegetative landscaping or outdoor recreation, community gardens, orpublic squares (City of Portland, 33.920.460)

The ordinance goes further to specify that with special limitations, community gardens

are allowed within all residential, commercial, and open space zones of the city. In fact:

uses in the Park and Open Areas category are allowed by right (City of

Portland, 33.100.100, 33.110.100, 33.120.100, 33.130.100).

It is interesting to note the manner in which community gardening has been

written into this ordinance. The code states that gardens are a permissible use within

each of the larger, primary use districts. As such, gardeners do not need to make a

special effort to have the zoning changed to protect their land. In the future, if gardeners

were to decide that they no longer wish to garden a particular site, the parcel could be

converted to the primary zoned use without any zoning change. This ordinance provides

both land security and flexibility. Similar language should be incorporated into the City of

Milwaukee zoning ordinance.


22/50


Planning

Comprehensive and neighborhood plans often include provisions for public open

space, generally in the form of parks and playgrounds, not gardens. One exception to

this practice is the comprehensive plan for Seattle, Washington (Seattle Department of

Neighborhoods and Friends of P-Patch 2000). The open space network portion of this

plan supports:

uses such as strolling, sitting, viewing, picnicking, public gathering, andcommunity gardening (Seattles Comprehensive Plan Land UseElement, Goal 71)

The plan goes into further detail and specifies:

one dedicated community garden for each 2,500 households (SeattlesComprehensive Plan Land Use Element, Urban Village Open Space andRecreation Facility Goals)

Seattles comprehensive plan also includes suggestions as to who should increase

community gardening within the city, and where the gardens should be located. The

plan seeks to:

promote inter-agency and intergovernmental cooperation to expandcommunity gardening opportunities, and include P-Patch communitygardening among priorities for use of City surplus property (SeattlesComprehensive Plan Land Use Element, Policy 152).

There are a couple of important issues to note when reviewing Seattles

Comprehensive Plan. First, it indicates desired locations to be used as community

gardens. These include surplus, presumably vacant, city land and parks. Furthermore,

the plan outlines the city agencies that should be responsible for developing new

community gardens. Finally, the comprehensive plan even specifies the number (one

for every 2500 households) of gardens that are desired within the city.

Similar, detailed language should be a part of plans for Milwaukee. The inclusion

of urban gardens in community plans is especially important in light of recent Wisconsin

Smart Growth legislation. This new legislation requires that every municipality in the


23/50


state must prepare and adopt a comprehensive plan by 2010, and their zoning

ordinance must be consistent with this plan. The City of Milwaukee is just beginning

their comprehensive planning process. As such, this is an opportune time to have

community gardens placed within the citys planning agenda. Furthermore, the inclusion

of gardens within these plans should qualify this use for community block grant funding.

Location and Design

Some object to community gardens because they are not always maintained in

the most aesthetically pleasing manner. Naturally, this does not have to be the case.

Community gardens can be very attractive public open spaces. A couple of texts have

highlighted what needs to be considered when making decisions about the location and

layout of a garden site (Naimark 1982, Sommers 1984).

Many of the ideas presented in these texts are reflected in a set of site

assessment guidelines that have been developed by Milwaukee Urban Gardens. The

issues considered by Milwaukee Urban Gardens when choosing a location for a new

garden include soil, light, drainage, water, distance to major streets, views, slope, site

layout, neighboring buildings and uses, and accessibility (Milwaukee Urban Gardens

2001a). Likewise, when choosing a site, Milwaukee Urban Gardens looks to the

surrounding neighborhood to determine whether or not a community garden is included

in any neighborhood plans, neighborhood demographics, amount of public open space

already within the neighborhood, and the proximity of existing community gardens to the

proposed location (Milwaukee Urban Gardens 2001a). When taken into thoughtful

consideration, all of these ideas will help one chose an appropriate site for a community

garden. This is the first critical step in developing an effective garden design.

Once a suitable site is located, one must develop an appropriate landscape plan

in order to create an aesthetically pleasing environment within. Milwaukee Urban

Gardens has developed a set of guidelines that it uses when developing a landscape

plan for its gardens. These include providing raised garden beds, mulched pathways,

attractive fencing, well-designed compost bins, sitting and socializing areas, childrens

play areas, garden sheds, public art, and lighting (Milwaukee Urban Gardens 2001b).

Finally, special attention must be given to the perimeter of the garden. Vegetable

gardens may not always appear attractive, especially during the winter months.


24/50


Decorative fencing, combined with colorful flowers, vines, and shrubs can be used to

define the edge of the garden, and partially screen undesirable aspects from adjacent

streets and neighbors. The purpose is not to block the garden from the street. This

could create an unsafe environment for gardeners, and will not create the welcome

feeling that gardens are intended to provide. Rather, the perimeter acts as a transition

between the built-up neighborhood and the urban agriculture taking place within.

The use of a professional landscape architect to develop a landscape plan for a

community garden is ideal; however, if one cannot afford the technical assistance, he or

she can take the landscape elements discussed here into consideration on his or her

own to develop a well-designed community garden. Furthermore, students at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Landscape Architecture, may be willing

to design Milwaukee community gardens as part of their course work. Likewise,

practicing landscape architects may be willing to provide some pro-bono design

guidance to organizations within their own neighborhoods and the surrounding

community. Design resources such as these should be explored as one begins to plan a

community garden.

Maintenance

Even if a successful design is implemented at a garden site, the garden will

require continued maintenance to keep it aesthetically pleasing and functional. Garden

maintenance requires time and financial resources. Several organizations, including the

Milwaukee Community Service Corps., University of Wisconsin Extension, Growing

Power, and gardeners currently provide garden maintenance. No new community

garden should be developed unless thorough attention is given to a maintenance plan

for the site. This plan should include information about the individuals and organizations

responsible for various maintenance tasks, when the different maintenance tasks should

occur, who will pay for necessary maintenance, and what will happen if individuals or

organizations do not fulfill their maintenance requirements. If community gardens are to

be considered a legitimate land use in the eyes of local officials, they must follow a set of

maintenance standards, just like other land uses.


25/50


Organization

As indicated earlier in this paper, there are a variety of different organizations

working to promote and maintain community gardens throughout the area. Often, the

activities of one organization may overlap the activities of another, leading to some

inefficiency of community resources. The Milwaukee Community Gardening Coalition

(MCGC) is working to create more organization among Milwaukees gardening

community.

Funding

Garden acquisition, development, and maintenance require funding. Are

gardeners within Milwaukee currently making full use of all the sources of funding that

are available to them, including public and private contacts? One potential source of

funding that should be explored in greater detail is the sale of produce and value added

products from community gardens. Not only could this help to offset the operating costs

of community gardens, but it could also provide valuable lessons about entrepreneurial

activities, especially to young people.

Special attention must be given to maintenance related funding. Although one

may be able to acquire land with relatively little cost, either through leasing from the city

or county, or from gifts made by private landowners, the funds required for long-term

maintenance may not be as easily acquired. Every community garden within Milwaukee

should have a funding plan, highlighting operating and capital improvement costs, and

funding sources.

Government Cooperation

Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee should do more to encourage

community gardening. Community gardens do not generate property tax revenue. In

this time of tight budgets, county and city officials want to do all they can to increase

their tax bases. Tax-exempt community gardens may be viewed as an obstacle to

meeting this goal. On the contrary, the opposite might be true. As already indicated,


26/50


when residents and businesses move to a county, city, or neighborhood, they are often

in search of amenities outside the boundary of their parcel. Similar to parks, museums,

and festivals, thriving community gardens are a positive amenity that should be actively

supported and used by government officials to attract the business and residential

development that they would like to see.

Furthermore, community gardens can help municipal officials cope with some of

the social issues that they are faced with. Community gardens provide low-income

residents with a way to supplement their diets with relatively low cost food. Gardeners

who dont use all of their vegetables can help low income families by donating some of

their community garden produce to the Harvest for the Hungry program sponsored by

Second Harvest of Wisconsin. Thus, community gardens help to limit the amount of

food related assistance that local government must provide through food stamps and

other means. The reduction in social program costs, and the ability for families to

provide for themselves, helps to make-up for a loss in property tax revenue that garden

plots would have otherwise had.

Public Education

The long-term success of community gardens will largely depend on support

from local residents. If a couple of vocal individuals express their disapproval over a

garden, they can spell disaster for its permanence. Further education efforts must take

place to help ensure that the residents of Milwaukee understand the importance of

community gardens and the benefits for their neighborhoods. For example, University of

Wisconsin Extension provides staff dedicated to gardening education. Likewise,

Growing Power hosts weekend conferences, and other educational sessions for the

purpose of educating the public about the numerous aspects of urban agriculture.


27/50


CASE STUDIES

Community gardening is not a new concept. Successful urban agriculture

activities have always been taking place within our cities. Some ideas about how toaddress the issues facing Milwaukees gardens can be found when studying gardening

projects in other communities. Descriptions of urban agriculture activities throughout the

United States are presented next. Each approach is slightly different, and thus, can

provide a variety of examples of what Milwaukeeans can do to improve community

gardening within their city.


28/50


Seattle, Washington

Seattles Department of Neighborhoods maintains a community gardening

program referred to as P-Patch. City P-Patch program staff work with the non-profit

Friends of P-Patch organization to maintain 39 community garden locations that are

used by 1,400 Seattle households. The gardens are located on land owned by the city,

county, Friends of P-Patch, and private interests. Maintenance of the gardens is the

responsibility of the gardeners themselves. Under the direction of P-Patch program

staff, gardeners are required to donate eight hours of their time annually for garden

maintenance. As already mentioned, provisions for community gardening can be found

within Seattles Comprehensive Plan. Furthermore, the mayor and common council

have publicly supported community gardening and the use of city-owned land for such

purposes. The fact that gardeners give over eight tons of their produce to Seattle food

pantries underscores importance and value of community gardens within the city.

(Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and Friends of P-Patch 2000)

Figure 8: Seattle P-Patch Garden

Source: www.cityofseattle.net


29/50


Portland, Oregon

Through its Parks and Recreation Department, city staff work with residents and

non-profit organizations to maintain 23 community garden locations throughout the city.

Some of Portlands gardens are located within parks, others are on public sites, such as

schools, with the remaining sites found on privately owned land, such as churches

(Portland Parks & Recreation 2001). As already indicated, Portlands zoning ordinance

supports community gardens as a legitimate land use. Thus, they are afforded more

protection from development pressures than found in many communities.

It is important to note the similarities between Seattle and Portland. In both

situations, the cities devote staff members to community gardening. Within the two

cities, the staff members receive significant support from non-profit organizations and

volunteers. Finally, both communities legitimize community gardening through

resolutions from their mayors, common councils, land use plans, or zoning ordinance.

These three factors combined appear to be the driving force behind the success of

community gardens within both of these cities.

San Francisco, California

The San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) is a non-profit

organization that oversees the creation and maintenance of community gardens

throughout the city. Founded in 1983, the organization now has 24 staff members,

including landscape architects. In addition to community gardens, SLUG staff stresses

the importance of personal development. To that end they provide job training and

education, especially for young people, through their maintenance crews and other

programs.

One of these other programs is Urban Herbals, which markets jams and vinegars

made of produce from the community gardens and other local farmers. In addition to

providing a locally grown product, Urban Herbals serves to provide valuable small

business related education to individuals who may not have otherwise had the

opportunity to receive such training. In the future, SLUG plans to expand its

entrepreneurial activities to include the sale of compost, mulch, and potting soil. (SLUG

2000)


30/50


Boston, Massachusetts

Community gardening has played a role in the redevelopment efforts of the

Roxbury neighborhood. In 1984, the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) was

formed by local residents to address the many urban ills that plagued this part of Boston.

DSNI is governed by a board of directors consisting of residents who are elected by their

peers. One major way that DSNI differs from other non-profit agencies is that the city of

Boston gave DSNI eminent domain power (Meyer 2000). If community gardens are

considered a desirable land use, then powers, such as eminent domain, can be used by

this resident driven organization to acquire land that can be used for gardening.

Urban agriculture and community gardening are significant aspects of the

community building efforts found within this neighborhood. DSNI currently oversees 13

community gardens. In addition, with the assistance of the non-profit Food Project,

neighborhood youth grow and sell their own produce at a local farmers market. They

earn money and valuable job skills in the process (Meyer 2000). Through the use of

funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Highway

Department, a community greenhouse will be constructed by the end of this year (DSNI

1997, Settles 2002).

One way in which DSNIs gardening activities differs from community gardens

elsewhere is that they are using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to map soil

contamination and nutrient levels throughout the neighborhood. This will help DSNI plan

for future expansion of community gardens and other urban agriculture initiatives (DSNI

1997).

Like San Francisco, Dudley Street has a very strong non-profit organization, with

full time staff members who serve as the catalyst for gardening. Furthermore, especially

in the case of Dudley Street, the local government enabled the non-profits to carryout

their desired goals.


31/50


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Through its Philadelphia Green Program, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

has promoted community gardening, along with other greening projects, throughout

Philadelphia since 1974. One interesting aspect of the gardens within Philadelphia is

the level of attention given to design and garden aesthetics. Faculty and students of the

University of Pennsylvanias Department of Landscape Architecture work with

Philadelphia Green staff to create landscape plans for many of the gardens. As such,

within these gardens one will find such design elements as fences, walls, gates, formal

paths, signs, tables, and benches. Providing a gathering space for gardeners and

improving the visual appearance of the neighborhood is just as important as growing

produce within these gardens. In at least one instance, the city paid for some of the

landscape improvements. (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society 2000, University of

Pennsylvania 1997)

Along with the Philadelphia Green Program, part of central city Philadelphia is

being transformed with the Village of Arts and Humanities. The Village was the

inspiration of a local artist by the name of Lily Yeh. In 1986, Ms. Yeh began to convert a

vacant lot into a park. Since that time, the program has expanded to include numerous

parks, community gardens, and youth and adult education programs. The primary focus

of the Village is to improve the neighborhood, and peoples lives through the use of art.

All of the gardens and parks contain sculptures and murals produced by local residents.

Not only does artwork improve the appearance of gardens and neighborhoods located

within the Village, but it also serves as a creative outlet for individuals living within a low-

income community. (Village of Arts and Humanities 2001, Yeh 2001)

Figure 9: Village of Arts and Humanities

Source: www.villagearts.org


32/50


Madison, Wisconsin

The rapidly growing city of Madison has taken steps to ensure the presence of

gardens in this community for years to come. Since 1990, community gardens have

been supported by several common council resolutions and land use plans. In 1997, the

city formed an advisory committee on community gardens. This committee published a

report in 1999 that outlines the current condition of gardens within the city and ways in

which community gardening can be further promoted and expanded. Today, there are

24 gardening sites throughout the city that are largely managed by non-profit

organizations. The location of the gardens is evenly divided between public and private

land. (Herbach 1998, City of Madison Advisory Committee on Community Gardens

1999)

Troy Gardens illustrates the success of Madisons community gardens. For

several decades, this garden has been located on a piece of land, owned by the State of

Wisconsin, on the north side of Madison. Nearly 400 people benefit from vegetables

grown within the garden. In 1995, the State of Wisconsin decided to sell the land.

Fearing the elimination of their garden plots, local gardeners, land trusts, and community

organizations banded together in an effort to preserve the land for open space uses.

The land will soon be sold to the Madison Area Community Land Trust. Five acres will

be developed by the trust for co-housing, leaving 26 acres to be used for community

gardens, community supported agriculture, and other open space uses. (Troy Gardens

2001)

Figure 10: Troy Gardens Plan

Source: http://designcoalition.org


33/50


RECOMMENDATIONS

A review of the major issues facing Milwaukee Community Gardens, combined

with information from case studies of gardens from elsewhere in the country, has

revealed that steps can and should be taken to improve Milwaukees gardens. The

following is a list of recommendations for community gardening organizations, the City of

Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.


34/50


Community Gardening Organizations

Rally behind a non-profit organization, such as Milwaukee Urban Gardens Inc.

The Milwaukee Community Gardening Coalition serves as an excellent platform

for community gardening organizations; however, a non-profit organization has

greater fundraising ability, and provides more accountability to local

governments.

Continue to lobby municipal and county elected officials and staff about the

importance of community gardens within Milwaukee, and the need for their

protection.

Improve the appearance of community gardens. Community gardens must

always aesthetically improve their neighborhood. If they are not maintained,

residents, municipal staff, and elected officials will view community gardens as a

blighting influence.

Develop a maintenance plan for all gardens, to include a discussion about who is

responsible for maintenance of the garden, what must be accomplished, and

where necessary funding will be obtained. A maintenance plan may provide

neighbors, municipal staff, and elected officials with greater peace of mind

regarding the appearance of a potential or existing garden.

Require that individual gardeners play a greater role in maintaining and

improving their gardens. Although the community gardening organizations do an

excellent job of providing maintenance for gardens, they can and should not bare

all of the responsibility.

Give greater attention to the quality, rather than the quantity, of community

garden plots. Although the recent decline in community garden plots is alarming,

greater energy should be given to the improvement of existing gardens to help


35/50


36/50


Develop a community garden plan for Milwaukee. How many community garden

plots does Milwaukee need, where should they be located, what form should they

take, and who should be responsible for their maintenance? This plan should

provide community garden organizations with some leverage when working with

local governments because it will illustrate that gardens can be viewed in the

same manner as other planned amenities, such as parks.

City of Milwaukee

City staff and elected officials must recognize the positive role that community

gardens play in maintaining and redeveloping Milwaukees neighborhoods.

Community gardens provide resident-driven open space, recreation, and food at

a relatively low cost to the city.

The Milwaukee Common Council should adopt a resolution in support of

community gardens as a legitimate land use within the city, and a very

appropriate use for city-owned properties.

The Milwaukee Common Council should adopt an amendment to the zoning

ordinance that explicitly defines and permits community gardens within all

residential and open space districts, along with some commercial districts.

When appropriate, the city should require that a community gardens element is

included in neighborhood plans. The city should also address community

gardens in the comprehensive planning process that Wisconsins Smart Growth

legislation mandates.

The city should provide longer leases for community gardens on city-owned

parcels. A longer time frame, such as ten years, would enable community

gardening organizations to make additional improvements to their garden sites

without fear of losing the space after only one or two seasons.


37/50


Milwaukee County

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors should adopt a resolution in support

of community gardens as a legitimate land use for the County Grounds, and the

County Parks.

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

The Department of Urban Planning should promote the legitimacy of community

gardens, and provide continued planning support to the Milwaukee community

gardening organizations. Many of the recommendations outlined above would

make excellent projects for various urban planning courses.

Through The Milwaukee Idea Program, the Department of Urban Planning

and/or other UWM departments should form partnerships with community

gardening organizations.

Figure 11: 5 Street & Roger StreetFigure 11: 5 Street & Roger Street


38/50


39/50


REFERENCES

City of Madison Advisory Committee on Community Gardens. 1999. Growing astronger community with community gardens: an action plan for Madison.

Madison, Wisconsin.

Code of the City of Portland, Oregon. 2000. http://ordlink.com/codes/portland,March 4, 2001.

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. 1997. DSNIs proposed urban agricultureprogram. http://www.dsni.org/Urban%20Agriculture/urban_ag_program.htm,January 10, 2001.

Fertile Ground: Planning for the Madison / Dane County Food System. 1997.University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Herbach, Geoff. 1998. Harvesting the city: community gardening in greaterMadison, Wisconsin. http://www.cityfarmer.org/madison.html, November19, 2000.

Jill Florence Lackey & Associates. 1998. Evaluation of Community Gardens.Study completed in cooperation with University of Wisconsin Extension.

Kaufman, Jerry and Martin Bailkey. 2000. Farming Inside Cities: EntrepreneurialUrban Agriculture in the United States. Working paper. Cambridge,Massachusetts: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Meyer, Diana A., et al. 2000. Dudley street neighborhood initiative. In On the

ground with comprehensive community initiatives. Columbia, Maryland:The Enterprise Foundation.

Milwaukee Community Garden Coalition (MCGC). 2000. Draft memorandum ofunderstanding, November 24.

Milwaukee Urban Gardens. 2001a. Assessment guidelines for urban communitygarden development.

Milwaukee Urban Gardens. 2001b. Landscape design considerations for urbancommunity gardens.

Naimark, Susan, ed. 1982. Handbook of community gardening. New York:Charles Scribners Sons.

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 2000. Philadelphia Green Program.http://www.libertynet.org/phs/pg/pg_home.html, January 11, 2001.


40/50


Portland Parks & Recreation. 2001. Portland community gardens.http://www.parks.ci.portland.or.us/Parks/CommunityGardens.htm,January 10, 2001.

Pothukuchi, Kameshwari and Jerome L. Kaufman. 2000. The food system: a stranger tothe planning field. Journal of the American Planning Association, 66 (2).

www.cityfarmer.org/foodplan.html, October 15, 2000.

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and Friends of P-Patch. 2000. Draft PPatch program five-year plan. http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/don/ppatch/,January 10, 2001.

Seattles Comprehensive Plan. 1996.http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/planning/CompPlan, March 4, 2001.

Seattles Park and Recreation Plan. 2000. http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us,March 4,2001.

Settles, Trish. 2002. Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. Personal emailcorrespondence, April 1, 2002.

SLUG. 2000. Various promotional materials provided by SLUG.

Sommers, Larry. 1984. Community garden book. Burlington, Vermont:Gardens for All/The National Association for Gardening.

Troy Gardens. 2001. Promotional material and presentation given at the CommunityOpen Space Summit, Appleton, Wisconsin, October 12, 2001. Sponsored by theUrban Open Space Foundation, Madison, Wisconsin.

University of Pennsylvania. 1997. Descriptions of Philadelphia Green gardensites. http://www.upenn.edu/wplp/plan/, October 20, 2000.

Varela, Olmedo J. 1996. Socio-spatial relationships and food programs in Milwaukeesfood system. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee: Center for Urban Initiativesand Research.

Village of Arts and Humanities. 2001. About the Village.http://www.villagearts.org, November 10, 2001.

Yeh, Lilly. 2001. Speech given at the Community Open Space Summit,Appleton, Wisconsin, October 12, 2001. Sponsored by the Urban Open

Space Foundation, Madison, Wisconsin.


41/50


APPENDIX A: Community Garden Contacts

Wisconsin Organizations

Milwaukee Urban Gardens2107 East Capitol DriveMilwaukee, Wisconsin 53211Phone: 414-963-1162Email: [email protected]

Milwaukee Community Gardening Coalitionc/o University of Wisconsin Extension (Milwaukee County)Will be moving shortly, new address not final at time of publication.Web: www.uwex.edu

Growing Power5500 West Silver Spring DriveMilwaukee, Wisconsin 53218Phone: 414-527-1546Email: [email protected]: www.growingpower.org

Americas OutdoorsUnited States Forest Service310 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 100Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203Phone: 414-297-3693

Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, Inc.201 South Hawley CourtMilwaukee, Wisconsin 53214Phone: (414) 777-0483Web: www.hungertaskforce.org

University of Wisconsin MilwaukeeDepartment of Urban PlanningP.O. Box 413Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201Phone: 414-229-4014

Web: www.uwm.edu/SARUP


42/50


University of Wisconsin MadisonDepartment of Urban and Regional Planning925 Bascom Mall, 110 Music HallMadison, Wisconsin 53706Phone: 608-262-1004Web: www.wisc.edu/urpl

University of Wisconsin MadisonDepartment of Landscape Architecture1450 Linden Drive, 1 Agriculture HallMadison, Wisconsin 53706Phone: 608-263-7300Web: www.wisc.edu/la

Urban Open Space Foundation200 North Blount StreetMadison, Wisconsin 53703Phone: 608-255-9877

Email: [email protected]: www.uosf.org

National Organizations

American Community Gardening Association100 North 20th Street, 5th floorPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19103Phone: 215-988-8785Web: www.communitygarden.org

City of Seattle P-Patch Program700 3rd Avenue, 4th FloorSeattle Washington 98104Phone: 206-684-0264Email: [email protected]: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/don

City of Portland Parks & Recreation1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1302Portland, Oregon 97204Phone: 503-823-1612Email: [email protected]

Web: www.parks.ci.portland.or.us

San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners2088 Oakdale AvenueSan Francisco, California 94124Phone: 415-285-7584Web: www.slug-sf.org


43/50


Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative504 Dudley StreetBoston, Massachusetts 02119Phone: 617-442-9670Web: www.dsni.org

West Philadelphia Landscape ProjectDepartment of Landscape Architecture and Regional PlanningGraduate School of Fine ArtsUniversity of Pennsylvania119 Meyerson HallPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6311Web: www.upenn.edu/wplp/plan/garden.htm

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society100 North 20th Street, 5th floorPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-1495Phone: 215-988-8800

Web: www.libertynet.org/phs

The Village of Arts and Humanities2544 Germantown AvenuePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19133Phone: 215-225-7830Email: [email protected]: www.villagearts.org

Madisons Troy GardensEmail: [email protected]


44/50


APPENDIX B: Milwaukee Community Garden Map


45/50


Rental Gardens


46/50


School Gardens


47/50


Youth Gardens


48/50


Demonstration Gardens


49/50


Accessible Gardens


50/50

Neighborhood Gardens

milwaukee community gardens, current trends and recommendations

Documents