Community & Container Gardens

Our Community & Container Gardens projects are designed to create more opportunities for individuals and families to grow their own food, enhancing their connection to nature and fostering a sense of community. We’ve heard loud and clear that residents want more access to healthy food and green spaces—particularly more community gardens. By providing resources, education, and support for container gardening and community garden initiatives, we aim to make urban gardening accessible to everyone, regardless of space or experience. Gardens not only provide fresh, healthy produce but also benefit the community as accessible urban green spaces while contributing to environmental sustainability, urban biodiversity, and counteracting the urban heat island effect.

Through these projects, participants can engage in hands-on learning, share gardening tips, and build relationships with neighbors, creating a stronger, more resilient community.

Container Gardening – Sign Up to get Your Free Container Garden

Lloyd EcoDistrict is offering free container/balcony garden supplies to residents and workers in our community. The supplies will include a 3-gallon planter bucket and an edible plant(s). The type of plants on each given day will be determined by what is available at our local nursery and will likely consist of tomatoes, leafy greens such as chard and spinach, herbs like mint or thyme, etc. Learn more and sign up to get a container garden here.

Container Gardening – Summer 2025 Expansion

100+ edible container gardens have been distributed to residents across the neighborhood through our expanding gardening program. We held three planting and pickup days at Lloyd Center, as well as a special planting day at Miracles Central Apartments. Residents from across the EcoDistrict, including Cornerstone, Axcess 15, the Merrick, Holladay Park Plaza, Grace Peck Terrace, Hassalo on Eighth, and more, came out to plant everything from tomatoes and kale to rosemary and mint. We provided tools, gloves, and guidance on-site, making it easy for anyone to take part.Read more about this year’s work here.

Container Gardening – Summer 2024 Pilot

While we pursue space for a more traditional community garden, we launched a pilot container gardening project in 2024 aiming to get residents to grow gardens on their balconies throughout the EcoDistrict. We kicked off the pilot at a workshop at Central City City Concern’s Miracles Central Apartment. With a gardening expert from Growing Gardens on hand, residents planted their own container gardens for their balconies. Choosing from varieties of tomatoes, lettuces, chards and more, residents of the building walked away from the event with their very own edible garden. Additionally, we were happy to share our additional container gardening supplies with Right 2 Dream Too, BIPOC Village, and community members throughout the EcoDistrict. In the summer of 2024, we shared a total of 70 container gardens of edible plants with Lloyd community members!

Building from this year’s success, we’ll continue the momentum of Greening Lloyd!

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Future Community Garden Site and Projects

Have a site or idea for a community garden space in Lloyd? We’d love to chat! Email joshua@ecolloyd.org.