A Guide to: Local Gardening Projects
This piece was originally published in the April-July 2018 issue of our journal, Vol. 4, Issue 1: Green.
Looking to grow your green thumb a bit this spring and summer? Check out these local organizations you can connect with to learn about gardening alongside other community members.
ComeUnity Garden
218 East Main Street
Urban garden project growing food for ComeUnity Café. Volunteers can work in the garden planting seeds, harvesting vegetables, weeding, and tending to the urban lot, and receive a free meal from the café in exchange for their work.
LANA Community Gardens
West King Street
Community garden project filled with small raised beds for neighbors in the Lambuth area.
Lane College Community Garden
545 Lane Avenue
Recently launched, 2.4-acre property filled with raised vegetable beds and ornamental flower borders. Supported by Keep Jackson Beautiful and UT Extension, the garden is a cooperative project with faculty, staff, and students working with the neighborhood.
Liberty Technology Magnet High School
3470 Ridgecrest Road Extension
High-tech educational program with intensive aquaponics and horticultural opportunities including vegetable production for school cafeterias in our area, and decorative plant sales for the community.
RIFA Community Garden
133 Airways Boulevard
Urban garden project using volunteer work to provide food for the various RIFA ministries including the soup kitchen and thrift store. Keep Jackson Beautiful hosts seasonal garden work days.
Union University Community Garden
1050 Union University Drive
Student-run garden project planted and maintained by student volunteers across multiple disciplines.
University of Memphis Lambuth Gardens
705 Lambuth Boulevard | Office of Student Services
Student garden project for community engagement and hands-on learning.
West Tennessee AgResearch & Education Center
605 Airways Boulevard
Local and regional resource center for gardening and landscaping. The Madison County Master Gardeners program is an in-depth horticultural learning program centered around education, training, and community service.
Cari Griffith Cari Griffith is a photographer by trade who loves storytelling of all kinds. After a couple of years away in Nashville, she and her husband Rob decided Jackson was calling them home, and they moved back to their beloved Lambuth area neighborhood. Cari's other loves include gardening, cooking, sharing meals with her friends, and trying to talk Rob into getting a dog.
Header image by Cari Griffith.
