Community Gardening











Garden Plots for 2013 are SOLD OUT

If you would like to join the waiting list we are contacting interested residents as plots become available:
Lakewood Earth and Food (LEAF) Community is doing the following for those gardeners we can't accommodate:
  • Our garden plot waiting list will help the garden leaders connect with the next interested gardener easily if plots become available. You are on this list and the date we received your check and release is the order of the list.
  • We will use the waiting list as evidence that community gardens should be expanded in Lakewood.
  • LEAF will include you in email invitations to LEAF activities at the gardens and around Lakewood. This will include an email reminder about next year's community garden registration.
  • If you don't want to be on the waiting list let us know in a reply to this email or an unsubscribe click from our LEAFlet email.


How community gardening in Lakewood works:

Download your garden rules,  application and waiver release, print and mail them to: LEAF Community PO Box 770374 Lakewood, OH 44107.

Returning gardeners are asked to renew their garden plot by sending their application, release and $25 check by December 31st of each year to guarantee their same garden plot(s) for the following year. After January 1st of each year the gardens are open to all gardeners on a first come, first served basis.

To learn more about the LEAF Community and its community gardening initiative in Lakewood, e-mail: leafcommunity+gardens@gmail.com


A History of Lakewood's First Community Gardens

In 2007 Plover Garden (6 plots) in Bird Town started the LEAF gardening community. In 2008, with enthusiastic support from then Mayor; Ed FitzGerald, the Lakewood Earth & Food (LEAF) Community broke ground at Cove, Kauffman, Madison, and Webb Parks expanding the total plots of LEAF to over 150 throughout the community.

The four new sites had been carefully chosen by LEAF board members, and approved by Mayor FitzGerald, in order to appeal to and give access the gardens to a wide array of community members.

Each location has ample space for a number of 10' x 10' plots and leaves plenty of the park area intact for continued use of baseball diamonds and playground equipment at the sites. View a map with photos of each site.

Aside from providing apartment and condo dwellers with green space and room to garden, community gardens have been shown to raise nearby property values, lower crime rates in adjacent areas, and provide hours of enjoyment to those who work them. They provide physical activity, camaraderie with neighbors, stress relief, and have been shown to contribute to overall wellness. Gardening is a great platform for inter-generational bonding, provides a wholesome (and fun) activity for the whole family, teaches children where food comes from, and improves the nutrition of those who participate. Growing vegetables in community gardens can help offset rising food prices and bring the community together in the process.

In the past several years, LEAF gardeners have also taken part in the bartering system available at each LEAF Night throughout the season (all gardeners are welcome to participate) and in this manner have also contributed to the donations LEAF makes every week to local charities that help alleviate hunger in our community.

Mission

Lakewood Earth and Food Community is dedicated to the development of a more sustainable, healthful and economically viable community through environmentally responsible actions producing broad access to fresh, local foods, knowledge and culture.