Gardeners are inherently generous. Try to recall a summer that didn’t include a neighbor bringing over extra zucchini or a coworker piling a break-room table with tomatoes and okra, free for the taking. It’s not unusual to drive down the street and see a pile of plants with a hand-printed sign inviting folks to take whatever they like. So it’s no surprise, really, that community gardening has become such a movement in Nashville.
It doesn’t take much to start a community garden: just a plot of land and a desire to share. Some gardens are grown informally among a group of neighbors; others have sprouted up when a nonprofit wants to teach people in need how to grow their own food. Many gardens exist simply to offer opportunities people to connect with nature, in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be available. And while the folks who are involved in these group efforts seem to be very adept at the gardening, the common thread that runs through them all is the way the land and the plantings help bring communities closer together. Here are three examples of community gardens we love.