Gardening the Garden State

Exploring the Diversity of New Jersey’s Community Gardens

Laura Lawson, Ph.D.Luke Drake With Arianna de Vries, Chantae Moore, Maria Torres, and Frances Turner

Department of Landscape Architecture2013

Department of Landscape ArchitectureBlake HallRutgers, The State University of New Jersey93 Lipman DriveNew Brunswick, NJ 08901848-932-9317

TABLE O

F CON

TENTS

West Milford Organic Community Garden - Passaic County

Early Street Community Garden - Morristown, Morris County

Riverview Park Community Garden - Jersey City, Hudson County

3rd Street Community Garden - Hoboken, Hudson County

Duke Farms Community Garden - Hillsborough, Somerset County

Garden of Hope - New Brunswick, Middlesex County

Lawrenceville Township Community Garden - Mercer County

Chestnut Ave. Community Garden - Trenton, Mercer County

Chambers/Locust St. Community Garden - Trenton, Mercer County

Westminster Presbyterian Church Community Garden - Trenton, Mercer County

E Street Community Garden - Belmar, Monmouth County

Pennington Park Community Garden - Delanco, Burlington County

Burlington County Community Agricultural Center-Moorestown, Burlington County

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West Milford

Jersey City

Hoboken

Morristown

Hillsborough

New Brunswick

Lawrenceville

Moorestown

Delanco

BelmarTrenton(3 Gardens)

INTR

OD

UCTIO

NAcross New Jersey, like much of the U.S., interest in community gardening and urban agriculture is increasing. Through such sites, people are building community while producing food and un-dertaking environmental stewardship.Little is known, however, about the comprehensive status of such activities in the state. This publication marks the first step in a state-wide assessment of community gardening and urban agricultural efforts in New Jersey. This project, called “Culture and Context of Community Gardening and Urban Agriculture in New Jersey,” is based at the De-partment of Landscape Architecture, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and is led by Laura J. Lawson, Ph.D. The project has three goals: document the extent and practices of com-munity gardens and urban agriculture in New Jersey; identify the reasons people become engaged in these efforts; and develop a public forum to share ideas and information on community gardens and urban agriculture in New Jersey. We are using a range of mixed methods, from interviews and visual methods to geographic information systems.

For the initial phase of this study, we have identified 13 community gardens from the northern, central, and southern areas of the state. Through site plans and land use mapping, we develop ex-ploratory case studies through which to proceed with subsequent data collection. These case stud-ies highlight the diverse nature of New Jersey’s community gardens. From the design aspects of the gardening plots to the contexts of garden sites, it is evident that there is a wide range of social, spatial, and environmental characteristics of community gardening across the state.

The next step in this project will be conducting in-depth interviews with key actors in order to explain this diversity and identify those aspects that might be common throughout such efforts. Subsequently, a larger sample of community gardens and urban agriculture sites will be developed so that we may complete this systematic investigation and develop a forum to exchange knowledge between various stakeholders.

Across New Jersey, community gardens come in many shapes and sizes. Individual, family, and group gardening plots...raised beds, in-ground...

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West Milford

Jersey City

Hoboken

Morristown

Hillsborough

New Brunswick

Lawrenceville

Moorestown

Delanco

BelmarTrenton(3 Gardens)

3rd St. Community Garden Hoboken

Riverview Park Community Garden

Jersey City

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Duke Farms Community Garden

Hillsborough

Early St. Community GardenMorristown

West Milford Organic Community Garden

N75 150 feet0

SITE PLANS

Lawrenceville TownshipCommunity Garden

Chestnut Ave. Community Garden

Trenton

Westminster PresybterianCommunity Garden

Trenton

Chambers/Locust St.Community Garden

Trenton

Jardín Esperanza / Garden of HopeNew Brunswick

Pennington Park Community Garden

Delanco

E Street Magical GardenBelmar

Burlington County Community Agricultural Center

Moorestown

N75 150 feet0

LAND

USE

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West Milford

Jersey City

Hoboken

Morristown

Hillsborough

New Brunswick

Lawrenceville

Moorestown

Delanco

BelmarTrenton(3 Gardens)

Diversity of geographical contexts, as evident in the following land use maps surrounding the community gardens.

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Morristown West Milford

Hillsborough LawrencevilleTrenton

Delanco Moorestown

Belmar

New Brunswick

Hoboken and Jersey City

Commerical/Mixed UseMulti-family ResidenceSingle-family ResidenceInstitutionalAgriculturalOpen Space/ParksForestWaterWetlandsIndustrialVacant

Legend

Garden Location