As part of our larger Community Gardens Initiative, we have just released a new Community Gardens Toolkit, a 7-page guide offering resources to help Portlanders to: cultivate inexpensive and nutritious food; connect with neighbors; spend time outdoors; and live more sustainably by eating organic and locally-grown produce. A special thank you to our intern Amanda Hess who helped us with this project.

Community gardening is increasingly popular here in Portland, so much so that many gardens have long waiting lists for plots. The Toolkit can connect you with other opportunities to grow food, from yard sharing, to urban farm collectives, to the "Growing Gardens" program, which installs gardens for low-income families in need.

The Toolkit also offers a step-by-step guide to starting a new Community Garden, and has advice for planting a garden at home as well, including a comprehensive list of local resources for home gardeners.

For the non-gardeners among us, the Toolkit also lists a number of ways to contribute to sustainable food production and to local organizations fighting hunger. Check out the web links or print out the toolkit and distribute it at your next community meeting!