A Community Pulls Together to Save a Garden

We chat with Nathan Larson, Director of the Cultivate Health Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin.When we visited Madison in summer 2019 to attend the National Children and Youth Gardening Symposium, Larson gave us a tour of a wonderful community garden—the Troy Community Garden.There are currently about 100 families growing food there…although at one point it looked as if the land on which the garden stands would be sold off for a housing development. Larson talks about how people and groups pulled together to find a way to save the space.The plot of land was reimagined to include community garden plots, an urban farm with a CSA, a kids garden, some housing, a tall-grass prairie restoration project, and a food forest.When we visited the Troy Community Garden, we were struck by signs for a “worm city” and the “mud pie kitchen.” Larson is passionate about garden-based education.The garden now includes a pizza oven that is used for weekly nights, along with music.
Are you thinking of growing a potted olive tree? Or maybe you already have one…but you’re still waiting for olives. Olive trees are tough as nails. They can take more cold than many people realize. And they’re really beautiful, too. Put these all together, and you have a great potted plant for a cold-climate garden.
In my new book, Grow Olives Where You Think You Can't, I tell you everything you need to know to successfully grow an olive tree in a pot! 

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We chat with Nathan Larson, Director of the Cultivate Health Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin.

When we visited Madison in summer 2019 to attend the National Children and Youth Gardening Symposium, Larson gave us a tour of a wonderful community garden—the Troy Community Garden.

There are currently about 100 families growing food there…although at one point it looked as if the land on which the garden stands would be sold off for a housing development. Larson talks about how people and groups pulled together to find a way to save the space.

The plot of land was reimagined to include community garden plots, an urban farm with a CSA, a kids garden, some housing, a tall-grass prairie restoration project, and a food forest.

When we visited the Troy Community Garden, we were struck by signs for a “worm city” and the “mud pie kitchen.” Larson is passionate about garden-based education.

The garden now includes a pizza oven that is used for weekly nights, along with music.


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A Community Pulls Together to Save a Garden
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