Building community through communal gardening

Abstract

Introduction

Capitol View Communal Garden and Orchard (CVCGO) is a communal garden founded in 2022 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The garden sits on a previously unutilized one-third acre (.13 hectare) city park accessed through a lease agreement with the Saint Paul Parks Department. CVCGO was conceived as a means of strengthening connection and cooperative capacity in our community by satisfying the tangible need for fresh food.

In response to the Uprising after George Floyd’s murder, a small group of neighbors met to discuss strengthening the social fabric of our com­munity. Personally, as a recently graduated engineer returning to the community I grew up in, I was seeking a way to connect with the neighborhood on new terms and live out my values through tangible action. We decided to explore a communal approach to community gardening.

After reaching out to the broader community, an informal core group developed and influenced the social norms by agreeing on a few foundational elements . . .