People Gardens Community Live Area Planting Enjoy Growing

Many Americans enjoy having gardens in their "yards" (the outdoor areas behind and around a home), but people who live in apartments or homes without big yards often don't have "room" (space or area) for a garden. These people often participate in a "community garden."

A community garden is an area that is shared by many people for growing flowers, vegetables, and fruits. In some community gardens, the area is "split" (or divided into smaller parts) into "plots" (an area of land for one person or family to use) and each person who owns a plot gets the "produce" (things that are taken from a garden to eat) that is grown in that plot. In other community gardens, everyone works together to plant and "harvest" (take the parts of a plant that can be eaten when they are ready) the plots and then they share the produce.

Often schools have gardens, too. These are similar to community gardens, except that students are "working the plots" (gardening). They learn about gardens and "agriculture" (the business of growing plants for food and material) and then they get to enjoy the produce when it is ready.

Gardens make "communities" (areas where groups of people live together) more beautiful. In poor "inner-city neighborhoods" (areas where people live in the center of the city, usually without very much money), organizations sometimes have "community beautification programs" that create gardens in "vacant lots" (areas of land that are not being used and do not have buildings). The gardens are beautiful and many people think that they make the neighborhoods safer and friendlier.