Common Ground
Common Ground is community gardening and urban agriculture program established in 2012, providing residents underutilized properties for use as community gardens and farming land for minimal cost.
The Common Ground program strives to remove barriers to growing local food; to promote access to fresh produce for all; to provide and sustain green spaces for a healthy urban ecosystem and to build an equitable community.
There are currently 11 sites—ranging from gardens and orchards to an incubator farm—supporting a dozen beginning farmers, more than 230 gardeners, as well as hundreds of community members that benefit from food donations and opportunities for physical activity.
Locations
The Common Ground program provides 9.5 acres of land for community food production across 11 sites, all located in the City of Lawrence:
Garden Incubator at John Taylor Park—7th & Walnut Street
PermaCommons—1304 Pennsylvania Street
Penn. St. Community Garden—1313 Pennsylvania Street
Pearl Clark Community Garden—639 Illinois Street
Little Prairie Community & Donation Garden—Peterson Road & N. Iowa Street
Just Food Community Garden—817 Oak Street
The Lawrence Community Orchard—830 Garfield Street
Oread Friends Garden—1146 Oregon Street
Incubator Farm—Highway 24/40
Growing Together Community Garden—3rd & Alabama Street
Broken Arrow Community Garden—31st & Louisiana Street
Availability of plots varies from year to year. Please contact Common Ground for the most up-to-date list of gardens accepting new gardener applications.
Events
Volunteering Opportunities
Common Ground welcomes individuals and groups wishing to volunteer at the community gardens, orchard and incubator farm.
Watch this space for announcements of volunteer work days throughout the season or contact the Common Ground Program Manager to arrange for a specific day of service that fits your individual or organizational needs.
2023 Common Ground Garden Work Days
Every Tuesday in September, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Lawrence Community Orchard
Sign up to volunteer: lawrencefruittreeproject@gmail.com
Every Thursday in September 4 pm – 8 pm
Every Sunday in September, 10 am – 2 pm
Incubator Farm
Sign up to volunteer: https://www.indigenouscommunitycenter.com/service-page/farm-volunteer
History
The City of Lawrence, with leadership from the joint Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Office and Lawrence Department of Parks and Recreation, established the Common Ground program in 2012, providing residents underutilized properties for use as community gardens for minimal cost in order to eliminate land ownership as a barrier to growing fresh produce; to promote access for all community members to fresh and locally grown food and to establish and sustain a healthy urban ecosystem; and to build community.
While the Common Ground program had already solved one critical barrier to food production—lack of access to land, participants of the program were continuing to express the need for education and technical assistance to learn conservation agriculture skills for a more resilient local food system.
In 2021, Douglas County received a Natural Resources Conservation Service grant, which allocated funds for the hiring of a full-time Common Ground Program Manager, as well as the implementation of educational programming, direct technical assistance and a beginning farmer apprenticeship program over the course of three years.
With the joint Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Office dividing into two independent departments in 2022, Common Ground is now under the umbrella of the Douglas County Sustainability Office, in close collaboration with several City of Lawrence departments.
Workshops
Through the three years of the project funded by a Natural Resources Conservation Service grant, Common Ground will host educational workshops and demonstration projects on six sustainable agriculture topics—cover crops, season extension, pollinator habitat, water conservation, soil fertility and sustainable weed management.