Best Community Gardens In Detroit

The Brightmoor Flower Farm, located near Fenkell St. and Telegraph (near 96), grows flowers that are 100% pesticide and agrochemical-free. The farm offers floral design services for events, and all flowers are grown on-site. Lisa Rivera is the proprietress of the farm, and she is available for any flower needs.

The parking lot at the corner of McKinstry and Merritt Streets in Detroit was once empty, filled with weeds; it used to be a GM executive parking lot. In 2012, however, some GM shipping carts were re-purposed and turned into vegetable beds, and the empty lot again had a purpose, this time as an urban garden. Cadillac Urban Gardens on Merritt started on May 19, 2012, and the garden is always looking for active volunteers and partners to help tend the garden; those that help are invited to share in the garden's veggies too.

The Georgia Street Community Garden was created by Mark Covington, a Detroit resident, who cleaned up three lots near his grandmother's house. Originally, he was only going to clean up the lots for litter and garbage, but later, he decided to turn them into a community garden. Using DetroitYes!, Mark started the Georgia Street Community Collective, In. (in November 2008), and gathered a board of directors, mostly friends that were interested in the project. The garden also mentors students, and the plan is to have a community center soon too. The gardens currently make up five lots on Georgia St., and one of the lots includes a fruit orchard.

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North Cass Community Garden is managed by Midtown Detroit Inc. and is located on Woodward near Mack Ave. in Midtown. The garden was engineered by SmithGroup/JJR (Ann Arbor), and the company donated its time and services for free, through the Employee Volunteer Program. Many Detroit residents participated in planning the garden, as well as constructing it too. The garden was founded in 2009, and for a per-year fee (started at $25) and four hours per year of community service, the garden's raised beds are open to the public to grow whatever crop you would like.

Diversity Garden is located in downtown Detroit and was founded in 2007. It describes itself as a "walk-in, donation based, self-serve, raw vegan, living restaurant starting around mid-summer and ending in the late fall." The garden mostly grows heirloom, organic, non-GMO crops in an urban environment. The garden is also the headquarters/home base for a "community heirloom seed exchange co-op." 

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