A Community Pulls Together to Save a Garden

Nathan Larson, Director, Cultivate Health Initiative

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

A Community Space

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.

“It was a much-loved open space.”

Larson talks about how people and groups pulled together to find a way to save the space.

“It’s one of those inspirational stories of a group of neighbours that got together.”

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

• a food forest

Garden-Based Learning for Children

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.

He is the author of Teaching in Nature's Classroom: Principles of Garden-Based Education and serves on the advisory council for the School Garden Support Organization Network, along with the Wellness Advisory Council for the local school district.

Cultivate Health Initiative

The Cultivate Health Initiative is a joint public-health project of Rooted and the Environmental Design Lab at UW-Madison to grow and sustain the school garden network and movement in Wisconsin.