Last Organic Outpost will cultivate the first vacant lot through Urban Gardening Program

City will lease to nonprofits

Jay Blazek Crossley, Apr 07, 09.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department’s Urban Gardening Program is now functioning. Nonprofits may request to turn vacant lots across the city into community gardens and individuals can request plots as they come available in their neighborhood.

Urban Harvest maintains a map of existing community gardens in Houston. The gardens on their map are classified into 6 distinct types of gardens: neighborhood gardens, donation gardens, school gardens, therapy gardens, market gardens, and other, which includes gardening education, youth programs, and nature centers.

More from the Chronicle:

There’s plenty of room. When the city’s Land Acquisition and Redevelopment Authority takes over abandoned properties in low-income neighborhoods, it aims to sell the lots for affordable housing. But right now, the authority has 450 lots awaiting takers — which is to say, loads of space for eggplant and okra.

“We could have an urban farm belt!” Joe enthuses. He envisions organic kale for the homeless and hungry, juicy tomatoes for the neighbors, pole beans growing where once there was blight.

According to the American Community Gardening Association, there are many benefits to expanding community gardens across the city, including:

Improves the quality of life for people in the garden
Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
Stimulates Social Interaction
Encourages Self-Reliance
Beautifies Neighborhoods
Produces Nutritious Food
Reduces Family Food Budgets
Conserves Resources
Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education
Reduces Crime
Preserves Green Space
Creates income opportunities and economic development
Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
Provides opportunities for intergenerational