Cedar Falls Community Garden

Cedar Falls Community Garden Community Gardens of Cedar Falls offers garden plots to lease every summer for residents of Cedar Falls and non-profits in the area.

The community garden of Cedar Falls began with a partnership of Green Iowa Americorp and a few community members who through hard work, repurposed flooded land owned by FEMA transforming an area that would never be built upon again to an area that is not only beautiful but useful. The land, after city tillage, became forty plots and gardeners, both novice and expert signed up to grow their own foo

d. The renters of the plots, individuals, families or civic groups each decided what to do with the produce, choosing either to consume it, give to neighbors or donate to the food bank, which by seasons end received a few hundred pounds. For the first year, it was off to a fantastic start.
2011 brought more interest and demand for plots so twenty-five were added to provide people a place to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers in a community setting. The sixty five plots were tended by dedicated gardeners who produced a bounty despite the challenge of depending on the rain barrels for water. This year we have a new garden location. It is again repurposing land and with the city’s support has water there for our gardeners to use which is crucial to success and longevity of the gardens.

07/03/2022

All the feels for this one!

Hey fellow gardeners! The wind has given our garden dense a run for its money this year. Originally we used wooden posts...
06/07/2020

Hey fellow gardeners! The wind has given our garden dense a run for its money this year. Originally we used wooden posts that it snapped like twigs so we replaced them with 5 ft metal post and then it bent them too!! We have bigger stronger posts to put in but we don’t have anything to drive the posts in with. Does anyone have a tool for that that we could borrow?

Plots have been tilled. We still have a few available if you're interesting in gardening this year. May 15 is last freez...
05/11/2020

Plots have been tilled. We still have a few available if you're interesting in gardening this year. May 15 is last freeze date for the garden.
More info here: http://cfcommunitygardens.org/

05/05/2020

As soon as the ground is dry, the city is set to till and we can begin gardening. Technically we are currently sold out of plots, however I have requested the city till the full 25 rows of plots and if they do, that will open up a lot more plots to garden. Once we know what is tilled, you can request to move your current plot if you like and we will be locked in to those plots as of May 10th for the season.
If you are interested in gardening, but have questions, please contact us. We will be happy to answer them.
Peg

04/02/2020
We have updated the Community Garden website with lots of new images. We have SIX plots left to lease for the East side ...
04/02/2020

We have updated the Community Garden website with lots of new images. We have SIX plots left to lease for the East side of the garden and will stop leasing when those are taken unless there is high demand for more.
Please see the website for the latest information:
https://cfcommunitygardens.org/2020-community-garden-news/

We will have a seed and transplant swap in early May at the Gardens, but since there is so much uncertainty about how lo...
03/14/2020

We will have a seed and transplant swap in early May at the Gardens, but since there is so much uncertainty about how long the virus will last, what impact it will have on the Farmers Market, I wanted to share this article about veggies you can grow in your home now to have some ready in a few weeks.

Share your own ideas. I grow basil all year round and it's very fast and easy.
https://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/1108731/indoor-vegetable-garden/

Discover the best vegetables to grow indoors to keep you in fresh produce year-round.

https://cfcommunitygardens.org/plot-reservations-are-now-open/
01/07/2020

https://cfcommunitygardens.org/plot-reservations-are-now-open/

Plot reservations are now open. Posted on January 6, 2020 by Margaret Keller Reserve your plot now, cost is $25 for a 10 x 20 plot (half of a full size plot). If you are with a non-profit or eligible for SNAP, plot size will be doubled for the same price. Each 10 x 40 plot will cost $25. Contact us....

10/30/2019

Friday is shut down day. Americorps volunteers will be at the garden at 1pm if you would like some help.
Everything will be removed from the garden, water will be shut off.
Please make sure your plot is cleaned and debris, including fencing and anything man-made is removed.
Email or message with any questions.

10/11/2019

Today’s Clean-up has been postponed, but anyone interested in the Garden’s future can briefly meet at the garden at 9 and then join us at The Tea Cellar to discuss the closing of the garden and plans for next year.

08/22/2019

The Community Garden is in need of new Committee members. If this is something you think you'd be interested in, please send an email to [email protected] and we can give you more details.

06/01/2019

We have some donated seeds, gloves and gardening tools from CVDA Cares. I also have a few transplants if anyone would like them. The Cedar Falls Farmers market still has a lot of transplants if you would like to buy them from local farmers. I will be at the garden in the morning with what I have. I have the black truck. If you cannot make it tomorrow, but still would like some seeds, etc., message me and I can meet you another time.

05/15/2019

Quick Reminder:
When you put up fences, set them inside the plot 3 or 4 inches so you can keep a clean hoe line on the outside of the fence and we can get the mower right up to the fence.

The Middle Aisle
We placed stakes and twine to mark the six foot center aisle that must be kept clear of hoses and walking. Those also serve as boundaries. We'll take them down once you get your gardens in and/or fences up.

05/15/2019

IT'S TIME!
The gardens are ready to go! Hoses are set up and plots are measured and marked. So what does each marker mean??

The plots have grown over the years. We didn't check widths but the plots vary from maybe 9 1/2 to 11 feet wide. And the plots are now 20 1/2 to 21 foot long. The pink flags we put out on the north and south ends of the plots not only identify the plot, it sets the maximum boundaries. In some rows, the tiller went a little past but that happens with big machinery. So please, don't plant past the pink flags. Plus, if you dig more than 2 or 3 inches deep in that runout area, you hit hard dirt!!

Most of the gardens this year seem to be double plots but we still have a few single plots. The dividing line between plots are also marked with a pink flag.

Volunteers need for minor garden improvement The tiller ran through the middle aisle so that needs to be re-marked. The...
05/08/2019

Volunteers need for minor garden improvement

The tiller ran through the middle aisle so that needs to be re-marked. The aisle is to provide easy access to the hoses by all gardeners and to help prevent damage to middle row gardens. We'd like to mulch this middle aisle between plots B and C with wood chips but we need lots of help to get that done. Email us if you can help or know someone who can.

05/07/2019

2019 Garden update 3

Not Quite Open
The tilling was done Monday and Tuesday but the ground is wet and cool and with rain forecast, we're really not open. A miscommunication means an extra row was tilled on the east and several on the west. We'll be putting those into grass once it stops raining. I did stick out the pink flags in case anyone drives by and wants an early peek but we won't be measuring the plots until Friday.

Address

200 Lincoln Street
Cedar Falls, IA
50613

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Th butterflies are frantically getting lunch before the next round of thunderstorms.

Giant Swallowtail on Benary’s Giant Zinnia at the community garden.

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Our Story

The community garden of Cedar Falls began with a partnership of Green Iowa Americorp and a few community members who through hard work, repurposed flooded land owned by FEMA transforming an area that would never be built upon again to an area that is not only beautiful but useful. The land, after city tillage, became forty plots and gardeners, both novice and expert signed up to grow their own food. The renters of the plots, individuals, families or civic groups each decided what to do with the produce, choosing either to consume it, give to neighbors or donate to the food bank, which by seasons end received a few hundred pounds. We currently have 34 plots available for lease for 2020 in the east garden and we are conserving the west garden, but can open 16 more plots if the demand is there. Please see our website http://cfcommunitygardens.org/ for more information or to lease a plot.