Just because you live in the heart of Denver doesn’t mean you can’t have a garden. As proof of this, recently Denver Urban Gardens held of tour of four of their best examples of growing in the city. It was a wonderful opportunity for local residents to get some tips from these urban gardeners and become inspired to do their own planting. Here are some of the Denver Urban Gardens and their descriptions: Fairview School Community Garden: “Since 1993, this school-based community garden has served as a focal point in Sun Valley, bringing this small neighborhood together by creating a culture of open-mindedness and respect. The Fairview Garden is a place deeply rooted in learning and sharing, serving as a major teaching site for DUG’s education team. Lowell Street Community Garden: “The Lowell Street Garden was founded in 1997 with hopes of creating a positive gathering space for the community. This garden has recently gone through a renaissance, having tripled in size in the past three years as a result of very effective and non-traditional outreach to neighbors.” Westwood Community Garden: “Similar to a few of the gardens in northwest Denver, this garden was built in 1996 and provides a quiet space for Hmong gardeners to grow food. This garden is truly a food-producing garden with barely a footprint of space for walking through the sea of vegetables and handmade trellises.” SWIC All Nations Community Garden: “This garden, owned by the Southwest Improvement Council just across the street, has been continually evolving since its start in 1999. SWIC All Nations has undergone multiple name changes and shifts in leaders and gardeners in direct reflection of the multicultural neighborhood.” Even if you missed the tour, these gardens are always open for a visit. In fact, you won’t be able to resist taking a peek if you happen to be strolling through the neighborhood. So what about your own backyard gardening possibilities? Heading into fall is a great time to get your garden and soil ready. To accomplish that task you might need to move some things around and by things we mean dirt. If you’ve tried to grow in the past but without much success it could be that your soil isn’t fertile. That can be fixed by digging up the old dirt and replacing it with nutrient rich topsoil. You might have to let that soil go through a winter season before planting but by then it will be primed and good to go. But what will you do with all that old dirt? You don’t have to worry about that if you call Junk King Denver. On some level, Junk King could change their name to Dirt King. That’s because they have helped a lot of Denver residents haul dirt from their property. Often this dirt was dug up to make room for sprinkler systems, a pool or new patio. The reason doesn’t really matter to Junk King Denver. All they care about is getting that dirt out of your way so you can do what you want with your backyard. And don’t hesitate to ask Junk King to toss out piles of your unwanted stuff along with the dirt. That’s really cleaning up!
