Edible Landscaping & Community Gardening Toolkit for Affordable Housing Communities

Housing communities can play a key role in increasing food security and overall health by providing opportunities for residents to grow their own food, access food and nutrition education, and participate in physical exercise. Edible landscaping and community gardens can also beautify the landscape, improve mental health, and play an active role in building community.  This toolkit is intended to be a resource for housing authorities, residents, housing site managers, buildings and grounds staff, service providers, and others who want to establish, enhance, or support edible landscaping and community gardening at housing sites.  Some highlights include:

  • Real examples of edible landscapes and community gardens at housing sites in Vermont
  • Tools for planning and implementing an edible landscape project at your housing site
  • Questions to ask key players and tips for engaging them in the project
  • Advice from garden coordinators at housing sites around Vermont
  • Problem-solving in the garden
  • Gardening, cooking, and nutrition education resources
VGN offers garden planning and development consulting services as well as food and garden education programming. We welcome collaborative projects. Please contact carolina(at)vtgardens.org for more information.

Download the Toolkit!

The Toolkit is available by download. If you’re interested in a print version please contact libby (at) vcgn.org.

The Project

This toolkit was developed through a collaboration between the Vermont Garden Network (VGN) and Vermont Edible Landscapes (VEL). It builds on the work of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) to assess and support food access at housing sites. The tips and resources in this document are drawn from interviews with housing communities across Vermont, successful practices and useful tools in the field, and personal experience of the authors with developing edible landscapes and community gardens at affordable housing communities.

  • Click here for related links and resources referenced in the Toolkit!

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