Below is a map of all urban ag sites in DC as well as unique ag sites located outside of the DC area. Gardens and farms are color coded into four categories: community gardens, education gardens, urban farms, public gardens, and unique ag sites outside of DC.
Learn more about each garden and farm type below, then look on the map or find your ward listed below and access resources for gardens and farms near you!
Community Gardens(blue) – Community Gardens are spaces where community members can grow food in personal or communal plots. These gardens are often operated by volunteer community members working together in a cooperative.
Education Gardens(orange) – Education gardens are spaces where children and/or adults can learn about urban gardening through hands on experiences or structured workshops. Many of these gardens are operated by non-profits with scheduled volunteer times.
Urban Farms(dark purple) – An urban farms is a production farm located in a city. Some urban farms have volunteer and educational opportunities but most farms are primarily focused on growing as much produce as possible. They can be managed by for profits or nonprofits, but all farms focus on increasing food access in cities by selling produce local at stores, farmer markets, and CSAs.
Public Gardens (burgundy) – Professionally curated ornamental gardens for visiting and educational opportunities.
Unique Ag Sites Outside DC (brown)
Find the garden closest to you! Then use the link to access their website, learn more about the garden, and how to get involved.
Growing Food, Growing Communities OSSE/DPR shared garden space program where people needing garden spaces can connect with gardens needing help like unused summer school gardens & home gardens and yards
Rooting DC Free, all-day urban gardening forum that provides education about urban agriculture and food systems, cultivates health and protection of the environment, and builds community.
Community of Gardens Digital archive hosted by Smithsonian Gardens in partnership with our Archives of American Gardens
National Parks Service(NPS) Contact for NPS Gardens Richard Moore, Permits Specialist. richard_moorer@nps.gov
Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia (MGNV) Organization of volunteers who maintain six demonstration gardens that illustrate the wide variety of plants that grow well in our area as well as overall garden care.
Grow It Eat It: Maryland’s Food Gardening Network Grow it! Eat it! campaign is a joint venture between The University of Maryland Master Gardener program and the Home and Garden Information Center- to encourage more food gardening in Maryland
DC Parks and Rec Partner Urban Farms A partner urban farm is an urban agriculture site that is located on DPR property but is managed and programed by a DPR partner with the purpose of offering free garden programming, production farming to increase local food access, or both.
OSSE School Garden Program Supports more than 100 school garden programs in DC through funding, partnerships and strategic support
Rooting DC Free, all-day urban gardening forum that provides education about urban agriculture and food systems, cultivates health and protection of the environment, and builds community.
A partner urban farm is an urban agriculture site that is located on DPR property but is managed and programed by a DPR partner with the purpose of offering free garden programming, production farming to increase local food access, or both
This act promotes urban farming and food security in DC by establishing incentives to encourage the use of privately-owned land for urban farming and community gardens and creating programs to farm on public land
Below are some highlighted urban Ag sites from above that are great places to volunteer to learn how to garden or to put your gardening skills to use. This definitely isn’t a complete list of sites that offer volunteer opportunities but a good place to start. If you know of any sites we missed please email josh@dugnetwork.org.
DC Gardens’ Gardens Map DC Gardens has provided a map of the major institutionally-supported public gardens in the District region. These gardens tend to primarily be made up of ornamental and non-edible plants.
DC
Franciscan Monastery 1400 Quincy St NE, Washington, DC 20017 Beautifully curated ornamental gardens with tours and vegetable garden volunteer opportunities
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens 1550 Anacostia Ave NE, Washington, DC 20019 Beautiful aquatic gardens and numerous events such as the annual Lotus and Lily Festivals
National Arboretum 3501 New York Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 446 acres of gardens, research, educational opportunities and the Washington Youth Garden
Smithsonian Gardens 600 Maryland Ave SW Washington, DC 20024 Numerous outdoor gardens, interiorscapes, and horticulture-related collections and exhibits integrated into the Smithsonian museum landscapes.
US Botanical Gardens 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20001 A living plant museum divided into numerous ecosystems for different climates. Also includes self guided and guided tours, workshops, and research
Greater DC (MD)
Brookside Gardens 1800 Glenallan Avenue Wheaton MD 20902 50-acres of public beautiful display gardens inside and outside including two conservatories for year-round enjoyment and a horticultural reference library.
Greater DC (VA)
Green Springs Garden 4603 Green Spring Rd, Alexandria, VA 22312 Public garden with a wide variety of education opportunities
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Public Garden Program and Resources
DC Gardens DC Gardens is a nonprofit, multi-media and in-person campaign promoting DC-area public gardens to visitors and residents alike.
2013 Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Lotus & Waterlily Festival
Sometimes you have to leave DC to find worthwhile agriculture projects. Below is a list of farms, urban farms and various agriculture sites that are unique to the area.M
Maryland
Centro Ashe Farm 1590-1598 Chester Ave, Bryans Road, MD 20616 A medicinal plant sanctuary, homestead, and education center
Charm City Farms 1310 Hillman St, Baltimore, MD 21202 Education urban farm with a wide variety of unique workshops
Clagett Farm 11904 Old Marlboro Pike, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 Non-profit production farm, CSA and internships
Eco City Farms – Edmonston 4913 Crittenden Street, Edmonston, Maryland 20781 Production micro farm with workshops, CSA, farmers market and internships
Eco City Farms – Bladensburg 6100 Emerson Street, Bladensburg, MD 20710 Production micro farm with workshops, CSA, farmers market and internships
Forested 3707 Enterprise Rd, Bowie, MD 20721 10 acres Food Forest Garden with workshops, CSA and tours
Moutoux Orchard 15290 Purcellville Road Purcellville VA 20132 Production farm that does a whole diet CSA that includes unpasteurized grass-based milk and yogurt
Owl’s Nest Farm 2612 Ritchie Marlboro Rd, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774 Certified Naturally Grown, woman-owned, production farm with CSA and DC farmers markets
Red Wiggler Community Farm 23400 Ridge Rd Germantown, Maryland Red Wiggler is a sustainable farm where people with and without developmental disabilities come together to work, learn, and grow healthy food.
Chesapeake Foodshed Network Catalyzing connections and collaborations in support of a sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and equitable regional food system in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Humane DC A DC resource for all the different ways (farmers markets, CSAs, home delivery, stores, restaurants) to get higher animal welfare meat, dairy and pet food from mid-Atlantic pasture raised farms
Maryland Grazers Network Our farm manager, Michael Heller, spearheads the Maryland Grazers Network, which helps farmers transition from corn-fed to grass-fed livestock.
Maryland Fair Farms Movement of Marylanders working together for a new food system — one that is fair to farmers, invests in homegrown healthy foods, and restores our waterways instead of polluting them
Maryland Farm Link Comprehensive list of farm resources and organizations and a weekly resource newsletter
Mountains-to-Bay Grazing Alliance Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the new Mountains-to-Bay Grazing Alliance is providing farmers with information, resources, and assistance to expand livestock grazing efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
