Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District

703-324-1460 TTY 711
12055 Government Center Parkway
Suite 905, Fairfax, VA 22035
Willie Woode
Executive Director

Community Garden Guide

Welcome to community gardening!

Cover for the Community Garden Guide

Whether you’re new to gardening or know the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, we’ve created this workbook to support you. If you’re a property manager who wants to create a growing space for others, we also salute you and will support your work too.

We want you all to be successful. Our #1 goal is to create more local community gardens so that everyone can have access to fresh and culturally appropriate vegetables, fruits and herbs that fit their diet and their budget.

A community garden has no set size or location. It can be in a neighborhood, a schoolyard, the grounds of a house of worship -- anywhere that people want to come together to grow food. Some community gardeners grow for themselves, but others grow for their school cafeteria, for their congregation or clients, or to distribute to people who don’t otherwise have access to nutritious, affordable produce.

Regardless of your goals, we’re here to help.

You can also explore the different sections of the guide below. Thank you for supporting community gardening in Fairfax County!

This section of Welcome to Community Gardening! includes:

  • How to form a community garden team
  • Find a location for your garden (including permits)
  • Setting rules for your community garden
  • Common equipment needed to get started
  • How to design and set up your garden
  • How to start composting

This section of Welcome to Community Gardening! includes:

  • What to plant, when to plant it, and how to plant it
  • A guide to common garden crops
  • How to best take advantage of your garden space
  • How and why to incorporate flowers into your garden
  • How to design your garden plan

This section of Welcome to Community Gardening! includes:

  • How to maintain healthy soil
  • A guide to common mulches
  • Using cover crops
  • Irrigation and watering
  • Weeding and herbicides
  • A guide to common weeds in Northern Virginia
  • Plant nutrients and fertilizers
  • A guide to garden pests and beneficial insects
  • A guide to common diseases in edible gardens and how to manage them
  • When to harvest your vegetables

This section of Welcome to Community Gardening! includes:

  • Crops to plant in fall
  • When and how to harvest seeds
  • Fall management for your garden

This section of Welcome to Community Gardening! includes:

  • A table for your garden plan
  • Space to plan and design your garden
  • Record space for soil amendments, weed management, and disease and pest management
  • A table for your harvest record

Garden Calendars
Composting
Cover Crops
DIY (Do It Yourself)
Food Insecurity
Maximizing Garden Space
Nutrients/Fertilizers
Pest and Disease Management
Season Extending
Seed Saving
Soil
Starting a Community Garden
Starting Plants from Seed
Tomatoes
Vegetable Gardening (General Resources)
Windbreaks

Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture

  • Provides ample volunteer opportunities to farm with the crew and hosts field trips and a summer Farm Camp for kids. The Veteran Farmer program trains military veterans for new careers in agriculture. The Live, Eat, Grow Route 1 program gives support to community and school gardens and offers a summer internship program to teens.  

Fairfax County Master Gardeners 

Fairfax County Planning, Permitting, and Construction

Fairfax Food Council 

  • Provides workshops on vegetable and community gardening through its Urban Agriculture Work Group. All are welcome to attend the meetings of that work group and of the Food Access & Literacy Work Group.  

Fauquier Education Farm in Warrenton 

  • The farm offers a variety of classes and programs. They also seek volunteers to come out and help during the growing season.  

Hands On Harvests 

Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District 

  • Rain Barrel Workshops
  • This agency can prepare a Soil and Water Quality Conservation Plan for your garden. 
  • Provides educational programs, resources, and advice.

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Fairfax County office  

  •  Provides educational programs, has soil test kits available, provides resources and advice.

Welcome to Community Gardening! is a product of Nourish the Land, Cultivate Community, a community garden project coordinated by the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD). It was made possible by an Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant from the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  

This guide is the property of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District. It may be freely reproduced for non-commercial uses with credit to NVSWCD. Cover art by Janelle Welch.

Fairfax Virtual Assistant