Madison Commons Virtual Garden Show: Troy Gardens brings farming to the city

Hoop House at Troy Gardens

This is the second in a continuing series of snapshots of some of Madison’s  community gardens, a “virtual garden show.” For more, click here.

Farms are about as Wisconsin as Packer game day, but even in Wisconsin, they rarely pop up in large cities like Madison. Community GroundWorks has changed that with Troy Gardens, 26 acres of farmland and community garden plots on Madison’s north side.

Managed by nonprofit Community GroundWorks, Troy Gardens began in 2001, just off of Northport Drive.  When the space went up for sale as state surplus land, neighbors and the Northside Planning Council joined hands to secure a permanent place for the community garden local residents had already created.

Today, the site includes a five-acre organic farm, 330 community garden plots managed by over 200 families, a kids’ educational garden, a prairie, and a trail through “edible opportunities” like fruit trees and an herb garden.  

Troy Gardens emphasizes the “community” part of community gardening.

“It’s a public, open place for people to come and experience gardening and nature in the city,” said Jill Jacklitz, Executive Director of Community GroundWorks. Visitors can walk dogs, catch butterflies, even sample flavors in the herb garden. Jacklitz estimates that 1,000 students come to Troy Gardens every year on field trips or to garden. At least one couple has been married in the grotto on the prairie.

The community also includes hundreds of volunteers. The hand-scale farm is weeded by, well, hand, and those who pay for their own community garden plot must also volunteer to keep Troy Gardens in shape. Community GroundWorks also hires graduate students to work and learn how to run community supported agriculture.

In fact, the Gardens give Madison agriculturalists an opportunity to share their produce with the community. Every Thursday, from 4 - 6 p.m., farmers set up shop curbside on Troy Drive and sell surplus vegetables.

“You get to know your farmers in a very direct and personal way,” Jacklitz said.

Troy Gardens is perhaps Community GroundWorks’ best-known example of bringing agriculture to the city. The nonprofit also manages the small garden plot on Capitol Square and organizes the Youth Grow Local farm on the east side, which provides food for the Goodman Community Center pantry.

Community GroundWorks celebrates its 10-year anniversary on Sept. 10 with an outdoor meal at Troy Gardens.

“Some of Madison’s very best chefs are contributing their time,” Jacklitz said about the event. Tickets are $110, but the party afterwards with music and cake is free and open to the public.

Community GroundWorks has plenty to celebrate, especially given Troy Gardens’ success in an urban setting.

“This place right here, the most important thing it does is serve as a model of what’s possible when people get together and think creatively and compromise and work together in community,” said Jacklitz. “This is possible anywhere.”