Grant money will focus on growing Libbytown garden, community
Photo / Courtesy Cultivating Community
A plan is underway to convert Portland’s 11 community gardens to raised beds.
A project is underway to convert the city of Portland’s 11 community gardens to raised beds.
Portland nonprofit Cultivating Community received a $243,000 grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service to complete the second phase of the conversion.
Libbytown Community Garden has already been converted to raised bed gardening.
The conversion comes after extensive soil testing was conducted throughout the portfolio this past spring.
The remaining gardens were found safe for in-ground gardening. But the testing contractor and the Maine Centers for Disease Control recommended that most gardens be converted to raised beds within the next five years.
“Not only will it allow gardeners to grow in soil free of potential contaminants, it will also create gardens that are more accessible for those with more limited mobility and strengthen the gardens against climate change-related issues such as excessive rain and flooding,” said Janel Knightly, Cultivating Community’s director of urban agriculture.
With the city, the organization’s plan is to prioritize Boyd Street, Common Share and Casco Bay community gardens over the next two years with the funding.
The organization has proposed constructing 60 beds at Boyd Street and 36 beds at Common Share between Nov. 15 and May 1.
Nearly 100 beds are slated to be built at Casco Bay in the late fall of 2025.
At Boyd Street, lead levels detected there were not determined to be concerning for adult use with gardening, according to a news release. But the levels were higher than recommended for the many youth that utilize the site via Cultivating Community and other partner organizations' youth programs.
The Common Share Community Garden will be the second to receive modifications in the spring of 2025 in order to increase accessibility. The Casco Bay Community Garden will receive modifications in the fall of 2025 in order to address ongoing drainage issues and improve climate resiliency.
The city and Cultivating Community said they would continue to work collaboratively to seek funding to rebuild the remaining gardens.
Cultivating Community’s executive director, Silvan Shawe, said the Payson Park, North Street, Clark Street and Valley Street community gardens will be prioritized over the course of 2026 and 2027.
There are over 485 gardeners growing together on public land.
“We built over 100 beds in partnership with the city this summer, and are thrilled to have received this support and be able to begin the next phase of this project,” said Shawe.
Any Portland resident is welcome to sign up for the community garden waitlist. Cultivating Community prioritized low-income and limited resource residents for plot assignments.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service grant will fund approximately half of the cost of the project. Cultivating Community said it is working to secure additional funding.
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