Community Garden
Duke Farms opened a 240-plot Community Garden in spring 2011 to provide people with the opportunity to grow healthy produce in a way that is friendly to the environment. To meet increased demands for space, the garden was expanded to 460 plots in 2014 and is now the largest allotment-style community garden in the country. Our gardeners practice organic, sustainable methods such as no-till gardening, building soil biology, and the use of natural mulches for water conservation.
The mission of the Duke Farms Community Garden is to offer members the opportunity to grow fresh, organic food while connecting with nature and the community. The Duke Farms Community Garden follows organic practices - everything we teach and do is about working in harmony with nature.
As part of the Duke Farms Education Program, the Community Garden offers a wide variety of educational opportunities such as classroom lectures, walk and talk sessions, and hands-on workshops. We support a robust Giving Garden program that has donated over 30,000 pounds of produce to local food banks between 2015 and 2021. All levels of gardeners are welcome to join!
Eligibility
Each garden plot is privately maintained by individual renters. Individuals who live and/or work in Somerset County, New Jersey are eligible to participate; commercial enterprises are not eligible to apply. Plots are rented on a first-come, first-served basis. New gardeners are restricted to 1 plot in their first year of gardening. Returning gardeners may rent a maximum of 3 plots and will have the opportunity to renew the same plot(s) each year should they wish to.
**ALL PLOTS ARE SOLD OUT FOR 2022. Thank you and see you in the garden!**
If you would like to give up your plot(s), please reach out to Meghan.
Attention Community Garden Members:
The Community Garden is open to garden members 7 days a week (including Mondays when DF is closed to the general public).
Following are the details on procedures for entering & exiting Duke Farms Community Garden on the weekends in 2022.
Saturdays at Duke Farms: Community Garden open dawn – dusk
- Note your plot number on parking hangtag
- Entering Duke Farms: Gardeners do NOT NEED a reservation. Gardeners MUST wait in the reservation line with all other visitors and show your parking tag to the attendant. Do NOT attempt to circumvent the line.
- Parking: proceed through the visitors’ parking lot to either of the Community Garden parking lots
- As the weather improves and people seek outdoor spaces, Saturday crowds at Duke Farms are bound to increase. Peak hours of visitation (and thus longer entrance lines) are between 10am-2pm. Avoid those times if you can.
Sundays at Duke Farms: Garden open dawn - dusk
- Note your plot number on parking hangtag
- Parking: Before 3pm, all gardeners must park in the Duke Farms' visitors lot. There will be no access to either of the Community Garden parking lots. - - - After 3pm, all CG parking lots will be available.
- Garden gates: Before 3pm, all gardeners will be required to use the side gates to access the garden. After 3pm, all gates will be available.
- Accessible Parking: If you need to come to the garden before 3pm and also require accessible parking, there are two options:
- You may park in the Farmers’ Market accessible parking spots (located near the entrance to the market). Please be sure the handicap placard is displayed.
- You may request shuttle service from the visitors lot to the accessible gate of the community garden. Request must be done in writing via email to cg@dukefarms.org before noon on each Friday for the following Sunday. Please be sure the handicap placard is displayed.
Please review the following:
For more information, please email cg@dukefarms.org.
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