Community Gardens

The Take Action Society community garden in Dartmouth North

The average distance that food travels to get to Nova Scotia is 4,000km. This makes the municipality’s food system particularly vulnerable to climate change. If there is an unexpected event or emergency that causes widespread instability, we may not have the local resources to meet the needs of our residents. Community gardens are one way to support the local food system.

Many community gardens in Halifax are operated by residents on land owned by the municipal government. These are small-scale sites operated by non-profit societies for one or more of the following purposes:

Growing produce for:
- personal consumption
- donating to local food causes
- generating revenue to reinvest in the community garden
Production of a floral or landscape display
Demonstration gardening or other related instructional programming

Community gardens can include vegetables, fruit, herbs, flowers, native and/or ornamental plants established and operated within existing municipal regulations, bylaws and assessments.

A community garden must have a “common area” with shared upkeep and may include individual garden plots. Community gardening differs from urban agriculture (urban farms), which is an industry that produces agricultural products for distribution to local markets.

Thinking of starting a community garden?

The 2024 community garden application is now closed. For more information about the community garden program check out the Community Garden Handbook and the application forms or contact Jasmine Du, Community Developer.

Want to be a part of an existing community garden?

The following is a list of community gardens on municipal property. Not all gardens will have space; most garden groups maintain a waiting list for when spots become available.

Dartmouth

Take Action Society
Harbourview Elementary School (Dartmouth North)

Goodness Grows! Findlay Community Garden
Findlay Community Centre, Dartmouth

Guy Jacobs Community Garden
35 Jackson Road, Dartmouth F

Rope Works Community Garden
Victoria Park

Dartmouth Commons Community Gardens & Park Avenue Community Oven
Leighton Dillman Park, Dartmouth Commons

Gaston Road Community Garden Association
43 Gaston Road

Le Jardin Community Garden
4 Windmill Road (Public Gardens), Dartmouth

Landrace Community Garden
74 Landrace Crescent, Dartmouth