Savannah Brooks digs out an area of her family's garden plot off Tancil Court, in preparation for planting sunflowers. (Christy Goodman/the Washington Post)

Alexandria's Community Gardens

Community gardening is one way that the City is helping to increase Alexandria residents’ access to locally grown, environmentally sustainable foods as part of the Healthy Food Alexandria initiative. Community gardens provide a location for residents to grow an array of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Popular crops include tomatoes, basil, squash, sunflowers, raspberries, asparagus, onions and greens.

Here are the community gardening opportunities for the public in Alexandria. The gardening season runs March 1 through Nov. 30 each year.

Chinquapin Community Gardens

The Chinquapin Community Gardens are run by the City of Alexandria and are available for rent to city and area residents for a fee. Each plot is about 15x20 feet wide, and there are about 175 plots. Rentals are available on an annual basis. For more information, contact John Walsh at 703.746.4654.

Holmes Run Community Gardens

The Holmes Run community gardens are run by the City of Alexandria and are available for rent to city and area residents for a fee. Each plot is about 15x18 feet wide, and there are 24 plots. Rentals are available on an annual basis. For more information, contact John Walsh at 703.746.4654.

GW Community Garden

The GW Community Garden is located on the grounds of George Washington Middle School. A group of approximately 20 interested citizens in Del Ray has formed a committee to manage the garden, with support from the Master Gardeners and ACPS Garden Coordinator Wendy Sparrow. For more information, e-mail travishdc@delrayfarms.org.

ARHA Community Gardens

The ACHIEVE Planning Team is partnering with the Alexandria Redevelopment Housing Authority (ARHA) to build community gardens for residents and kick-off a gardening and nutrition program for ARHA children and families.