COMMUNITY GARDENS
Since 1992, Nuestras Raíces has been at the heart of a growing and vibrant urban agriculture network in Holyoke, MA, transforming vacant and polluted lots into flourishing and empowering community spaces. Today, Nuestras Raíces helps manage nine urban community gardens: Cuenta Conmigo, El Girasol, Jardín de los Jóvenes, La Piedra, La Finquita, Hidden Treasure (at Beaudoin Village), Lyman Terrace Gardens, El Renacer (at Jarvis Heights), and Falcetti Towers.
These gardens would not have been possible without strong local partnerships that have helped maintain and support these spaces over the years. Thank you to the Holyoke Housing Authority, Providence Ministries, and the City of Holyoke for their continued collaboration!
Together, we continue to cultivate food, resilience, and community—ensuring that every garden remains a place where families can grow, learn, and thrive.
Interested in joining the gardens as a gardener, sponsoring a garden, becoming a garden leader, or volunteering? Visit our office at 329 Main Street, Holyoke, or contact the Community Gardens Coordinator at gardens@nuestras-raices.org.
You may also call 413-435-0940 or the main office at 413-535-1789 ext. 207.
LA FINQUITA
Location: 56 Cabot & South St., Holyoke
In 1992, the founding members of Nuestras Raíces created the first community garden in Holyoke—not only to grow food, but to grow community. For more than three decades, community members have maintained between 12 and 30 family plots at La Finquita, harvesting many pounds of vegetables each year.
La Finquita—like all of our gardens—features small casitas that evoke the farms and home gardens of Puerto Rico, creating a sense of home that is essential to our community work. Across our gardens, you’ll find rows of ají dulce peppers, a culturally significant crop and a beloved Puerto Rican staple used to make sofrito.
This garden is also home to three peach trees and many rose bushes, filling the space with color, fragrance, and life.
EL GIRASOL
Location: 99 N. East St., Holyoke
El Girasol—“the sunflower”—has been an active community garden for more than 20 years. Its name honors the many sunflowers that gardeners continue to grow there to this day. In addition to its 13 community garden plots, El Girasol welcomes visitors with a beautiful Concord grape arbor at the entrance, where community members can sit and enjoy the shade.
The garden is also home to a large apple tree, a newly planted plum tree, and a serviceberry tree, as well as raspberry and blueberry bushes, bringing color, flavor, and life to this community space.
CUENTA CONMIGO
Location: 99 Miller St., Holyoke
Cuenta Conmigo was established in 2001 through a collaboration among neighborhood residents, Nuestras Raíces, and the City of Holyoke. The garden features a permanent lechonera and an outdoor kitchen, along with charming blue fences, vibrant flower beds, rose bushes, and a newly planted plum tree.
It also includes a small stage—an inviting space perfect for hosting educational workshops or relaxing on a warm day.
LA PIEDRA
Location: Walnut & Sargeant St., Holyoke
La Piedra Garden is named after a large piece of the foundation from the building that once stood on this lot, which can still be seen from one of the plots. This garden has earned awards for being one of the most beautiful in the city.
La Piedra also features a covered seating area where gardeners can rest after a long day, exchange stories, and trade seeds.
JARDINEROS DEL FUTURO / YOUTH GARDEN
Miller St, Holyoke, MA
Jardineros del Futuro, also known as the Youth Garden, is located directly across from the Cuenta Conmigo Garden. In 2011, Nuestras Raíces and the Cuenta Conmigo gardeners approached the City of Holyoke, collaborating with the 4H club to create this space. Since then, the garden has served as an outdoor workshop where youth can develop gardening skills.
Today, the Youth Garden continues to host many local youth groups, providing a safe, welcoming environment to learn, explore, and connect with the land.
GET IN TOUCH
Learn more about our community gardens by contacting us with one of the contact forms below.
Community Garden Locations
Our Impact
The Nuestras Raíces Community Gardens:
- Function as necessary green spaces in a heavily urban area
- Improve air quality by producing oxygen and reducing air pollution
- Build a sense of community ownership and stewardship
- Provide a place for people to grow food
- Increase food security for low-income Holyoke residents
- Raise property values in surrounding neighborhoods
- Offer opportunities for new immigrants to grow cultural crops and produce their own food
- Provide a community space for residents to meet their neighbors
- Create safer neighborhoods
Nuestras Raíces’ community gardens have greatly improved the urban environment while heightening residents’ sense of pride. The gardens serve as unique spaces of cultural and intergenerational connection, where neighbors and community members of all ethnicities and ages come together to share knowledge about gardening techniques, recipes, and nutrition. Growing their own food allows residents to have greater control over their nutritional intake and access to fresh foods, at a minimal cost.
Holyoke’s community gardens are generally located in neighborhoods without a full-service grocery store. Access to community garden plots has been shown to improve nutrition within individual families and across the ghostwriter hausarbeit. Residents have learned about the importance of organic foods, while learning and sharing methods of growing organic produce. On average, our families grow over $1,000 worth of ghostwriter kosten per year in their community garden plots. The community gardens currently serve 600 family members, as well as one homeless shelter and several youth groups. In 2016, community gardeners grew 13,312 pounds of produce!
OUR SPONSORS
Support a more equitable food system!
Donate to Nuestras Raices online to join the movement for better food access for all.
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