Author: Greta Klawiter-Lein, Community Garden Coordinator
Tucked just behind the Hagfors Center, the Augsburg Community Garden is one of the most vibrant spaces on campus. Although it’s hard to miss the big garden there, you might not know what the intention is behind that space. It’s not just a garden, but a gathering place where community, learning, and food all come together.
The garden is made up of 64 individual plots, most of which are tended by neighbors from the surrounding Cedar-Riverside community. A few Augsburg alumni, faculty, and staff garden here too, but the majority of our growers are local residents who bring incredible knowledge, skill, and dedication to their personal plots. Augsburg provides this community of gardeners with many resources such as land, soil, seeds, plants, water and a hired gardener coordinator that manages communication, resources and facilitates events among other things. By lowering the barrier to access and having sustainable, healthy food practices right here in the city, this space is helping folks who do not have land to grow food and offering them an outdoor space to call their own.
About half of the plots are in-ground and the other above-ground plots are for supporting disabled persons and elderly gardeners. The gardeners here love this space; not just for the dark leafy greens and tomatoes they can grow, but also as a welcoming nature-space that they often end their evenings at. While you will see many zucchinis in this garden, you’ll also see vegetables you won’t always find at the grocery store, crops that are culturally significant and important to their families and food traditions such as anchote or epazote.
Walk through the garden on a summer day and you might hear five or more languages being spoken. English isn’t even the most common! You’ll hear Somali, Oromo, Amharic, Arabic, Spanish and others. On any given day you might catch some children playing hide and seek behind the tall corn, friends praying together, families collecting tomatillos for a shared meal, and friends connecting across rows of kale, tomatoes, and okra.
While each gardener manages their own plot, the space is open and welcoming. Apples and raspberries grow along the edges of the garden, and anyone walking by is welcome to harvest and enjoy them. All events that happen in the garden are also open to the public. If you ever meet a gardener, you will most certainly be gifted something from their plot; a prized fruit of labor and love.
But the garden isn’t just about food. It’s about beautifying our neighborhood, making space for experiential education, and creating opportunities for people to learn and grow together. From students curious about sustainability to families who’ve gardened for generations, everyone brings something valuable to this space.
Whether you’re a prospective student, a neighbor, or just someone who loves green spaces, the Augsburg Community Garden is a reminder of how much we can grow together.