Community Gardens at EMF

Applications are closed for the 2024 season!

Thank you for your interest in the East Meadow Farm Community Garden Program. Applications for the 2024 season are now closed.  

All returning Community Gardeners must apply for re-enrollment by April 1, 2025. Applications received after this date will be accepted as space permits. The Community Garden waitlist will renew on January 1st of each year and applicants will be placed in the order that their application is received. Individuals who have been placed on a waitlist from previous years will not be removed from the mailing list unless requested.

Please note that submission of an East Meadow Farm Community Garden application does not guarantee enrollment into the Community Garden program. All applicants will be notified of the decision to accept their application after April 1, 2025. Any applications received after this date will be responded to within two-weeks of receipt. All Community Gardeners must attend a Community Garden Orientation session before being assigned a community garden plot.

Please view the Adult Risk Waiver and the EMF Community Garden Rules for Participation Form.  These forms will be reviewed in detail at the Community Garden Orientation session and should not be completed or signed in advance.

If you have any questions, please email nassauhort@cornell.edu

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Community Gardens are a wonderful way to bring horticulture and gardening to a community that may have limited space. The Community Gardens at the East Meadow Farm consist of 60-5'x20' beds that are leased to families, individuals, schools and community groups. Most gardeners grow produce for their families, and school/youth groups utilize the space to learn about botany, plant and soil science.

According to the American Community Gardening Association, community gardens benefit the community in the following ways:

• Improve the quality of life for people in the garden
• Provide a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
• Stimulate social interaction
• Encourage self-reliance
• Beautify neighborhoods
• Produce nutritious food
• Reduce family food budgets
• Conserve resources
• Create opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education
• Reduce crime
• Preserve green space
• Create income opportunities and economic development
• Reduce heat from streets and parking lots

The space at East Meadow has specifically helped the Nassau community reconnect with nature.

Excess produce is donated weekly to the local food charities.

Last updated April 3, 2024