Have you been wondering how you're ever going to cram three tomato plants into an apartment window box?

Tacoma-Pierce County Community Garden Program has your back. The two-year pilot program operates under the mission to build and support community gardens. And there are a lot of them out there - 42 established gardens in Pierce County, and 16 more are in some stage of development. The program provides information and assistance to community gardens, facilitating garden networks, and hosting workshops and events. The program wants your tomato plants to grow, and it hopes you share the wealth with the community through sustainable agricultural practices.

A gala-like Community Garden Summit will be held Saturday afternoon featuring workshops and activities for all ages and skill levels, co-hosted by the University of Puget Sound Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Pierce County Gleaning Project, a program that allows people with active fruit trees to register their trees for sharing in the community. 

Discussion sessions and free workshops include:

• College Campus Gardening: Forming a South Sound campus garden network
• Elementary School Gardening: Nuts and bolts of starting a school garden
• Engaging Youth in School & Community Gardens
• Designing a Vibrant Community Gathering Place
• Enabling the Gardener: Designing spaces that are welcoming for people of all abilities
• Gardening 101 & 102: An introduction to successful vegetable gardening
• Preserving the Harvest
• Urban Chickens 101
• Designing & Working with a Giving Garden
• Rain Barrels

Other opportunities:

• Tour the McCarver Elementary School Garden and the Bamford Community Garden at Zina Linnik Park.
• Take a walking tour of the Hilltop Urban Garden.
• Learn about the new Share the Harvest program sponsored by the Paul Allen Foundation and get free vegetable starts as part of the "Plant a Row" for the hungry campaign.

The summit will even serve lunch. Registration for the event is appreciated at kmcivor@forterra.org or 253.363.1846. You must register by Thursday, April 26

MCCARVER ELEMENTARY, 3RD ANNUAL COMMUNITY GARDEN SUMMIT, SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 10 A.M. TO 1:30 P.M., FREE, 2111 S. J ST., TACOMA, 253.363.1846