Community Gardens                         Contact Us to get a plot. 

Welcome to the gardens! Capital District Community Gardens (CDCG) has 48 gardens in Albany, Rensselaer, and Schenectady Counties located in upstate New York with 3 more on the way for this season.  The gardens are as diverse as the gardeners who work the soil. 

Each year CDCG develops new garden sites in communities not currently served by our programs.  If you know of some empty land that could use a community garden let us know.

Please scroll down to see a description of each  garden and to find one located in your neighborhood.

Albany                      Rensselaer                     Schenectady

Looking for a garden in your neighborhood? Check out maps of the gardens. 

If you are interested in getting a plot call 518-274-8685 or email the Garden Organizers at gardens@cdcg.com.

 

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Albany County

See a map of the gardens.

 


Arthur T. Scott Memorial Garden, Albany

Arthur T. Scott Memorial Garden, Albany - Capital District Community Gardens designed this South End cutie in 1994 with matching fence and tool shed on land owned by the Albany Housing Authority. This garden is small, but highly productive and always tidy.


                                     Chuck Shoudy Memorial, Albany

 

 

 

Chuck Shoudy Memorial, Albany - Bordering Albany’s Lincoln Park, this community garden has been filled with gardeners since day one. A nature trail behind the garden leads hikers past the nearby elementary school. The Albany Service Corps built this garden in 1999 in memory of Chuck Shoudy, Albany Director of Human Resources.

Edward Street, Cohoes - Our first garden in Cohoes is located just off Vliet Blvd. Many years ago this site was a private vegetable garden and the neighbors are glad to see it up and growing again. The community garden was developed in 2005 with students form Emma Willard School who helped spread 136 cubic yards of top soil.


  Dana Avenue, Albany
Dana Avenue, Albany - Close to Albany’s Washington Park, this terraced neighborhood garden was built in 1996 on property owned by Albany Medical Center in a heavy residential area off New Scotland Avenue.

Elfrieda Textores Memorial, Albany - This garden is located on the corner of Third & Elizabeth Street and is named for a prominent South End community activist and garden organizer Elfrieda Textores. It will continue to serve as a cornerstone of the community and as a living memorial to Elfrieda and her labor. 

Garland Court, Albany - This South End garden makes you feel like you’re in suburbia but is actually located in a small housing development. The land has been used as a community garden since the late 1970's and was donated to CDCG in 2003. 

Hartman Road, Albany - Located on the grounds of the Albany Municipal Golf Course, this very popular acre and a half site houses 46 garden plots. 

Hawk & Clinton, Albany - A wonderfully visible and accessible garden right on Clinton Avenue in Arbor Hill has 11 garden plots. The garden is CDCG owned.

 


  Hudson Avenue, Albany

Hudson Avenue, Albany - This very popular garden in Albany’s Center Square neighborhood is well managed by its neighbors who tend a plot there. The site is adjacent to state parkland and very close to The Empire State Plaza and Capitol buildings.

Leonard Place, Albany - Developed in 1999 this site is located on a dead-end street next to Hackett Middle School, just off Delaware Avenue. The garden has 22 plots and is surrounded  on three sides by a small urban forest filled with song birds. 

Lincoln Park, Albany - Designed by Capital District Community Gardens 1993, the Lincoln Park garden is filled with many terrific long-time gardeners who take great pride in their hard work. A tool shed was built during the 2000 season making garden maintenance much more convenient. Located in a heavily populated neighborhood, this 51 plot garden has a lovely grapevine covered gazebo right in the middle to provide a shaded sitting area in summer.

Livingston Avenue, Albany - Almost as large as a football field, the Livingston Avenue Garden is located behind Tivoli Park Apartments in Arbor Hill. This site has a very well established group of longtime gardeners many who have been tending plots for 20 to 30 years.

Mountain View, Latham - Our only Latham garden at this time, this site has been functioning as a community garden for over a decade. Its location is adjacent to several large apartment complexes. The site was almost lost to development several years ago but the gardeners worked with the developers to save the garden by rerouting the road, enabling us to retain most of the site.


Myrtle & Irving, Albany

Myrtle & Irving, Albany - This little beauty is our only city garden that can get away with just a four foot picket fence due to the watchful eye of its close knit neighborhood. The garden sits on a terraced hillside between Irving and Myrtle Streets.

Normanskill Farm, Albany - Our largest garden at two acres, this site was lost to the mudslide on the Normanskill Creek in 2000. Thanks to the efforts of New York State DOT and the City of Albany, the garden was rebuilt in 2001. This site offers opportunities for larger scale growing on 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 square foot fields. It is located just off Delaware Avenue at the City’s Farm.

Orange Street, Albany - This little gem is another one of our cozier spots. The gardeners work hard to maintain the beauty of this urban oasis all summer. Quite a change from the old parking lot it once was!

Pearl Street, Albany - Located on the corner of South Pearl and Schuyler Streets on the edge of Albany's historic  Mansion Hill neighborhood. Youth Organics, a gardening project for young residents tends land here. 

 


Ridgefield Park, Albany

Ridgefield Park, Albany - This large, very popular garden is located inside Albany’s Ridgefield Park bordering the Pine Hills neighborhood. This site is always filled a wonderfully diverse group of gardeners.

Sand Street, Albany - Built in 2005 this garden is located in the South End on Frisbee Avenue at the end of Sand Street. The garden is owned by CDCG and includes a custom built shed and awning which covers a  picnic table made by Educational Opportunity Center. 300 cubic yards of soil was spread by volunteers to create this 28 plot garden. 

State Office Campus Garden, Albany - Located on the New York State Office Campus just off of Washington Avenue. It is a productive garden with many people choosing to spend their lunch breaks in the garden growing nutritious food. 

Third Street, Albany - The Third Street Garden is located in a heavily residential neighborhood in Albany’s Arbor Hill across from Brighter Choice Charter School. This site received a new tool shed in 2001 as part of the Hands-on Capitaland project.

Westland Hills Garden, Albany - When you’re in the Westland Hills Garden, it’s hard to believe that you’re less than a block from a major commercial district (Central Avenue) and several major highways. This garden is located inside Albany’s Westland Hills Park. The cooperative spirit of these gardeners helped to win a Garden Improvement Award from Hewitts Garden Center, which was used to install a perennial flower bed to grace the garden’s entrance.

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 Rensselaer County

See a map of the gardens.

Corliss Park, Troy - Adjacent to a large public housing project in North Troy, this acre plus garden was purchased by Capital District Community Gardens at a foreclosure auction in 1997. Volunteers and staff did all of the clearing on this once-wooded site. The garden is wheelchair accessible and is equipped with ramps, walkways, and raised beds that make the joy of gardening available for people of all abilities. 

Downtown, Troy - Our only Downtown Troy garden is privately owned by a local businessman who has generously donated use of this land since 1988. It is in a highly accessible and residential area located just off Ferry Street.

Douw Street, Troy
Douw Street, Troy - Purchased by CDCG in 1994, this garden is tucked between the Hudson River and River Street in North Central Troy. It was built with the help of neighbors and a crew of teenagers from the Summer Youth Employment Program.


Eighth Street, Troy

 

 

Eighth Street, Troy - This garden in many ways serves as a home base for CDCG. It is here that our volunteer small engine mechanic tinkers away fixing lawnmowers and tillers. We hold our perennial plant sale here and the nearby land is the proposed sight for CDCG's gardening education center. The garden is filled with dedicated vegetable and flower gardeners.  A local businessman donated the land for this garden to CDCG in 1983.

 


Eleventh & Eagle Streets, Troy                     Eleventh & Eagle Streets, Troy - One of our most popular Troy gardens, its location in a quiet residential neighborhood near Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute keeps this half acre garden filled with longtime committed gardeners. Many of the same gardeners who built the tool shed over a decade ago still tend plots here. This site was the first to be purchased  with our Permanent Site Fund in 1980.                                                                


              Father Flanigans Farm, Troy

 

Father Flanigans Farm, Troy - Named after a popular neighborhood clergyman, this “farm” is located in one of Troy’s heavily populated, inner city neighborhoods. All of the gardeners live within a block or two of the garden and some have been cultivating a plot here since it was purchased by CDCG and developed back in the early 80's.     

 

Hill Street, Troy - We found some interesting relics on this former homesite when we were developing it back in 1993. This garden came complete with a concrete walkway right up the middle where it was needed. It is unique in that it offers access to Prospect Park by way of a pathway at the rear of the garden, and you’ll always spot the resident redtail hawk flying overhead.

Knickerbacker Park, Troy - One of only two gardens in North Troy, this longstanding garden sits on parkland next to the ice skating rink. A communal raspberry patch and several fruit trees provide gardeners with a delicious homegrown treat.

 


Ninth Street, Troy
Ninth Street, Troy - One of the prettiest community gardens located in Troy’s North Central neighborhood, this meticulously-kept site is tended by several generations of families who all live within a block of the garden.

Paul’s Place, Troy - Named after its generous donor, this garden is currently under development and slated for completion in the Fall of 2007. A New York State Environmental Protection Fund grant will support its development.

 

Rensselaer Family Farm, Rensselaer - Our only community garden in the City of Rensselaer, its quiet location in a residential neighborhood makes it an ideal place to garden. Filled with gardeners living in the neighborhood, this site is beautiful and productive.

Second Street, Troy - One of our coziest gardens, Second Street continues to coax grapes out of the beautiful grape vines covering the entryway arbor. Summer will no doubt lead to more delightful flowers and incredible vegetable plants along the pathway through this garden.

Swift & Seventh, Troy - Located across from Troy’s North Central Little League field, this is a busy and diverse neighborhood. The garden’s location on a corner lot gives it great southern exposure and exceptional visibility. Capital District Community Gardens purchased this site in the early ‘80’s.

 


Tech Park, North Greenbush
Tech Park, North Greenbush - Our only Corporate Park employee garden, it’s located on a patch of formerly unused open space that the garden shares with many critters. Deer fencing is a must to keep these cute but unwanted neighbors out.

Vanderheyden & Fifth, Troy - CDCG owns this lovely corner lot, which was built during the summer of 1992 by CDCG staff and four summer youth employees. 

 

 

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Schenectady County  

See a map of the gardens.

Craig & Wylie, Schenectady
The largest of the gardens on Hamilton Hill, this beautiful site is directly adjacent to Interstate 890, which makes it convenient to residents in other areas of Schenectady including Mont Pleasant and Rotterdam/Bellevue. This garden was developed in 1995 on city parkland. 

Cutler Street, Schenectady - Located in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood, this garden was built in 2005. This beautiful corner lot is equipped with a shed and picnic table built by the Educational Opportunity Center, and a grape arbor entranceway. 

Hulett Street, Schenectady
The first site to be developed as a community garden in Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill in 1993, the Hulett Street Community Garden is tucked away on a quiet block between Albany and Hamilton Streets. The land is owned by the AME Zion Church.

Mumford Street, Schenectady
Located on the corner of Mumford and Van Voast Streets, this well tended garden was built on the site of a former city swimming pool. Neighbors gather at the benches along the front of the garden where they are sometimes treated to excess produce offered to them by the community gardeners.

Steinmetz Homes, Schenectady - Two small garden sites - one on Doherty Drive and one on Tremont Avenue in Steinmetz Homes Housing Complex.

Vale Neighborhood, Schenectady - Located on Barney Street between Nott Terrace and Close Street. As of 2005 CDCG is the proud owner of this site. 

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