The City of Pembroke Pines Landscape Advisory Board and the Parks and Recreation Department maintain the City’s Community Garden located at The Howard C. Forman Health Campus at 8500 E. Cypress Drive. The Community Garden is a Pines Residents Only member-based green space where the residents of Pembroke Pines can have the opportunity to come together to grow fresh produce, share the joys of gardening, build relationships, and engage in healthy activity.
Community gardens are a wonderful amalgamation of environmental, economic, health, social, and aesthetic benefits. Environmentally, they enhance local biodiversity by supporting a diverse range of flora and fauna. The plants they house play a pivotal role in improving air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, and over time, they can even remediate polluted soils.
By growing produce locally, these gardens cut down the need for extensive transportation, effectively reducing the community’s carbon footprint. Economically speaking, they offer dual benefits: households can save money by growing their own produce, and some gardens even boost the local economy by selling their yield.
From a health perspective, the fresh, often organic produce from community gardens can be a cornerstone for better nutrition. Furthermore, the very act of gardening promotes physical well-being and has profound therapeutic effects, acting as a balm for conditions like anxiety and depression.
Membership
The City’s Community Garden includes raised garden beds and a section where fruit trees and other crops can be grown. Annual membership fees for a garden plot are $60 for a 4 x 24 foot plot, $40 for a 4 x 16 foot plot, and $20 for a 4 x 8 foot plot. Plot owners are responsible for fertilizing, planting, weeding, mulching, harvesting, watering their area, and gardening tools.
Community Garden Committee
The Community Garden Committee is made up of all members. There are three annually elected board members who obtain additional responsibilities: garden coordinator, garden steward, and secretary. All members must join one of the several garden committees and all members must help in maintaining the common areas.
Organic Regulation
The Community Garden is intended to be an “organic” garden project. Only organic pesticides may be used in the garden. Any inorganic chemical products must be approved by the committee prior to use.
