There are a million reasons to grow your own food. It’s fun, it’s empowering, you get to spend time outside, and you’ll probably improve your diet with a new source of freshly grown produce. Having an abundance of fresh veggies means you can make large batches of tomato sauce, bring mixed greens from your garden to your friends, and even donate extra veggies to local food banks. Plus you can take up canning and fermenting—my favorite sauerkraut is the homemade kraut I’ve made using purple cabbage I grew myself. Whether you eat it raw, cook it, or preserve it, food you grow yourself just tastes better.
 
I’ve grown veggies in the desert Southwest and the Midwest, and have always done so in community gardens. That’s because I usually live in the city, where the soil can be sketchy and where gardening space isn’t exactly abundant. But there are other benefits to community gardening, even if you have space to grow at home.  For one, there’s the community aspect. Society is increasingly isolated, and having a garden plot can sometimes give you the opportunity to make new friends. This isn’t always the case, since some community gardens are comprised of people who keep to themselves, but many gardens sponsor workshops and host mandatory or voluntary community days where people get together and work around the garden, and have a potluck afterwards. And community gardens are often filled with gardeners whose knowledge you can tap into, and people who you can swap seeds and veggies with, and water each other’s plots if someone’s out of town. If you’ve got a growing problem, are looking for ways to best amend your soil, you can get feedback from people. You can also peek at their plots to see what’s growing well, what shading structures they’re using, and so forth, which could give you ideas for your own plot.
 
The fees are usually reasonable. Some community gardens have sponsorship or funding, and may be free, or charge only $35 or $45 a growing season. The most I’ve had to pay was $18/month, but I got a lot more than just the plot for that money—it paid for dripline irrigation and tools and materials we all shared. Depending on how much you spend on supplies and equipment for your garden, and how large (and dense) your plot is, you may even save a little bit of money on produce.
 
Ready to grow? Here’s how to get started.
 
1. Find a community garden. You can usually do this through a Google search, by looking at websites for your city or neighborhood, through your local cooperative extension or botanical garden or horticultural society, or by asking around at the farmer’s market or a local nursery. Or use the American Community Gardening Association website’s find a garden feature. Get on the waitlist—or several waitlists—if a plot is not immediately available.
 
2. Amend the soil, if needed. The good news about growing in a community garden is that the soil’s probably already been tested (or trucked in if you’re growing on raised beds), so you probably don’t have to worry about chemical contaminants. That doesn’t mean that you don’t need to add amendments, though. This could mean digging down two feet and adding a foot of manure mixed with half of what you dug, or it could mean adding a layer of topsoil. It just really depends.
 
3. Figure out what to plant. Even if you see some amazing kale in other plots in your community garden, that doesn’t mean it’s in season. Get your hands on a planting calendar for your hardiness zone and figure out what to plant when. You can find this on the website for your local cooperative extension or other local gardening sites. If you’re new to gardening, you may want to buy seedlings instead of starting from seed, so make sure to look for transplant dates in your planting calendar.
 
4. Buy your plants, and any tools your community garden doesn’t provide. (Even if they do provide equipment, it can be nice to have your own set of tools, and your own gardening gloves.)  You’ll want to make sure the variety you’re buying is suitable for local conditions (this is more of an issue in the desert, really), and to get information on whether the plant needs full sun or shade. This information sometimes comes with plants, or the seller will probably chat your ear off about pests, frost sensitivity, fertilization, when to harvest, and so forth if you buy from a good nursery or a farmer’s market. You’ll also want to see if you need any other supplies, like tomato cages, straw, shade cloth, or anything else to deal with weeds and pests and bugs and critters.
 
5. Make a plant map. Don’t skip this step and plant things willy-nilly. Get a sheet of grid paper, account for the space needed between plants and rows (and what needs shade and what needs full sun), and come up with a plan before planting. Bring it with you (along with measuring tape) when planting.
 
6. Be a good community garden member. That means not letting your kids or pets run around (or even at all, depending on the rules of your garden). It means being a good neighbor to your fellow gardeners by not exceeding garden boundaries or letting your plants sprawl into the space between plots, discarding your trash, not leaving your equipment in garden paths, not piling weeds or trash in common areas, and so forth. There are usually compost piles, recycling, and containers to store material that you’re not currently using. Make sure to you know the procedures for putting away hoses and equipment, locking up, and so forth. Much of this will be on the forms you sign, so read them. And it goes without saying that you shouldn’t help yourself to other people’s veggies. (If you’re worried that a neighbor has done this to you, be aware that it could just be a critter.)
 
7. Maintain your garden! The amount of time you need to spend depends on the size of your plot and a myriad of other factors, but you should plan to spend at least an hour or so at your garden each week, not including watering and harvesting.
 
8. Enjoy the bounty! Check out recipes specifically written for garden produce or for seasonal eating. Learn how to can or ferment. Most community gardens prohibit selling commercially, but that doesn’t mean you can’t donate veggies to your local community food bank, or give them away to your friends. And once they taste your yellow pear tomatoes, they’ll probably want to start gardening, too.