How to start a community garden, step by step
Organizing people, securing land, testing soil, water, rules and funding.
Community gardens, garden grants and the story of the GRO1000 vote
Gro1000Vote.com is an independent, source-cited guide for people who want to start or fund a community garden, and for anyone curious about the 2015 people’s-choice garden vote that once ran at this address.
Please note: Independent informational site. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Miracle-Gro or the GRO1000 program. There is no voting and no grant application on this site. The 2015 vote ended long ago; this site documents it from public sources.
Practical guides
Benefits of community gardening: what the evidence says
Food, health, neighborhood and environmental benefits, with the research behind them.
Sustainable gardening practices for shared plots
Composting, watering, pollinators and low-pesticide growing, from EPA and USDA guidance.
Urban agriculture: how cities grow food
What counts as urban agriculture, federal support, and safe use of vacant land.
How people's-choice garden grant votes work
How sponsor-run public votes are structured, and how to spot a legitimate one.
Finding money for a garden
Community garden grants: how they work and where to look
Federal, nonprofit, corporate and local funding, typical requirements, and grant-scam warning signs.
GRO1000 and the 2015 people's-choice garden vote
A cited history of the program, the four finalist cities and the Detroit winner.
The 2015 vote in brief
In January and February 2015, gro1000vote.com hosted an online public vote run by The Scotts Company LLC as part of its GRO1000 community garden program. Four finalist projects, in Detroit, New York City, Orlando and Oakland, competed for a $40,000 grant. The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit won with more than 55% of the votes, according to the company’s announcement. Read the full, cited history.
How we work
Every factual claim on this site links to a public source such as a government agency, an official press release, a peer-reviewed study or an archived page. We do not run votes, collect grant applications, sell products or accept sponsored posts. Read our editorial standards or learn who we are.