The University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension founded the first
Wisconsin community garden 25 years ago on the Milwaukee "county
grounds"-a site that today hosts 1003 rental plots. Within two decades the
program expanded throughout Milwaukee County. Additional programs
were initiated in nearby Waukesha and Kenosha Counties. Today, Community
Gardens sponsors three types of programs: (1) rental gardens, (2) youth
gardens, and (3) gardens designed to serve the clientele of local food
pantries. The gardens within these categories are diverse enough to meet
the needs of culturally specific populations and community needs, but all
offer a core of resources including arable land sites, gardening tools,
compost, and horticultural information through direct teaching, telephone
hotlines, and various media (e.g., videos, written materials, and television and
radio programs).