Right before the pandemic, around February of 2020, my friend and I decided to get a plot in our neighborhood community garden. We had no idea how important and meaningful this decision that we made on a whim would end up being.

During the early days of the pandemic, none of us really knew what was happening or what we should be doing, only that we could really only spend time outside. Our community garden was a place that felt safe and peaceful and brought calm to my anxious heart.

Since then, we’ve continued to garden, and I’ve seen how spending time in the garden has helped my 2 year old learn about nature, nurturing, independence, boundaries, and just so much more.

We spend time in the garden when there’s nothing else to do, we go when we have to tend to our plants, we go to paint, we go to play in dirt, we go just because.

If you’re a parent or nanny to younger children (but really of any age), I recommend seeking out local community gardens. They really are great places to teach so many life lessons, and it’s pretty great when your kid knows how to identify mint, rosemary, basil and other herbs and vegetables.

Here’s a list of area community gardens:

• Fairmount Community Garden

  • Fairmount Community Garden is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public space for community agriculture.

• Tarrant County Master Gardeners Community Demonstration Garden

  • The Tarrant County Master Gardeners Community Demonstration Garden is developed and maintained by the TCMGA, in conjunction with Texas AgriLife Extension.

• Common Ground NRH Community Garden

  • Common Ground NRH Community Garden is a group effort between The City of North Richland Hills, Davis Memorial United Methodist Church and a very enthusiastic group of community volunteers.

• The Growing Place Community Garden

  • The Growing Place is a community garden where 50% of the produce is donated to local food pantries.

• Harvesting Hope Community Garden

  • Harvesting Hope is affiliated with Tarrant Area Food Bank, Tarrant County Department of Health and the Trinity Brazos Area Community Growing Project.