Denver police create community garden with The Table Urban Farm

2023-09-22

The Table Urban Farm is completing soil preparation for a new community garden at the Denver Police Department’s District Four Station at the corner of South Clay Street and Warren Avenue, readying the plot for use ahead of planting season in the spring.

The 5,000-square-foot garden will be the largest of the 19 plots operated by the Table Urban Farm in the south Denver area, and will be maintained with the goal of growing thousands of pounds of food for community members in need, according to the Denver Police Department.

There are plans to grow onions, tomatoes, peppers and squash, and community members will be able to have input on other types of food that they also want to see grown at the location.

“Our model is to grow food in underutilized spaces and share food back to the community,” Table Urban Farm co-director Jeanine Kopaska Broek said in an email.

Broek said the space will differ from a traditional community garden where members rent space, and will instead operate in an educational model with volunteers and groups helping out.

The Table is a nonprofit organization that grows food in a network of different plots in south Denver, according to its website. The organization partners with private homeowners who give it permission to use their yard space to grow vegetables, 100% of which are donated back to the community through local partners.

“Anyone is welcome to come and get the produce that we harvest — we give everything back to the community for free,” Broek said.

Volunteer Kim Newton, left, with Johns Manville, works at covering the garden area with compost outside of Denver police’s District Four station on Sept. 20, 2023. The Denver Police Department just recently partnered with The Table Urban Farm to create a community garden at the District Four station. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Volunteer Daniel Robbins, right, with Johns Manville, left, shovels compost into a wheelbarrow at the Table Urban Farm garden outside of Denver police District Four station on Sept. 20, 2023. Volunteers from The Table Urban Farm, officers from District Four police station and Johns Manville, a manufacturing company, worked at laying compost and mulch on the ground to create an 18” base to start the foundation of the urban garden. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Denver police corporeal Jay Smith uses a bobcat to move compost around the garden area outside of Denver police District Four station on Sept. 20, 2023. Volunteers have put in 400 hours of service so far in the project. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Volunteers work at covering the garden area in mulch and compost outside of Denver police District Four station on Sept. 20, 2023. The Denver Police Department recently partnered with The Table Urban Farm to create a community garden the station to help feed people in need. The heat of the compost, carbon in the mulch and moisture over the winter will help to decompose the layer into great soil for the garden. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Denver Police Lt. Jimmy Martinez helps other officers and volunteers in covering the garden area in mulch outside of Denver police District Four station on Sept. 20, 2023. The Denver Police Department recently partnered with The Table Urban Farm to create a community garden at the station. The Table Urban Farm, who will be managing the garden, will plant seed for vegetables, flowers and fruiting shrubs and trees when the soil is ready in the spring. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

The Table owns and operates The Table Public House in south Denver, and gives away harvested produce there, as well as at a few other small businesses in the area, according to the organization’s website.

Preparation work began at the District Four Station in May using what is known as the “lasagna method” — layering compost, woodchips and other decomposable waste — to build up healthy and nutritious soil.

The plot is located on the southwest corner of the District Four Station’s property. Officers at the station will work at the location within the scope of their normal community outreach activities, but the garden will otherwise be independently managed by The Table.

“Each district has community outreach officers and one of their main goals is to connect with the community in an effort to build relationships and help others,” Denver police Cmdr. Brad Qualley via email Tuesday. “We are very excited to be part of this project and look forward to what it can bring to many neighborhoods in District Four.”

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