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Community Gardens In Central Minnesota, Kaitlyn E. Printy

Culminating Projects in Social Responsibility

The focus of this work is to examine community gardens in Central Minnesota (specifically within the three-county area of Benton, Sherburne, and Stearns counties). This paper utilizes qualitative methodologies to compare and contrast community gardens in the area, with attention given to historic context, participation (or lack of) within the community gardening movement, and current community values. Emphasis is given to the differentiation between levels of community within the construct of community gardens as social spaces, as well as the development of the concept of the community garden network among the eighteen gardens studied.