Durham’s First Edible Park

This unique partnership between Bountiful Backyards and Durham’s Parks and Recreation department is designed to be an abundant and educational public orchard for all.

Since 2010, Bountiful Backyards and volunteers have planted dozens of fruit trees and berry bushes, support perennials, and a large pollinator garden, which are all open for the public to enjoy.

We host workdays open to anyone interested. Join us to learn (almost) everything you need to know about gardening, with hands on workdays and educational workshops throughout the year!

Urban Mini-farm and Community Garden

Started in the spring of 2012, this half-acre lot will support a 15 person CSA capable of selling and distributing vegetables to garden members throughout the community.

The goal? To create a replicable mini-farm model that inspires more neighborhood farms and backyard gardens to blossom in the NE Central Durham area, creating jobs and localizing neighborhood wealth.

We recently launched a beginning gardeners youth program for neighborhood teenagers, and continue to host weekly workdays for interested volunteers.

A Playground You Can Eat

When our neighborhood park won a Kaboom grant to revamp a vacant lot, the community decided to create a truly interactive public space. In just one day—and with the help of over 350 volunteers and the East Durham Children’s Initiative—we installed new playground equipment and replaced the standard crape myrtles and evergreens with an edible array of cherries, grapes, figs, and blueberries.

The best part? Watching a community of garden-friendly young people take root in a place once dominated by weeds and litter.

Come check the park out at the corner of E. Main Street and Cherry Grove.