Pine Island Community Gardens

Location Colchester, VT
Acreage 7
Protected Since 2012

A garden for first-generation Americans

At Pine Island Community Gardens, first-generation Americans—including many who came here through refugee and asylum programs—can enjoy the land. The land is a place where people can grow produce that is hard to get in Vermont and reconnect with farming roots—It’s a space where people can experience a Vermont that feels more like home.

For information about the gardens, contact Dan Kilborn

Around the world in a garden

There are seven acres of community gardens at the farm. They are used by approximately 75+ families from 10 countries.

We lease the land from Dhaurali Goats, a goat meat farm. We also manage the gardens with the help of a garden manager and volunteer garden leaders from the community.

Each family gardens a plot that is between 1/16 and 1/8 of an acre; they use well water to irrigate and goat manure from Dhaurali Goats to fertilize the plots.

A bounty of vegetables and community connections

Families grow produce and grains such as African corn and eggplant, a variety of hot peppers, amaranth, bitter melon, and greens.

The gardens are organized by language or nationality to ease collaboration. There are Somali Bantu and Bhutanese groups, and a group that speaks Swahili and French.

Garden leaders meet to plan, share updates, and address issues.

How did Pine Island Community Gardens get started?

The gardens got their start as part of Pine Island Community Farm, a former dairy farm that we bought at auction in 2012. It was a place where first-generation Americans could produce food and reconnect to farming roots. The farm was home to several initiatives and businesses, in addition to the gardens.

One of the initiatives that got started there was the Vermont Goat Collaborative. This grew into a business, now known as Dhaurali Goats. Dhaurali Goats is owned by the Dhaurali family, who bought the farm from us in 2023. At that time, we signed a long-term lease on the community garden land so that the gardeners could continue to grow food there.

Photos by Caleb Kenna