Department of Parks and Recreation

DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION​

Ka ʻOihana Mālama Pāka a me nā Hana Hoʻonanea

This round icon is a simple tri-color logo of the E Alu Pū Kākou initiative, which looks like a bird of paradise flower, but instead of purple and orange petals, they resemble people with their arms stretch up to the sky.

Community Gardening
with the City and County of Honolulu

On this Page:

Community gardener at Makiki District Park

Updates

1/29/25: The Honolulu Community Garden Program is celebrating it's 50th anniversary. 50th Commemorative T-shirts, Totes and Garden Aprons are on sale to help support the Honolulu Garden Council's 50th celebration.

12/26/24: Public hearing scheduled to update 40-year-old Community Garden Rules. An in-person and virtual public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, January 28, 2025 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Foster Botanical Garden’s Conservatory Classroom located within the historic 14-acre garden at 180 N. Vineyard Blvd. in Downtown Honolulu. The virtual meeting will be held via Zoom, and can be accessed using the following link: bit.ly/gardenhearing

7/1/24: We're looking for feedback on the proposed HRCGP Rules and Regulations - click the button below to view the draft and provide input. We look forward to hearing from you!

10/31/23: Big mahalo to all of our community gardeners who participated in our survey, which closes today. Your feedback is not only key for helping us improve the program, but will also guide how we expand equitably going forward.

07/03/23: Welcome Kate Eickstead! Our new Community Garden Coordinator. Check out the Contact Us page to learn what she loves growing the most.

Quarterly Newsletters

January 2025

October 2024

July 2024

April 2024

About the Program

The Honolulu Recreational Community Gardening Program was founded in 1975 to provide an alternative form of recreation around “experiential environmental opportunities in even the most dense urban environment, by providing the opportunity for urban citizens to care continuously for the health of a small plot of earth” (Bonnie Goodell, the first coordinator of the program). While much of the original intention is the same today, the program has grown to 11 gardens of varying sizes and character, and has begun to expand outside of the urban core, recognizing that this opportunity might serve a wider mission and vision:

Mission: the Honolulu Recreational Community Gardening Program (HRCGP) provides community garden spaces for people to grow their own foods, herbs, flowers and other plants, and to connect with their neighbors through community-led gardening activities. HRCGP supports neighborhood volunteers who steward community gardens as active resources that strengthen communities. HRCGP is committed to serving the needs of community members whose recreational needs are not met by athletic, craft, non-active open space, and other traditional park facilities, and especially of those who would not otherwise have access to growing space. 

Vision: to promote community building, resiliency, healthy food and movement, and stewardship of green spaces through experiential and educational opportunities, and publicly accessible physical activities, for the communities of O‘ahu.

Map of Community Gardens

Below is a map of community gardens within DPR’s community garden program. To see other parks and gardens managed by DPR, click here

Map of Oahu with ten flower icons marking where City and County community gardens are located.
Map of community gardens within the program

Planning for Growth

The Honolulu Recreational Community Gardening Program not only is experiencing long waitlists, but also receives frequent requests for new community gardens across the island and most notably in areas not yet served by this program. We recognize that there is a need to grow this program, and to do so with equity in mind. In response to this need, the Department of Parks and Recreation is utilizing a 2-year ARPA grant to conduct an assessment of the program and to develop a roadmap for the future.

Since it’s founding in 1975, HRCGP grew to 11 gardens by the end of the century and has been growing much more slowly ever since. This is in part due to the lack of capacity within DPR to support the establishment and long-term maintenance of more gardens. We are working to expand capacity internally so we can a) better support our current garden membership and volunteer officers, and b) add more gardens to our program.

Additionally, there is a need to streamline pathways for community groups to partner with DPR to grow this high-demand opportunity, especially to O‘ahu communities who are not currently served by this program.

In the checklist below is a list of considerations for community-based organizations wishing to establish and manage a community garden on City land. The goal of this list is to provide transparency in this process, best prepare these organizations with the necessary steps to create a community garden, and to facilitate the success of a proposed community garden. 

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