Through our Community Gardens Initiative, we're working to add 1,000 new garden plots to Portland's stock by the end of 2012. We're particularly focused on bringing new gardens to parts of town that don't currently have gardens, or have long waiting lists for plots.

The Kenton neighborhood's efforts to bring a new community garden to their part of town predates our '1,000 Gardens' initiative, but not Parks' involvement with the project. For four years, Amanda Waldroupe writes on Neighborhood Notes today, the Kenton Neighborhood Association has worked with Parks staff to find an appropriate site for a new garden in the neighborhood.

We're excited to share that the garden has finally found a home, at N Burrage Avenue and N Houghton Street. Waldroupe reports that the 1,700-square foot site will host 45 new garden plots for Kenton gardeners. A partnership of community supporters, a volunteer landscape architect, and staff at Parks and the Bureau of Environmental Services brought this vision to life. A $36,700 community livability grant from the Portland Development Commission will support Parks' work to develop and maintain the garden.

More on our '1,000 Gardens' initiative