Google Maps often directs me to the right location. Then sometimes it takes me on a winding path through Kansas City and allows me to stumble across a rare find. Nestled between the rows of houses is a place where produce and flowers grow — for the community and by the community.

Kansas City Community Gardens in Swope Park is not a typical garden. While this location started in 2003, the Kansas City Community Gardens group has been around for more than 30 years, helping those who live in the city surrounded by concrete and mortar to dig into the soil and grow food locally and economically.

ON THE VINE: Local gardeners, volunteer groups and even schools help keep produce growing at the community gardens. There are also opportunities for individuals to rent a plot to raise their own vegetables.

There are about 700 community gardens and orchard sites in the Kansas City Community Gardens network, which also includes more than 2,500 gardeners. Just last year alone, the group helped build 33 new gardens and plant 20 new orchards.

These locations produce a lot of food for their neighborhoods. In 2021, Kansas City Community Gardens grew nearly 1.1 million pounds of vegetables and more than 325,000 pounds of fruit. That is enough to reach 1 of every 20 households in the Kansas City metro area with local produce.

IN BLOOM: The Kansas City Community Gardens is also home to many different types of flowers. Here, the zinnia ‘zesty purple’ bloom is seen next to a concrete curb.

The group goes beyond planting and harvesting; they are also about educating. Staff members assist local gardeners with anything from the basics of planting green beans to integrated pest management programs. Individuals or local neighborhood associations can rent a plot, or staff members simply help gardeners at their own home. And the education process starts young.

The location I stumbled on has its own Beanstalk Children’s Garden, where Kansas City’s youth can learn via a STEM-based curriculum about the nutrition and environmental aspects of raising food in an urban setting. It is amazing to see a group so dedicated to promoting an understanding of food production.

While I may have been looking for the Giving Grove, which is a community orchard system with more than 200 sites across Kansas City and home to 3,300 trees producing 2.5 million servings to the area, this out-of-the-way community garden proved to be a great side-road adventure. Thanks Google!