Uncertainty Grows Around the Future of Vedgewater Garden

The Vedgewater Garden, located at 6300 N. Broadway, just west of the Lake Shore Campus, is facing uncertainty over its permanence in the Edgewater neighborhood months after Loyola’s 10-year Campus Plan detailed the eventual construction of a residence hall on the lot, The Phoenix previously reported.

The land the community garden sits on is owned by Loyola and leased by Neighbor Space — a land trust for community-managed open space in Chicago, according to Executive Director Ben Helphand.

The garden contains about 180 plots — rented out and tended to by almost 200 households each season — which community members can rent for a sliding-scale based fee, according to Co-Chair of the Edgewater Environmental Coalition Renee Patten, who’s one of 10 garden leaders who volunteer on a day-to-day basis to maintain and run Vedgewater.

Neighbor Space got involved with Vedgewater Garden when the previous leasing company, the Peterson Garden Project, stopped operating in 2022 — with the understanding Vedgewater might not remain permanently.

If the garden was to be displaced, Helphand said the plan would likely be to work with the gardeners to look for new land, with possible outposts being the Chicago Parks District or other public space.

“It’s not easy to come by growing spaces in Edgewater,” Helphand said. “But we have gotten creative and found available spaces in the city before, and we would start by working with the garden group, ask them what they want to do and take the lead from there.”

In addition to renting plots out to local households, the garden donates to local food pantries and mutual aid distributions, including Edgewater Mutual Aid and Care For Real, according to Patten. They also host monthly public volunteer days and workshops where they encourage community resilience by growing food for local needs.

Senior Sustainable Agriculture Manager of the School of Environmental Sustainability Kevin Erickson has collaborated with the EEC and Patten in the past and said the lease is managed by Loyola’s Community Relations Department. 

Erickson has been working in urban agriculture in Chicago for 15 years and said he’s currently teaching students hands-on skills in sustainable food production at the School of Environmental Sustainability which has donated supplies and plants to Vedgewater in the past. In addition to faculty and students personally renting plots to tend, the EEC hires student interns from SES each year.

Patten expressed concern over the possible loss of the garden as it provides the community with local food at low costs and is a vital part of the city’s natural environment. 

“We want to showcase to the community, to Loyola, and to other stakeholders what an awesome asset it is,” Patten said. 

First-year environmental policy major Sarah Spomer said although she’s never tended to a plot at Vedgewater, she’s helped maintain gardens at the public library in her Nebraska home. She said she feels like it’s up to her generation to get involved in promoting sustainability and maintaining a healthy environment for future generations.

“I think it’s really important that we have green spaces in urban areas because it’s the easiest way to maintain biodiversity, which is really hard to do in such a big city like this,” Spomer said. “To take it away would really just be doing a backward step in promoting sustainability and helping with pollution.” 

Patten said there’s a high demand for plots, with about 200 people currently on the waitlist for renting one — all of which would be lost if the garden were to be removed.

“Almost 200 households in the community would lose a spot to grow local produce together and learn about sustainability and how to be a resilient community,” Patten said.

Patten said the EEC is grateful for the relationship they have with Loyola and for the university’s donation of the land free of charge. She said she doesn’t believe Loyola development over the lot is imminent. If construction were to take place, however, it would be challenging to find a large enough space to accommodate hundreds of plots.

Vice President for Facilities and Campus Management Kana Henning wrote in an email to The Phoenix the university’s owned land will always have the possibility of being developed to fit different future uses. 

“Loyola has hosted a public community garden on its property in multiple locations for over 20 years, and we do not anticipate that changing,” Henning wrote. “There are no imminent plans to develop on the site of the current Vedgewater Garden. If we reach that point, we will make accommodations on another site, as we have done in years past.”

Patten and Helphand expressed concern over the availability of the communal space for residents as it provides local food at a low cost to the community and is a vital part of the natural environment in an urban city. 

“Sometimes on campuses, when you’re in college, you can be somewhat of a transient community,” Helphand said. “You know you’re there for four or five years and then you’re moving somewhere else. A community garden is a unique space where you can really get connected with a neighborhood in a very intimate and quick way.”