Have you ever noticed the lush, green garden at Roger Williams Park near the Botanical Center? These plots are home to the Roger Williams Park Produce Donation Garden and Community Gardens!

The Roger Williams Park Produce Donation Garden (PDG) has been connecting volunteers, gardeners, and the public to each other since 2011. Sponsored by the RWP Botanical Center and staffed primarily by URI Master Gardener volunteers, they have two main goals: producing food for the local food banks and kitchens as well as public education. The garden consists of over 3,000 square feet of gardening space in six long rows, has 15 raised beds, several large potting buckets, and a spiral herb garden. There are also three plant pollinator gardens: two along the outside fence and one inside; they have all allowed for an increase in bee and butterfly activity, while the perimeter gardens have also reduced weed incursion.

Their Hugelkultur bed, used mostly for herbs, mimics nature with its base of stumps, sticks, and soil. The PDG prides itself for being 100% pesticide free, using row covers, hardware cloth, and neem oil to help keep the critters at bay. Each month they host a group work day that includes a “mini-session” to educate the team and the public on a timely topic of interest. In 2025, together with the Flavor Lab in the Botanical Center, the PDG donated 3,500 pounds of food. Since its inception, the PDG and the FL have donated nearly 50,000 pounds of vegetables and herbs to their donation partners.

Gardeners Kim Dixson and Deb Schwab gave RWPC a tour of the garden – see the short video here. Follow for part two!

As the PDG continues to grow and produce more food, they can use help from the community to source materials on their wishlist. If you have any of these items to spare or would like to donate, email Kim Dixson at [email protected].

Produce Donation Garden Wishlist:
  • Lumber/plywood (to replace floor of shed, build new raised beds and wheelchair-accessible beds, and more) 
  • Irrigation:
    • Revamp drip irrigation in PDG: bluetooth capable?
    • Sprayer heads for all hose reels
    • New hose reel on West fence
    • New non-kinking hoses
  • Approx. 400 feet of hardware cloth to complete critter abatement around entire length of fencing on garden perimeter 
  • Zipties for hardware cloth placement and many other uses
  • Four rolls of Protek Net 25 gauge (160’ rolls)
  • Soil amendments:
    • Perlite/Vermiculite to mix in to rows/buckets for root veggies
    • Beneficial Nematodes 2x per year
    • Compost in early spring to plant peas/root veggies
    • Transplant Formula (or equivalent like Bio-tone) from “Fix My Soil” company for all transplants – need in early spring for lettuce/arugula/spinach
  • Large supply of EZ Straw and/or salt marsh hay for weed mitigation
  • Tools/Supplies:
    • Harvest tools (clippers/small scissors)
    • Harvest buckets: to be designated for weeds vs harvest
    • Wipes/System for sterilizing harvesting tools
    • Two digital scales: one for PDG, one for Flavor Lab
    • Wheelbarrows: many of ours need upgrades
    • Mini sledgehammer
  • Crushed stone dust path from front gate to ADA beds for ease of wheelchairs (and just a better main walkway)
  • More gravel for path from street to front gate