Click a picture to see it grow.

For more than four decades the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation has been involved in helping to develop and maintain this remarkable five acre site, the largest community garden in all of Cuyahoga County. This jewel in the crown of the Old Brooklyn neighborhood was established through an agreement between the CDC and the Cleveland Board of Education. It is one of the City’s earliest examples of the development and use of eco-friendly urban space.

With over 200 plots and on average 180 gardeners per year, Ben Franklin is an incredible peaceful oasis. It is just a few miles south of downtown and just south east of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

The Garden is in the back portion of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, one of the City’s finest elementary schools. The garden area includes a children’s garden, a perennial garden and a demonstration garden. Personnel from the Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener program are available to assist the school children and all gardeners with their crops each year. The OSU Extension and the City of Cleveland’s Summer Sprout program also provide seeds and plants for gardeners.

Each year a breathtaking variety of vegetables, flowers and fruits are grown. The garden has been awarded ribbons in the Best Community Garden category at the Cuyahoga Fair since 2008. Ben Franklin gardeners also take home many individual ribbons for their produce. The gardeners are very generous each year by providing thousands of pounds of vegetables to local food banks, churches, and pantries.

The dedication of all of the gardeners is amazing; there is an overall sense of community pride and spirit at the garden each year. Gardeners donate over a thousand hours each year to help maintain the garden; including growing and delivering produce to hunger centers, removing trees and brush, keeping all tools in working order and assisting in garden social events.

(Former) Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson visits
Benjamin Franklin Garden has a part-time Garden Coordinator, who reports to the CDC. The Coordinator works in conjunction with the Garden Operating Committee, a dedicated group of eleven gardeners. This group was formed in 2008 with the guidance and perseverance of a very experienced gardener, John Jenkins.

The Committee and Coordinator have been instrumental in obtaining grants from funders such as the Cleveland Foundation’s Neighborhood Connections grant program and the Walmart Foundation Community Grant Program. Funds are used to purchase such items as quality gardening tools, lawn mowers, proper signage for the garden, and a large shed to store supplies. The garden also raises some funds each year through a Fundraiser, Ice Cream Social and Harvest Picnic.

The Committee is always keen to engage with the community. To that end, a new pavilion provides an inviting outdoor space for musical concerts, classes, and other community events. With funding from the CDC, the Garden is able to present a Music in the Garden summer series with local, professional musicians. In addition, there have been a host of CDC and community events, plus tours of the garden are always available upon request.

The Garden strives to employ sustainable practices such as using more natural methods and composting. The Garden keeps a plot of perennial native flowers beside an enclosed area for beekeeping.

The Garden was a presenter at the GreenTown conference in Kent, Ohio in 2015 and the American Community Gardening Association annual meeting in Cleveland in 2016. The Garden was featured in the Cleveland Growing Strong On-Line Oral History Project presented by StoryLenz. Each year the Garden hosts tours, projects, and volunteer opportunities for church, corporate, alumni and other community groups and also makes presentations at organization meetings.

The school and garden have been designated a Cleveland Landmark by the Cleveland Landmarks Commission via 2004 legislation introduced by then Council member Merle Gordon. In 2013 the Ben Franklin Garden was designated as “Urban Garden District” zoning via City Ordinance No. 825-l0. The legislation was introduced by then Council member Anthony Brancatelli on behalf of the Garden Committee’s request and is now zoned as such. The grounds are a Monarch (butterfly) Waystation and a Certified Wildlife Habitat®