McRorie Community Garden flourishes thanks to volunteers, partnerships

McRorie Community Garden flourishes thanks to volunteers, partnerships

Published on May 22, 2026

By Rossana Passaniti

If there were ever an example of the adage "Many hands make light work," it would be McRorie Community Garden near the Southeast Historic District.

One of Gainesville's oldest public gardens, the community gathering place is thriving, thanks to the work of more than 30 active neighbors who grow food for their households, share produce with others and donate crops to residents in need. Supporting those efforts are staff from several city departments and divisions, and community partners like Keep Alachua County Beautiful (KACB) and the Florida Wildflower Foundation.

Since becoming McRorie's garden manager in 2025, Jamie Swick has worked to strengthen those connections. The result is a landscape in full bloom.

"It's the networking efforts of many. It's an 'everybody' thing," said Swick. "The resources are available in our city and we're making use of them."

On a cool morning earlier this month, a team from the Urban Forestry division was on-site to assess fruit trees planted next to the garden earlier this year as part of the city's Tree Sponsor Program.

"We have a mulberry, peach, persimmon, plum and several others," said Sam Schatz, the city's senior horticulturist. "We plant trees on city rights of way in partnership with nearby homeowners who agree to water the trees the first two years to get them established."

Another recent addition to the garden is its compost area, where people can drop off food scraps. The site also is listed as a drop-off location on the city's Composting & Food Waste Reduction webpage.

"Composting is critical to the success of the garden," Swick said. "We divert food waste from landfills and enrich our soil at the same time."

Also new is a dedicated strip of native wildflowers officially designated as a Bee City Gainesville pollinator garden, the first of its kind within the city's 12 community gardens.

"The pollinator garden was planted in two phases," said Bee City Gainesville volunteer Janice Garry. "We've planted Stokes' aster, purple lovegrass and other native wildflowers to attract pollinators."

Garry encourages residents to submit new sites for consideration as Bee City Gainesville pollinator gardens. She also helped Gainesville earn its designation as an official Bee City USA® in 2022 in collaboration with the Florida Wildflower Foundation.

Near the pollinator garden, Sam Curry and Spencer Yates were finding space in their plot for squash seedlings just dropped off by KACB Executive Director Carlos Gonzalez.

"We've been managing this plot for two years and donate the food we grow to neighbors experiencing homelessness," said Curry. "We get a lot of buy-in and help from neighbors."

Named after Thomas McRorie, a volunteer caretaker of the site who lived on Southeast Fourth Avenue, the garden traces its municipal roots to 1997 when the Gainesville City Commission passed an ordinance establishing the community garden project. Today, the garden is recognized by the USDA through the People's Garden Initiative, which highlights gardens that support local food production, sustainability and community engagement.

"People walk by and take lunch breaks here. My gardeners always bring friends by to see their plots," said Swick. "I'm happy to see people enjoying it. It's a welcoming place."

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