The Magnolia Tree Earth Center's Hattie Carthan Memorial Garden occupies a city block in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The Pleasant Valley Community Garden at 118th Street and Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem. Photos courtesy of The Green Guerillas

The Green Guerillas, New York City In addition to "greening" neighborhoods and providing tranquil oases of biodiversity within the city, the Green Guerillas began a City Farms program that distributes produce to local soup kitchens. By using compost-rich, low-artificial-chemical growing methods, New York City gardens do not generate the environmental pollutants associated with conventional fertilizer- and pesticide-intensive agriculture. This locally grown food also eliminates the packaging and transport costs of distant-grown food. According to the Urban Agriculture Network, city gardens now account for 15 percent of world food production. As urban gardening continues to plant roots in vacant lots across the country, American city dwellers are coming to appreciate both the locally grown produce and the pleasures of tending the soil in their own "backyard."   2 of 2