Lemon Tree Trust’s long-term vision is to bring gardens and gardening initiatives to every refugee camp and community of forced migrants in the world. Creating community gardens is one way we can do this – they provide access to fresh food and boost food security, improve mental and physical health, and offer a safe space to build and grow a community.

Azadi Community Garden, Domiz 1 camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI)

Since 2016, the Azadi Community Garden (‘azadi’ means ‘liberation’ in Arabic) has been a busy hub of gardening activity, welcoming more than 50 women and their children every day. As well as tending to vegetables and herbs, it is a place to learn new skills and a safe space to meet and socialise.  

At our learning hub we teach several techniques used in small-scale food production within a camp environment, in addition to more general gardening and plant care workshops. Specialist techniques include recycling greywater, composting, planting in small spaces, growing under plastic, picking and drying herbs for our Sidra Tea Blend of herbal tea. At the hub we also coordinate our wider seed distributions and garden competitions.  

Our gardeners are allocated a raised bed and are welcomed into the garden on a rota basis to regularly tend to their plants. A wider planting scheme is organised by our operations manager Aveen Ibrahim and her team. Families gardening here are able to take as much as they need for their households and neighbours. Any surplus is sorted into smaller parcels before being safely distributed to vulnerable families living in Domiz 1 camp. 

Children love to visit the garden and help their parents and grandparents with activities such as feeding our small chicken flock and group of rabbits, which are kept for eggs and meat. A bread oven enables families to make Syrian flatbreads or ‘khubz’ – making bread from scratch is relatively easy and an activity that children traditionally help their mothers with from a young age. Residents can use the oven whenever they want, and always make extra bread to distribute to families in the camp. Learn more about our bread making activities over at Real Bread Campaign.

In 2023, we extended Azadi, doubling the number of raised beds from 50 to 100, ensuring that many more vulnerable families living in Domiz 1 have access to fresh food. As well as boosting food security, the increase in gardening provision will help to improve people’s physical and mental health.

About Domiz 1 camp

Domiz 1 is one of the largest camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is home to more than 28,000 refugees, predominantly from Syria. Learn more about daily life in Domiz 1 camp.

Hêvî Community Garden, Gawilan Camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Since December 2023, the Hêvî Community Garden (‘hêvî’ means ‘hope’ in Kurdish) has developed into a productive and well used space, thanks to the efforts of camp residents, the Lemon Tree Trust team and ongoing support from partners and donors.

Today, more than 90 raised beds are used to grow a range of seasonal vegetables and herbs, including rocket, radishes, onions, parsley, courgette, aubergine, chilli pepper, pumpkin and molokhia. Around the garden, 435 trees and plants – such as grapevine, fig, lavender and acacia – provide shade, colour and fruit, while two polytunnels and a drip irrigation system help protect crops and support reliable harvests throughout the year.

The site also features a bakery house with two traditional tannour ovens, which has quickly become a popular community hub. Families gather here to bake bread, often preparing extra loaves to share with neighbours. Two shaded resting areas, designed and built with local skills, provide places for tea, conversation and seed-sharing, while children frequently join their parents to help with gardening tasks.

Recent upgrades have improved the functionality of the space, including new water tanks for consistent irrigation, additional lighting for use after sunset, and a walkway connecting the main entrance with key areas of the garden. These developments make the garden safer, more accessible and easier to use.

About Gawilan camp

Gawilan camp, located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is home to more than 10,000 people, including around 2,400 families, most originally from the Syrian cities of Al Hasakah and Aleppo. Established in 2013, it is one of the largest camps in the region. The Hêvî Community Garden is a central space in the camp, providing access to fresh food, opportunities to learn and share skills, and a sense of community for residents.

Ridgecrest Community Garden, Vickery Meadow, Dallas, Texas, USA 

Since 2016, we have supported a group of passionate and skilled gardeners at the Ridgecrest Community Garden located in Vickery Meadow, Dallas. Established by the Vickery Meadow community in 2010, this thriving garden is situated in an under-resourced neighbourhood in central Dallas which is home to a significant proportion of the city’s resettled refugee population. The gardeners, all US citizens now but originally from Bhutan, Burma, South Sudan and other countries, grow native plants from their beloved homes, along with classic Dallas favourites. Most use the produce in their home kitchens and a few sell their surplus to neighbours and friends.

With help from our resident gardeners, we have added several landscaping features, including the addition of trellises to the 50 beds in 2019 to aid vertical planting.

The Vickery Meadow Community Garden physically nourishes the neighbourhood but sustains its spirit as well. The gardeners use the familiar practice of gardening to build connections and put down ‘roots’ in their adopted country.

Make a donation to Lemon Tree Trust

The Lemon Tree Trust welcomes one-off and regular donations.

Our core infrastructure costs are fully funded so 100% of your donation directly supports gardening projects and initiatives in refugee communities.

How your donation makes a difference

• £10 / $12 could provide refreshments at a community garden helping people socialise and spend time gardening
• £30 / $37 could help provide prizes for refugees and internally displaced people taking part in our garden and cooking competitions
• £50 / $61 could help provide topsoil and compost in our community gardens enabling people to grow what they need
• £100 / $122 could help provide an LTT Camp Co-ordinator to help with distributing seeds, plants and trees to displaced people
• £1,000 / $1,219 could help create a new garden providing an area of green space where community members recovering from trauma can spend time tending a garden, planting seeds and re-connecting with nature
• £50,000 / $61,780 could help us set up a new community garden for people in need in a camp and help with on-going staffing and running costs