Gardens Across Iowa!™
Taking Iowa from Scarcity to Abundance
Turning Urban Areas into Entrepreneur-Fostering, Production-Based Powerhouses
Written by Sondra Wilson. Updated July 30, 2025. Economic projections cross-analyzed via Microsoft Co-Pilot, Chat GPT, and Google Gemini.
The Gardens Across Iowa!™ (“Gardens!™“) initiative is one of ten initiatives applicants may apply for through the Civilian Restoration Corps (“CRC”) work relief program, based on their personal preferences and interests.
Allocated funding via the Right to Homestead Act, Gardens!™, the purpose is multifaceted:
1.) To ensure every Iowan has a place to legally grow food
2.) To end Iowa’s food insecurity crisis
3.) to create a statewide in-school gardening program to offset school lunch costs and teach valuable skills to youth
4.) To improve Iowa’s economy by producing from both urban and rural areas.
📈Economic Impact
A Regenerative Investment in Iowa’s Future
Initial analyses project Gardens!™ could yield substantial economic benefits to Iowa through community garden expansion and regenerative entrepreneurship. This economic analysis accounts for real-dollar projections, incorporates gradual adoption rates, includes diminishing marginal returns, and additional fiscal offsets such as reduced food assistance costs, lower municipal maintenance, and improved public health outcomes. Here’s how the projections break down:
📊 Economic Modeling Assumptions
- Initial Investment: $100 million/year in garden infrastructure and community entrepreneurship
- ROI from Community Gardens: Average of $6 returned per $1 invested, drawn from national case studies (Community Gardening Association, 2025)
- GDP Multiplier for Entrepreneurial Activity: 1.5x over baseline projections (Neumann, 2021; Harbach, 2021)
- Inflation Rate: Adjusted annually at 2.5% to present real-term growth
- Baseline GDP (Iowa, 2025): ~$250 billion (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2025)
- Additional Fiscal Offsets: $100–$250 million/year in statewide savings by Year 10 (Urban Resilience Lab, 2024)
🧮Growth Projections
| Year | Real Garden ROI | Entrepreneurial Multiplier | Fiscal Offsets (Est.) | Combined Annual Impact | Cumulative (Real Terms) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2028 (Year 3) | ~$560M | ~$270M | ~$110M | ~$940M/year | ~$2.8B |
| 2035 (Year 10) | ~$1.1B | ~$900M | ~$180M | ~$2.18B/year | ~$15.3B |
| 2045 (Year 20) | ~$1.8B | ~$2.2B | ~$230M | ~$4.23B/year | ~$43.7B |
These numbers assume a phased adoption model aligned with CRC app rollout and community training stages (20%, 45%, 70% by milestones). ROI is inflation-adjusted, and diminishing returns are factored in after year 15.
📉 Sensitivity Analysis
| Scenario | ROI Ratio | Entrepreneurial Growth | Fiscal Offset | 2045 Impact (Annual) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $4 per $1 | 1.2x baseline | $100M | ~$2.6B |
| Base Case (Current) | $6 per $1 | 1.5x baseline | $180M | ~$4.23B |
| Optimistic | $7.5 per $1 | 1.8x baseline | $250M | ~$5.85B |
This model provides stakeholders a resilient framework for budgeting and planning, with quantifiable upside even under conservative conditions.
Key Drivers of Growth
- Food Savings & Local Spending: Families save $70–$380/year on groceries, redirecting spending locally (Food Bank of Iowa, 2023).
- Property Value Increases: Property values increase up to 9.4% near gardens (Gardening Know How, 2023).
- Entrepreneurial Density: Entrepreneurial density boosts local markets and exports (Neumann, 2021).
- Job Creation: CRC teams and garden managers create jobs and reduce welfare dependency.
- Reduced Municipal Costs: Volunteer labor and local sourcing reduce municipal costs.
Sources: Community Gardening Association (2025); Neumann (2021); Harbach (2021); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2025)
Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Community Gardens
Highly-productive, low-maintenance food and herbal medicine gardens will be built using proven, innovative techniques that are being “vacuumed up from across the internet”, then embedded into the Gardens Across Iowa!™ App. Some techniques include:
Double-Planter Technique for Potatoes
A clean, simple, portable way to grow potatoes, allowing gardeners to simply lift the inner pot to pluck potatoes. A great way to maximize space within your garden. To grow potatoes earlier in the season while there is still danger of frost, put a tarp over the ground to enjoy an earlier harvest.
Above image from A Piece of Rainbow’s Facebook Page, used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Cucumber Tipi
Vine cucumbers love to hang, allowing them to grow larger and longer, with stronger vines, and without yellowing and flattening on the underside. The large leaves grow up the tipi and provide shade to retain water within. Cucumbers like a lot of water, so this creates a perfect environment for the fruits to thrive.
Above photo by Transjardins, used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Rain Gutter Hanging Strawberries
A semi-shady overhang to guard the plants beneath from direct sun doesn’t get more gorgeous than this:
Above photo by HouseOfJoyNoiseBlog, used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Edible Mushrooms
The hanging strawberries provide shade, and excess water drips onto the mushrooms, maximizing efficiency.
Above image from Grow Mushrooms Canada used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Cold Frames
Cold frames can be used to grow root vegetables, winter greens, and salad greens year round, with snow adding insulation and trapping heat from the sun inside:
Above image by used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
“Shou Sugi Ban” Raised Beds
This ancient Japanese techniques prevents insects and weather from tearing apart raised beds, and without covering the wood in chemicals that leach into the soil.
Above video from James Brigioni used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Not Just Gardens —
Safe, Clean-Burning Firepits Too!
- Community fire pits with bamboo sound barriers.
- Clean-burning woods (oak, cedar, juniper) encouraged.
- Helps manage urban yard waste.
Above image by Gatlinburg Cabin Rentals used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Above image from “20+ DIY Fire Pit Design Ideas“, posted on Pinterest, used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
Above Image by Ryan O., posted on Pinterest, used for used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
🛠️ Initial Rollout
If I am elected, I will :
1. Commission a team to finish developing the Gardens Across Iowa!™ App.
2. Unite Iowa State University’s Horticulture, Engineering departments, Master Gardeners, and permaculture specialists to use the App to build The Model Garden in order to break the Guinness Book of World Records.
- Uses pest-repelling plants (no pesticides/herbicides in urban areas).
- Equipped with automated watering, soaker hoses, and rain caches.
- Findings will be used to improve the app.
3.) Gardens Across Iowa! teams will install gardens in key locations.
🏫 Garden Installations in Three Key Locations
Pursuant to the Right to Homestead Act, gardens will be installed in three key locations, for the following purposes.
i. In-School Gardening Program
- Students manage gardens; produce used in school lunches.
- Benefits:
- Reduces lunch costs.
- Teaches resource awareness and life skills.
- Reduces school waste.
- Reconnects youth with nature.
- Weekly volunteers may assist lunch cooks for perks.
Above image by LiveKindly, posted on Facebook, used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
ii. Community Gardens in Every Town and City
- Inspired by the Cobell Settlement’s land buyback program (Kornei, 2022).
- Municipalities purchase land via Iowa’s buyback program — see Funding Mechanisms below.
- Gardens installed near apartments and areas lacking soil access: see Eminent Domain Rentals Owned by Out-of-State Landlords.
- Raised beds and imported soil may be used for empty, unused or barely-used lots.
Empty or Barely-Used Lots
Source: Wilson, S. (2023). Photo of parking lot in Boone, IA
How the Michigan Urban Gardening Initiative
transformed Detroit’s inner cities
Source: Gerard, M. (2023).
iii. Sustainable Villages to Help the Homeless
- Modeled after Joppa’s proposed village.
- Experts will be commissioned to train Housing Helpers™ to build with cob housing and papercrete. Solar installations will be added by the SolarBerry Brigade™.
- Master Gardeners maintain food and herbal gardens.
Click the Image for Details About These Villages:
Above image by Joppa used for First Amendment purposes in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy and the Fair Use Doctrine.
🧑🌾 Maintenance and Upkeep
- Horticulture, permaculture, ethnobotany, Master Gardeners, arborists, and other small ag specialists will maintain, troubleshoot, and improve upon the gardens.
- Install instructional signage on plant care and harvesting.
🏛️ Policy & Zoning Reform
- Require cities to zone for community gardens in residential developments.
- Renters must have the right to garden and enjoy small outdoor fires using clean-burning woods.
- Restores access to nature and the commons.
📱 Gardens Across America!™ and Gardens Across Earth!™ Apps
The Gardens Across Iowa! App™ will be used to develop the Gardens Across America! App™. This App works the same, however instead of being centered around Iowa’s median frost date, all notifications will shift to match the user’s GPS location. For example, if the user is in Colorado, notifications will pop up based on Colorado’s frost date instead of Iowa’s.
The Gardens Across America! App™ will be used to develop the Gardens Across Earth! App™.
💰 Funding Mechanisms
1. Optional 2% Tax on Rental Property Owners
- Owners may opt out by providing a 15′ x 15′ gardening space per rental unit.
2. Iowa Gardening Bonds
- Inspired by WWI/WWII War Bonds.
- Art contest to design historic-looking certificates notating various denominations: $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000+
- Citizens can purchase the certificates as historic keepsakes to commemorate the movement.
Image source (fair use): https://dailysquared.com/work-hard-poster
3. The Iowa Stock Exchange
The Iowa Stock Exchange allows Iowans to buy stock in Gardens and other CRC initiatives. This helps raise initial capital while incentivizing early buy-in.
4. CRC Vouchers
- CRC Vouchers used to purchase supplies from Iowa businesses: funding allocated via the Iowa Innovation Act.
- Hardware stores provided with ideal product lists.
5. “Set the Captives Free!” Act
- Cuts overhead costs and statewide taxes, while offering a path toward early release. See Set the Captives Free! Act.
“I’m concerned that if we don’t do this, the next generation will never know the joy of picking a raspberry from a bush, or a cherry from a tree. Those are some of the best moments as a child, but today everything seems to have been cut down. We’ve strayed so far from nature. This may be our last opportunity for humanity to correct our course. If we can unite for anything, let it be for future generations.”
— Sondra Wilson
🎵Now, The Garden Song by John Denver (Fair Use):
🛡️ Trademark & Rights Notice
Civilian Restoration Corps™, Gardens Across Iowa!™, Gardens Across Nebraska!™, Gardens Across California!™, Gardens Across America!™, and Gardens Across Earth!™ are trademarked by Sondra Wilson (“Inventor”). All apps and technologies described are solely owned by the Inventor. Wild Willpower PAC, The Peaceable Assembly, and Sondra Wilson for Iowa Governor have express permission to reference, fundraise, and perform outreach related to these initiatives.
Thank you for reading!
Like this plan?
You can make it happen!
Help Sondra get Elected
Thank you for your support!
References:
All materials used throughout this page are used in accordance with the First Amendment and the US Copyright Office’s Fair Use Policy.
20+ DIY Fire Pit Design Ideas. Bright the Dark and Fire the Bored | Advantages & How To Build It Pinterest. https://in.pinterest.com/pin/690247080367577495/
Community Gardening Association. (2025). What is the Economic Impact of Community Gardens?
Cucumber tipI: Transjardins, 26 Oct. 2022, transjardins.org/vertical-culture-in-a-teepee-a-playful-and-practical-tool-at-the-jardin-de-la-traversine-villiot-paris/.
Double planter technique for potatoes: “A Piece of Rainbow” Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=815541177286166&set=a.423622486478039
Food Bank of Iowa. (December 7, 2023). Records shattered again as more Iowans seek help with food. https://foodbankiowa.org/news/records-shattered-again-as-more-iowans-seek-help-with-food/.
Grow Mushrooms Canada. (n.d.). Real talk from our real customers.
Joppa. https://www.joppa.org/village/.
More Iowans Face Food Insecurity as Food Pantries Report Record-High Demand, www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/2023/09/07/more-iowans-face-food-insecurity-as-food-pantries-report-record-high-demand-dmarc-food-bank-iowa/70771259007/ . Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.
Gardening Know How. (2023). Economic Benefits of Community Gardens and Green Spaces.
Gatlinburg Cabin Rentals; The Cabin Rental Store. Weddings in Gatlinburg, TN. https://thecabinrentalstore.com/cabin-rentals/weddings/?plus_oc=1.
Gerard, Michelle. (2023). The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative in Detroit. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/CityPorn/comments/12ek3zn/the_michigan_urban_farming_initiative_in_detroit/.
Harbach, J. (2021). The ongoing wave of entrepreneurship is set to reshape the U.S. economy. Forbes.
Heartland Forward. (2021). America’s Entrepreneurial States: Supporting Entrepreneurs to Help Drive the Economy.
Horticulture Research Station. “Iowa Soils”. Iowa State University. https://iastatedigitalpress.com/farmreports/article/992/galley/865/view/.
Kornei, Katherine. (August 20, 2022). USA: Only Two States Have Passed ‘Right to Garden’ Laws. Will Others Follow? City Farmer News. https://cityfarmer.info/usa-only-two-states-have-passed-right-to-garden-laws-will-others-follow/.
LiveKindly. (June 28, 2024). Do you think gardening should be taught in schools? Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/livekindlyco/posts/do-you-think-gardening-should-be-taught-in-schools-/779994784330642/.
Neumann, T. (2021). The impact of entrepreneurship on economic, social and environmental welfare. Management Review Quarterly, 71(4), 553–584.
Ryan O. Pinterest. https://in.pinterest.com/pin/11259067813422887/Pinterest.
Urban Resilience Lab. (2024). Municipal savings from green infrastructure pilot programs. Minneapolis: URL Research Series.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2025). Gross Domestic Product by State.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2025). State GDP by industry. Retrieved from
Wilson, Sondra. Photo of parking lot in Boone, IA.