Capitol Vegetable Garden
Since 2010, Rooted and its partners have managed a vegetable garden at the east corner of the Capitol Square. With this small, 450-square-foot garden, we demonstrate to visitors from across the state the beauty and diversity of food grown by Madison gardeners.
Who plants the Capitol Vegetable Garden?
The Capitol Vegetable Garden was first planted in 2010 by Madison FarmWorks, a Rooted-based project promoting home gardening. Since then, Rooted has been responsible for the garden’s care and maintenance, though the labor to plan and maintain the space has been shared with organizations across Madison. The 2024 garden, as in the last few years, is planted and maintained as a collaborative effort of Urban Triage and Rooted. You can learn more about Urban Triage below.
What is growing in the garden?
The focus of this year’s garden will be native Wisconsin and American vegetables, showcasing, in particular, heirloom seeds provided by Dan Cornelius, a local farmer and member of the Oneida nation. We will also include a few vegetable varieties that were introduced to America, as well as American natives that have been bred on other continents and then returned here.
The center of the garden will be the classic three-sisters combination of corn, beans, and squash. The corn is Wampun flint corn, squashes will include the Gete-Okosomin squash (a heirloom variety preserved by the Miami Nation), Cornfield Pumpkin, and Moschata squash, and the beans will include Cranberry Bean and Rattlesnake beans.
The outer sections of the garden to the north, south, east and west of the central three sisters planting will be planted with amaranth, a culinary grain and leafy green which, like corn, originated in Central America and then spread throughout the continent. Between the amaranth plantings the remaining outer sections will be planted with a selection of different vegetables of American origin, including tomatoes, tomatillos, hot peppers, and sweet peppers.
The outer boarder will be split into four sections and planted with two non-American crops: lemongrass, from the Mediterranean, and collards or kale, from Asia.
The vegetables in this year’s garden are just a small selection of what is grown by gardeners in Dane County. We hope they inspire you to try your hand at growing a new vegetable in your garden!
What happens to the food grown in the Capitol Vegetable Garden?
The Capitol Vegetable Garden is intended to be an educational, demonstration garden. Of course, we know that visitors may grab some greens or a pepper to snack on, but the majority of the harvest will be donated to the Bayview Foundation’s food pantry and other free food programs around town.
2025 Garden map
