Press + Media

Our team member Adam, being interviewed . A man with camera equipment recording the interview in the foreground.

Garden Description:

The New Start Community Garden aka the Shark Garden is a nonprofit teaching garden in northern Burien, WA. It was started in 2015 as a school garden for New Start High School, a magnet school for at risk youth in the Highline School District (mascot the shark). Today, the 1.6 acre garden is a nonprofit learning space where the community can come to learn about growing food, environmental science, and cooking traditions from around the world. We are a unique combination of school, community, and botanical gardens. The community p-patch serves over 70 local families and the school garden area is managed by volunteers to grow food for the White Center Food Bank.

The botanical garden collections focus on edible landscaping, native plants, drought tolerant plants, organic food gardening, and wildlife habitat. We have over 100 varieties of berries, over 50 fruit varieties, over 50 native plants, hundreds of pollinator plants, over 50 herbs, and much more. The dozen plus botanical demonstration gardens are used for teaching classes as well as harvesting. In 2023, we held 33 free classes, providing over 1,500 hours of class time and serving hundreds of people. Our classes are about organic gardening, cooking, and environmental science. We also develop curriculum that is available on the website for free. Interpretive signs in the garden also form an educational walking tour.

The garden features art created by local artists and we have a mini art library in the garden. Each season the garden hosts community events including the Burien Art Market and the Burien Solar Punk Festival.

Logos for Download:

10 Quick Facts:

  1. The garden is 1.6 acres in size, on a former baseball field, owned by the school district.

  2. We became a nonprofit organization in 2017 under the fiscal sponsorship of the Weed Warriors: Nature Stewards Program and we are a 501c3 organization.

  3. We have 76 p-patch plots available for rent each season, so that local families can grow food.

  4. We often grow over 2,000+ pounds of culturally relevant organic produce for the White Center Food Bank each year with the help of volunteers.

  5. Our gardeners are 88% families of color, including many immigrants, seniors, veterans, and members of our LGBTQ community.

  6. Our students are 90-100% BIPOC in our summer gardening program and we also serve as a host site for visiting school groups from around the region.

  7. We are almost entirely volunteer run, with one part-time staff person, our Executive Director.

  8. We run on an off grid solar system to power our outdoor kitchen, greenhouses, and events and we are passionate about renewable energy, upcycling, and using green technologies. 

  9. We are funded by grants and individual donations as well as our spring plant sale and fall bake sale. 

  10. We partner with 20+ nonprofits, chefs, and businesses to offer great classes and resources for our community as well as hosting some of their programming and events.

More questions?

Contact us by emailing info@sharkgarden.org for an interview.

Our mailing address is: PO Box 66972 Burien, WA. 98166 Please note that we do not have an office.

For a full list of our team, please visit our team page.