It was a privilege to host Rooting DC 2020 at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Deanwood, NE, Washington DC!

People travel from all over the city, and region, to attend Rooting DC. For that reason, it’s been our mission to identify new hosting sites around the city.

The specific site demands of the event, in addition to our commitment to keep Rooting DC free to attendees, have made it challenging to secure a new location. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to partner with Ron Brown and the excellent facility and staff.

This event is made possible through individual donations and DC Greens’ support. Consider making a gift today!

The program includes dozens of interactive workshops, cooking and food preservation demonstrations, and panel discussions. The event hosts 60+ green businesses and non-profits from throughout the region at an Information Fair.

The first Rooting DC was held in 2008 with the goal of building relationships and sharing resources among gardeners and gardening organizations in DC. There was a lot going on with urban agriculture in the city, but little connection in the community. With a grassroots outreach effort we hoped 25 community members would attend for skill sharing and fellowship, but we honestly did not know what to expect.

In what Washington Post garden writer, Adrian Higgins, later referred to as a “watershed moment in the DC gardening community”, 125 people lined up to join us! The following year 600 people came, then 800, then 1,000! Rooting DC celebrated it’s 10th anniversary in 2017 with more than 1,200 attendees, representing every Ward in Washington, DC, and surrounding VA and MD communities.

Over the past ten years we’ve offered 450 workshops, mobilized 350 volunteers, and unified voices of residents, farmers, schools, government agencies, the food service industry, and non-profit organizations in a shared goal of protecting and strengthening our regional food system, and empowering individual engagement in food production.