PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's largest city is removing invasive trees from one of its public spaces to restore views of the Fore River.

Portland is taking away the Norway maple trees from...

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois officials are testing out a new community garden project they hope will bring more fresh produce options to distressed neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. (AP) — An organization in the Vermont town of Hartford sees an opportunity to grow more food on town-owned land.

BARGERSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Johnson County’s wide open farm fields and abundance of local food producers are a testament to its rich agricultural heritage.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — The University of Rhode Island plans to give away hundreds of thousands of seed packets throughout the Northeast.

CHICAGO (AP) — The University of Illinois has launched a two-year study and is offering free soil tests to home gardeners and urban farmers across the Chicago area.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The 75-acre site where Wisconsin's largest public housing development once stood is roaring back to life.

About 1,000 mixed-income housing units are emerging at the new...

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A judge has stepped in and suspended efforts to demolish a 90-year-old building and vacant convent that belong to the Catholic Church in Rockford.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The city of Akron has indicated it is ready to donate a 250,000-square-foot building and two lots near downtown to nonprofit organizations already using them.

CUMMING, Iowa (AP) — Steve Bruere asks if he should dress like a farmer or a developer when he meets up with a photographer.

The 38-year-old is joking. He rarely strays far from an...

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — The University of Rhode Island says it's expanding a program to give away free packets of vegetable, flower and herb seeds.

URI's master gardener program has worked with Ocean State Job Lot for two decades to give away seeds to local schools, youth groups, community gardens and residents.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — An ongoing program to help spread healthy eating habits through parts of rural Alabama has established or supported nearly 40 community gardens in outlying areas.

The ALProHealth program is being led by Alabama Extension officials in Auburn. It received a $4 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014.

DETROIT (AP) — About 10,000 volunteers are expected to help clear alleyways, mow weeds and remove debris from 300 city blocks in Detroit over six days as part of an annual beautification effort.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — GardenCorps is looking for a new program host site to continue helping community gardens in Northwest Arkansas and across the state.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha-based health system has created a community garden to offer patients more access to healthy food.

CHI Health recently planted five raised garden beds with nonprofit City Sprouts at the Creighton University Medical Center campus, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state will spend $3.1 million on community gardens in Brooklyn

The administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the funding decision on Thursday. Eight existing community gardens will be renovated and redeveloped with the addition of new raised beds, shade and paving, fencing or pathways. Another 14 gardens will have new water connections added. The work is expected to be completed by fall of 2019.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — While putting down roots in Muscatine, Esther Deseh is also pulling a few out of the ground.

She and other Liberian in the community plant vegetable gardens near Mulford Church. The space, plots and water supply are provided by the church. Many people garden in the early evening after work.

MAPLE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Steve Stier watches horses plow the Poor Farm Barn's new community garden with a smile.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dezmond Robertson, a 14-year-old living at Edgehill Apartments public housing, spends much of his free time riding bikes and playing with friends in the Edgehill Community Memorial Park, a wide-open green space next door.

But the city-owned park, community gardens and former Murrell School are slated to be sold off to a developer who would likely use it for dense development.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It's just a plowed field of dirt for now.

But over the next two years, an empty 1.2-acre ball field outside of the old Westport Middle School and High School will be transformed into a working farm in the middle of Kansas City.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The state of Illinois is looking for gardeners interested in planting at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand race track's community garden this season.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture says there are 200 garden plots available at the Springfield site, including 100 for organic gardening and 100 for non-organic gardening. Plots cost $20.

PITTSFORD, Vt. (AP) — Residents of a Vermont town are deciding what to do with a former dairy farm that is being offered to the town as a gift.

Betsy and Baird Morgan bought the Village Farm near the heart of Pittsford last year with the aim of donating it to the town. Residents were asked to generate ideas for ways to use it, and the options were narrowed to three at a public meeting Thursday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — For urban gardens and farms to sustain themselves, they have to be big enough for people to make money from them. The one being carved out on 23 vacant acres of the former St. Clair Village has that kind of massing.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An urban garden just two blocks away from Salt Lake City's often violent and trash-filled homeless shelter has been thriving on a formerly blighted parcel of land thanks to homeless and formerly homeless women who are paid $9 an hour to work on it.

The Wasatch Community Gardens' Green Team is flourishing with people who hadn't worked in a decade, The Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2wqnwLY ).

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A prison's community garden in eastern Indiana is helping fill food pantries in the area with fresh produce.

The Wabash Valley Correctional Facility's garden is providing six nonprofits in Sullivan, Vigo, Greene and Knox counties with produce, including tomatoes, corn, onions, cabbage, peppers and potatoes, the Tribune-Star reported . The prison is looking for more organizations to help due to this year's plentiful harvest.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — You can learn a lot from companion plants.

Rue, also known as herb-of-grace, thrives in dry conditions. But it cannot tolerate basil, which inhibits its growth.

"Both are beautiful in their own right and have their own qualities and gifts for the garden," said Clare Hanrahan, coordinator of Elder & Sage community gardens, a guerrilla gardening group. "It's just the same way with people who come forward, who are attracted to a space to nurture life on a gravel lot."

PETAL, La. (AP) — If it weren't for a supportive community, Bobby and Dorothy Fennell might have stopped growing vegetables in their garden.

But every year, Bobby gets out Old Pete, his 1950 McCormick tractor, and prepares the rows that will be filled with seasonal vegetables from squash, okra and tomatoes in the summer to pumpkins, turnips and onions in the fall.

"I've known the Fennells for years," said neighbor Denise Jones. "Their garden is always so beautiful.

CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama's presidential center could include a playground, performance lawn and a sledding hill.

The landscape architect designing the 20-acre site in Chicago's Jackson Park tells The Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/2rQYreJ ) the park offers a range of options. Michael Van Valkenburgh says there also are plans for community gardens and wooded walking areas.

ATLANTA (AP) — In just a few days, more than 100 military veterans from across the country will fan out across Atlanta's West End to give the area a badly needed face-lift.

They will plant community gardens, construct an outdoor learning center, install a basketball court and improve parks, green spaces and access to them for residents along Atlanta Beltline's westside trail.