Here’s a great way to save money on groceries while socializing with neighbors and getting outdoor exercise: Join a community garden. In cities and towns across the country, community gardens link neighbors to each other and to the environment, providing healthy, inexpensive food plus safe green space for recreation and exercise.

If you can’t find a local community garden, start one. Here’s how:

• Organize interested people. Gather other green thumb enthusiasts to determine where and what to plant (vegetables, flowers, organic). Form groups to tackle specific tasks, such as funding, partnerships, construction, and communication.

• Identify resources. What skills, supplies, and equipment already exist in the community to aid in the garden’s creation? Contact municipal planners about possible sites and resources. Look among your neighbors for landscape and gardening expertise.

• Develop the site. Work together to decide how many plots will be available and how they’ll be assigned. Then organize volunteers to clear the land and arrange plots. Allow space for storing tools, making compost, and providing pathways.

• Communicate. Create venues to share information and socialize. You could generate an email list or social networking page, install a rainproof bulletin board at the garden site, or hold weekly potluck meals.

May is the perfect month for gardening and mingling with neighbors outdoors. Get growing!