Half a world from the refugee camp she left in Thailand, Mu Dah coaxes collards, cilantro and lemongrass from a garden at an old car dealership on Philips Highway.

“This isn’t a hobby. This is where dinner is coming from,” said Carol Kartsonis, a project manger at the Garden at Jackson Square.

Since the recession stalled developers’ plans for the area east of San Marco, the unincorporated group has used idled land to help Burmese refugees like Mu Dah and neighbors just interested in gardening grow enough to stretch their food budgets.

Lately, community gardeners are imagining what they could do on land the city owns.

“The city has realized there is a very large interest … in community gardens,” said Katie Salz, a consultant who helped launch a garden at Arlington’s Tree Hill Nature Center.

Like others championing the work, Salz would like to see some city lots made available for public cultivation.

The collapsed housing market is creating more options.

Since last year, the city has taken title to about 70 properties that had been auctioned for tax deeds but didn’t draw any bids and were never paid off, according to online court records. It has also acquired property for flood-mitigation projects, then razed any buildings and left the lots vacant.