Growing Gardens Program

Become a Growing Gardens Member: Growing Gardens is the entry point for both individual garden enthusiasts and community gardens to be a part of the Growing Hope family!  Wanting to get involved-- start here!  2010 Group Applications & Individual/Household Applications now available!

Find a Garden: Growing Hope provides partner community, school, and congregational gardens with start-up support & training, technical assistance, liability insurance, promotion, volunteer recruitment, and other assistance.

By becoming a Growing Gardens member you will have access to the following resources and programs:

• Faith and Food: This 2009 pilot program, in partnership with Food Gatherers and Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, supports congregations in organizing gardens for donation to neighbors in need.
• Garden Leadership Training: Our Community & School Garden Development Institute trains teams ready to begin or grow their garden project, by focusing on project planning, community organizing, and site planning in a five weekcourse.
• Seed Starting Squad: We provide the light stand set up & education to community volunteers engage in growing seedlings at home for themselves, neighbors, and Growing Hope.
• Lending Library: Our Lending Library is available to community members to check out tools, small equipment, and curricular materials.  We also donate seeds, plants, and garden materials to garden partners.
• Raised Bed Installs: In 2009 we began engaging low-and no-income families in this important work by offering free raised bed garden installs in exchange for their participation in tracking harvests, nutritional changes, and the impact of the gardens on family food budgets.  If you are interested, first apply to be Growing Gardens member, where you can designate that you'd like to be considered for a free raised bed.
• Four Square Society: In an effort to quantify the impact of small-plot growing, we engage gardeners in weighing their harvests through our Four Square Society.