Closing the Loop

Supporting local food systems.

With our Garden Partners program, members have the option to share their earned compost with local farms and gardens, who create equitable access to healthy food in our communities.
Find a garden
Farmer shoveling compostFarmer holding produce

Find your local garden.

Graham's Garden at Lighthouse

At Lighthouse, their mission is to provide safe and supportive homes for individuals seeking both stable housing and a place to heal. They are dedicated to creating a nurturing environment that promotes healing and personal growth, helping individuals rebuild their lives, foster lasting recovery, and reintegrate into their communities with renewed joy, peace, and meaning.

60
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Graham's Garden at Lighthouse

At Lighthouse, their mission is to provide safe and supportive homes for individuals seeking both stable housing and a place to heal. They are dedicated to creating a nurturing environment that promotes healing and personal growth, helping individuals rebuild their lives, foster lasting recovery, and reintegrate into their communities with renewed joy, peace, and meaning.

60
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Rhoades Property Garden

The Rhoades Property Garden serves as a space for UNCA students and faculty and Asheville community members to learn and participate in sustainable agriculture practices.The intergenerational activities that are practiced in the garden are intended to make connections between the diverse communities and neighborhoods of Asheville, educational institutions, and various sectors of the food system. The Rhoades Property garden provides a fun way to learn about sustainability and organic gardening and serves as an opportunity to gain and share knowledge, which in turn will create a community response to local food security.

61
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Rhoades Property Garden

The Rhoades Property Garden serves as a space for UNCA students and faculty and Asheville community members to learn and participate in sustainable agriculture practices.The intergenerational activities that are practiced in the garden are intended to make connections between the diverse communities and neighborhoods of Asheville, educational institutions, and various sectors of the food system. The Rhoades Property garden provides a fun way to learn about sustainability and organic gardening and serves as an opportunity to gain and share knowledge, which in turn will create a community response to local food security.

61
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Sand Hill Community Garden

The Sand Hill Community Garden is located at the Buncombe County Sports Park in West Asheville. They donate produce to MANNA, a local free farmers market, and a free community meal at a local church. Please help them keep this neighborhood garden growing strong by sharing your earned compost.

65
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Sand Hill Community Garden

The Sand Hill Community Garden is located at the Buncombe County Sports Park in West Asheville. They donate produce to MANNA, a local free farmers market, and a free community meal at a local church. Please help them keep this neighborhood garden growing strong by sharing your earned compost.

65
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Shiloh Community Garden

The Shiloh community is rooted in African American settlements dating back to the 19th century. Agriculture serves as a tradition in the area, one they are working to revive through their community garden and other such projects. Youth involvement at the Shiloh Community Garden includes not only the experience of growing produce organically, but lessons in food preparation, healthy eating, permaculture, sustainability, entrepreneurship, literacy, leadership and self-governance.

 

74
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Shiloh Community Garden

The Shiloh community is rooted in African American settlements dating back to the 19th century. Agriculture serves as a tradition in the area, one they are working to revive through their community garden and other such projects. Youth involvement at the Shiloh Community Garden includes not only the experience of growing produce organically, but lessons in food preparation, healthy eating, permaculture, sustainability, entrepreneurship, literacy, leadership and self-governance.

 

74
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Southside Community Garden

Southside Community Garden is located in the Southside Community, a historic African-American neighborhood and supported by volunteers and community members dedicated to growing food and community involvement. The project has welcomed a place for both neighbors and residents of the Southside Community, plus volunteers and community groups from outside the neighborhood to connect to agriculture and healthy eating in a food desert, meaning a place that lacks access to healthy food and groceries. The food grown in donated to the Southside kitchen which serves donation based meals and is open to the public.

77
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Southside Community Garden

Southside Community Garden is located in the Southside Community, a historic African-American neighborhood and supported by volunteers and community members dedicated to growing food and community involvement. The project has welcomed a place for both neighbors and residents of the Southside Community, plus volunteers and community groups from outside the neighborhood to connect to agriculture and healthy eating in a food desert, meaning a place that lacks access to healthy food and groceries. The food grown in donated to the Southside kitchen which serves donation based meals and is open to the public.

78
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Outdoor Fresh Farm

Outdoor Fresh Farm is an educational/demonstration farm that teaches sustainable, eco-friendly methods of agriculture. Since their farm is located in a food desert, they provide the elders and sickly in the community with fresh produce straight from the garden. They also educate about different animal husbandry practices that work in harmony with nature as well. They grow a lot of seasonal crops year round and have different methods of regenerative farming, vertical gardening, companion planting, and the square foot gardening method just to name a few.

424
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Outdoor Fresh Farm

Outdoor Fresh Farm is an educational/demonstration farm that teaches sustainable, eco-friendly methods of agriculture. Since their farm is located in a food desert, they provide the elders and sickly in the community with fresh produce straight from the garden. They also educate about different animal husbandry practices that work in harmony with nature as well. They grow a lot of seasonal crops year round and have different methods of regenerative farming, vertical gardening, companion planting, and the square foot gardening method just to name a few.

419
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Poncey-Highland Community Garden

Tucked into Freedom Park, the Poncey-Highland Community Garden was established in 2008. It includes over 30 raised beds and almost 10 community beds, sown with a mix of berries and insectary plants. We hope to improve Freedom Park visually and botanically for our neighbors and community members!

429
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Poncey-Highland Community Garden

Tucked into Freedom Park, the Poncey-Highland Community Garden was established in 2008. It includes over 30 raised beds and almost 10 community beds, sown with a mix of berries and insectary plants. We hope to improve Freedom Park visually and botanically for our neighbors and community members!

424
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Refarm Atlanta

Refarm Atlanta aims to make fresh local flowers accessible to our community and sustainable for our environment through sustainable agricultural practices and refound knowledge from growers before us.

423
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Refarm Atlanta

Refarm Atlanta aims to make fresh local flowers accessible to our community and sustainable for our environment through sustainable agricultural practices and refound knowledge from growers before us.

418
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Roots Down

Roots Down creates better landscapes in our communities that promote green job growth, ecological restoration, and community well-being. They're building a world where every person has access to fresh food and thriving ecosystems that feed our soils and people. Thank you for joining them and the movement to feed people while fighting climate change!

424
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Roots Down

Roots Down creates better landscapes in our communities that promote green job growth, ecological restoration, and community well-being. They're building a world where every person has access to fresh food and thriving ecosystems that feed our soils and people. Thank you for joining them and the movement to feed people while fighting climate change!

419
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
SAGE at Columbia Seminary

The goal of the Sustaining Attention to God's Earth (hereafter SAGE) Garden is to help Columbia Theological Seminary move toward becoming a more environmentally sustainable community.

422
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
SAGE at Columbia Seminary

The goal of the Sustaining Attention to God's Earth (hereafter SAGE) Garden is to help Columbia Theological Seminary move toward becoming a more environmentally sustainable community.

417
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Civic Garden Center

Civic Garden Center works with neighborhood residents to create community gardens, providing training and technical support for growing fruits and vegetables to create sustainable projects for the entire Greater Cincinnati region. They try to grow using only organic practices and materials. Each community garden grows various fruit and vegetables ranging from eggplant to corn and everything in between. 

23
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Civic Garden Center

Civic Garden Center works with neighborhood residents to create community gardens, providing training and technical support for growing fruits and vegetables to create sustainable projects for the entire Greater Cincinnati region. They try to grow using only organic practices and materials. Each community garden grows various fruit and vegetables ranging from eggplant to corn and everything in between. 

24
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Garden of Joy Culinary Academy

The Garden of Joy Culinary Academy was founded by former and current educators who witnessed far too many students succumb to gun violence. This tragic reality inspired them to create a safe space where young people could feel empowered, find purpose, and gain life-changing skills. Located in Cincinnati, the academy provides teenagers and young adults with opportunities to learn culinary arts, develop essential life skills, and receive mentorship in a garden-to-table environment. By combining culinary education with hands-on gardening, they aim to reduce violence, address food insecurity, and foster resilience and self-sufficiency in our community.
Their mission is to empower young people to build brighter futures through education, mentorship, and meaningful, sustainable connections to food and community.

14
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Garden of Joy Culinary Academy

The Garden of Joy Culinary Academy was founded by former and current educators who witnessed far too many students succumb to gun violence. This tragic reality inspired them to create a safe space where young people could feel empowered, find purpose, and gain life-changing skills. Located in Cincinnati, the academy provides teenagers and young adults with opportunities to learn culinary arts, develop essential life skills, and receive mentorship in a garden-to-table environment. By combining culinary education with hands-on gardening, they aim to reduce violence, address food insecurity, and foster resilience and self-sufficiency in our community.
Their mission is to empower young people to build brighter futures through education, mentorship, and meaningful, sustainable connections to food and community.

14
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Sidestreams Foundation's Peace Garden

Sidestreams Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with the mission of building gardens and creating locally grown fresh food projects. Sidestreams works throughout Cincinnati to not only increase fresh food access, but also empower others with tools and knowledge of how to grow their own food.

15
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Sidestreams Foundation's Peace Garden

Sidestreams Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with the mission of building gardens and creating locally grown fresh food projects. Sidestreams works throughout Cincinnati to not only increase fresh food access, but also empower others with tools and knowledge of how to grow their own food.

16
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Taft Garden

Taft Garden is a diverse group of passionate Walnut Hills residents growing healthy food, restoring urban soil, beautifying green spaces, and building community. They believe everyone deserves convenient access to fresh and affordable local produce.

19
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Taft Garden

Taft Garden is a diverse group of passionate Walnut Hills residents growing healthy food, restoring urban soil, beautifying green spaces, and building community. They believe everyone deserves convenient access to fresh and affordable local produce.

19
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Carolina Community Garden

Located on Wilson Street in Chapel Hill, NC, Carolina Community Garden serves as a source of fresh sustainably grown produce for UNC-CH's lowest wage workers as well as a learning community for students, staff, and neighbors to develop gardening skills, healthy living, social responsibility, and interdisciplinary pursuits. CCCG is the result of shared efforts of staff, students, faculty and local residents. All of the fruits and vegetables grown are distributed to UNC housekeepers. Nutrient rich compost is a vital part of growing nutritious fruits and veggies; CCCG composts their yard waste, and you can learn more about composting by visiting their garden during work days, but they don't make enough to fulfill all their compost needs! Lets complete the urban food cycle and help support their mission by providing their garden with compost generated from your food scraps.

671
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Carolina Community Garden

Located on Wilson Street in Chapel Hill, NC, Carolina Community Garden serves as a source of fresh sustainably grown produce for UNC-CH's lowest wage workers as well as a learning community for students, staff, and neighbors to develop gardening skills, healthy living, social responsibility, and interdisciplinary pursuits. CCCG is the result of shared efforts of staff, students, faculty and local residents. All of the fruits and vegetables grown are distributed to UNC housekeepers. Nutrient rich compost is a vital part of growing nutritious fruits and veggies; CCCG composts their yard waste, and you can learn more about composting by visiting their garden during work days, but they don't make enough to fulfill all their compost needs! Lets complete the urban food cycle and help support their mission by providing their garden with compost generated from your food scraps.

662
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Carrboro Community Garden Coalition

The Carrboro Community Garden Coalition (CCGC) runs a community garden located in MLK, Jr. Park off of Hillsborough Road in Carrboro, NC. You don't have to be a skilled gardener to join us, we're happy to teach you what we know! Some of our gardeners started out having never grown anything, while others have managed large-scale farms. Through the garden, we hope to increase sustainable urban food production and community involvement in growing local food. We hope to achieve these goals by 1) teaching people how to grow food, 2) locating, securing in trust, and managing land, 3) increasing access to resources, skills, and local knowledge, 4) creating spaces where community members share tools, land, seeds, skills, inspiration, and cultural awareness, and 5) modeling replicable and financially viable programs and practices

We do not use conventional fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides in the garden, relying instead on compost, "good" insects eating "bad" ones, leaf mulch, and manual labor to keep our crops healthy.

642
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Carrboro Community Garden Coalition

The Carrboro Community Garden Coalition (CCGC) runs a community garden located in MLK, Jr. Park off of Hillsborough Road in Carrboro, NC. You don't have to be a skilled gardener to join us, we're happy to teach you what we know! Some of our gardeners started out having never grown anything, while others have managed large-scale farms. Through the garden, we hope to increase sustainable urban food production and community involvement in growing local food. We hope to achieve these goals by 1) teaching people how to grow food, 2) locating, securing in trust, and managing land, 3) increasing access to resources, skills, and local knowledge, 4) creating spaces where community members share tools, land, seeds, skills, inspiration, and cultural awareness, and 5) modeling replicable and financially viable programs and practices

We do not use conventional fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides in the garden, relying instead on compost, "good" insects eating "bad" ones, leaf mulch, and manual labor to keep our crops healthy.

633
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Community Garden at Washington Terrace

Community Garden Washington Terrace is fostering a community garden program that engages residents with educational workshops, provides produce for those experiencing food insecurity, and ultimately installs the residents as stakeholders of the program.

The garden serves an affordable housing complex consisting of 171 family units. Their crop is based on community input and includes collards, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels, strawberries, blueberries, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, kale, okra, and more! They use olla pots to help with watering and have two outside volunteer managers for the garden in addition to resident volunteers. They use zero pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, using only an organic compost tea from a local nursery for nutrient needs.

646
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Community Garden at Washington Terrace

Community Garden Washington Terrace is fostering a community garden program that engages residents with educational workshops, provides produce for those experiencing food insecurity, and ultimately installs the residents as stakeholders of the program.

The garden serves an affordable housing complex consisting of 171 family units. Their crop is based on community input and includes collards, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels, strawberries, blueberries, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, kale, okra, and more! They use olla pots to help with watering and have two outside volunteer managers for the garden in addition to resident volunteers. They use zero pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, using only an organic compost tea from a local nursery for nutrient needs.

637
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Dickson Foundation Community Garden

Dickson Foundation Community Garden provides hands-on opportunities to learn about planting, harvesting, and preparing healthy food. Produce harvested from the garden primarily go to students, staff, and faculty volunteers. Impacting the food security of the campus community guides distribution decisions. Group work times are scheduled in which garden staff lead service activities such as planting, mulching, watering, weeding, and general maintenance.

They do 3 seasons of crops. In the Fall; they plant beets, carrots, lettuces, kale, broccoli, radish, daikon radish, etc. In the Spring; they duplicate many of the Fall crops; In the summer they plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, butternut squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, etc

636
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Dickson Foundation Community Garden

Dickson Foundation Community Garden provides hands-on opportunities to learn about planting, harvesting, and preparing healthy food. Produce harvested from the garden primarily go to students, staff, and faculty volunteers. Impacting the food security of the campus community guides distribution decisions. Group work times are scheduled in which garden staff lead service activities such as planting, mulching, watering, weeding, and general maintenance.

They do 3 seasons of crops. In the Fall; they plant beets, carrots, lettuces, kale, broccoli, radish, daikon radish, etc. In the Spring; they duplicate many of the Fall crops; In the summer they plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, butternut squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, etc

627
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Disciples’ Community Garden @ SFUMC

The Disciples’ Community Garden exists to uphold the following B.E.S.T. practices: Build connections between people and families of their faith community and those in the greater community; Empower individuals and families to take an active role in the garden, and their own food supply and welfare; Share the bounty of the garden and fruits of their common labor to the benefit of their community, especially the hungry; Teach each other what they know. Learn together, and engage younger members of the community to foster interest in sustainable gardening.

635
members are supporting this garden with their compost*
Disciples’ Community Garden @ SFUMC

The Disciples’ Community Garden exists to uphold the following B.E.S.T. practices: Build connections between people and families of their faith community and those in the greater community; Empower individuals and families to take an active role in the garden, and their own food supply and welfare; Share the bounty of the garden and fruits of their common labor to the benefit of their community, especially the hungry; Teach each other what they know. Learn together, and engage younger members of the community to foster interest in sustainable gardening.

626
members are supporting this garden with their compost*