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
The Aflorar Herb Collective is a collective of folk herbalists, herbal enthusiasts, artists, gardeners, and community organizers working to relearn and remember our traditional ways through herbs, connection to the land, and healing through Chicanx, Latinx, Black and Indigenous traditional practices and values. We are working together using nature's tools to guide us on a journey to restore, remember, and reconnect to our shared healing, knowledge, and freedom to liberate our communities.
In this political climate- climate catastrophe, pandemics, racial uprisings, and immigration raids our communities need medicine that reconnects us to the earth, who we are, and where we come from. Aflorar supports communities through herbal community care kit distribution, mutual aid hub (in Asheville, NC), growers network, medicine making, seed saving, and herb plant start giveaway every spring.
In addition to providing healing accompaniment for trauma related to protests, raids, and discrimination, Aflorar partner’s with national and local organizations, clinical herbalists, and farmers to get the goods we need to serve our mission.
The Aflorar Herb Collective is a collective of folk herbalists, herbal enthusiasts, artists, gardeners, and community organizers working to relearn and remember our traditional ways through herbs, connection to the land, and healing through Chicanx, Latinx, Black and Indigenous traditional practices and values. We are working together using nature's tools to guide us on a journey to restore, remember, and reconnect to our shared healing, knowledge, and freedom to liberate our communities.
In this political climate- climate catastrophe, pandemics, racial uprisings, and immigration raids our communities need medicine that reconnects us to the earth, who we are, and where we come from. Aflorar supports communities through herbal community care kit distribution, mutual aid hub (in Asheville, NC), growers network, medicine making, seed saving, and herb plant start giveaway every spring.
In addition to providing healing accompaniment for trauma related to protests, raids, and discrimination, Aflorar partner’s with national and local organizations, clinical herbalists, and farmers to get the goods we need to serve our mission.
The Asheville Buncombe Community Garden Network is coordinated by Asheville based nonprofit, Bountiful Cities, connecting almost 40 gardens. Bountiful Cities is able to coordinate shared workdays, a tool library, seed library, volunteer recruitment, potlucks, and shared resources - like COMPOST! Bountiful Cities is also able to provide free workshops to community gardeners on all kinds of related topics like seed starting, and mushroom log inoculation. The goal of the network is to strengthen neighborhood-powered food initiatives through collaboration.
The Asheville Buncombe Community Garden Network is coordinated by Asheville based nonprofit, Bountiful Cities, connecting almost 40 gardens. Bountiful Cities is able to coordinate shared workdays, a tool library, seed library, volunteer recruitment, potlucks, and shared resources - like COMPOST! Bountiful Cities is also able to provide free workshops to community gardeners on all kinds of related topics like seed starting, and mushroom log inoculation. The goal of the network is to strengthen neighborhood-powered food initiatives through collaboration.
Our Buncombe County School Garden Partners currently include Evergreen Community Charter School, The Growing Wild Forest School, and Issac Dickson Elementary School. When you share your earned compost with Buncombe County Schools, these participating schools can request compost delivery to be used in their school gardens to grow healthy food and educate students about the importance of healthy soil!
Our Buncombe County School Garden Partners currently include Evergreen Community Charter School, The Growing Wild Forest School, and Issac Dickson Elementary School. When you share your earned compost with Buncombe County Schools, these participating schools can request compost delivery to be used in their school gardens to grow healthy food and educate students about the importance of healthy soil!
Eliada’s Campus Farm program provides food and educational opportunities for its 400 students and residents 365 days a year. The farm currently consists of three growing facilities: a geodesic Grow Dome, a hoop house, and a learning garden. Between the three facilities, their farm program is equipped to grow year-round. Produce from the farm goes directly to Eliada’s on-campus kitchen where it is used to create nutritional, fresh meals for the students served on campus. A portion of the Learning Garden is also dedicated to a therapeutic tea garden where they grow herbs youths help bag and drink as a self-soothing ritual. Additional produce grown outside of the kitchen's needs is supplied to food boxes through our Healthy Opportunities Pilot program, giving food boxes to community members in need.
They use a geodesic dome for year-round growing using hydroponics, soil beds, and aquaponics. Their 3-season hoop house is off-grid and utilizes 70 ft long raised beds for things like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, and other salad items. Their Learning Garden is 1/4 acre and utilizes a deep mulch compost system and no-till practices to, without the use of chemicals, grow larger quantities of things like beans, potatoes, onions, squash, melons, salad greens, and tea herbs. This spring they're putting in a berry patch with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The Campus farm program is fully grant and donor funded and is one of the several programs that non-profit Eliada Homes operates on its campus as part of their child and youth services. Our Farm manager, in addition to growing all this food, also teaches hands-on agricultural education classes to their K-12 students on a weekly basis. Students are the ones helping to grow this food right alongside our Farm Manager.
Eliada’s Campus Farm program provides food and educational opportunities for its 400 students and residents 365 days a year. The farm currently consists of three growing facilities: a geodesic Grow Dome, a hoop house, and a learning garden. Between the three facilities, their farm program is equipped to grow year-round. Produce from the farm goes directly to Eliada’s on-campus kitchen where it is used to create nutritional, fresh meals for the students served on campus. A portion of the Learning Garden is also dedicated to a therapeutic tea garden where they grow herbs youths help bag and drink as a self-soothing ritual. Additional produce grown outside of the kitchen's needs is supplied to food boxes through our Healthy Opportunities Pilot program, giving food boxes to community members in need.
They use a geodesic dome for year-round growing using hydroponics, soil beds, and aquaponics. Their 3-season hoop house is off-grid and utilizes 70 ft long raised beds for things like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, and other salad items. Their Learning Garden is 1/4 acre and utilizes a deep mulch compost system and no-till practices to, without the use of chemicals, grow larger quantities of things like beans, potatoes, onions, squash, melons, salad greens, and tea herbs. This spring they're putting in a berry patch with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. The Campus farm program is fully grant and donor funded and is one of the several programs that non-profit Eliada Homes operates on its campus as part of their child and youth services. Our Farm manager, in addition to growing all this food, also teaches hands-on agricultural education classes to their K-12 students on a weekly basis. Students are the ones helping to grow this food right alongside our Farm Manager.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Keep Durham Beautiful builds environmentally just and healthy outdoor spaces in cooperation with Durham communities.
Keep Durham Beautiful builds environmentally just and healthy outdoor spaces in cooperation with Durham communities.
Kidzu Children's Museum Pollinator Garden's native pollinator garden is where growing gardeners can get their hands dirty! Children can explore our raised beds as they plant, tend, and care for our pollinator plots, and buzz about with their fellow pollinators at this exciting outdoor learning exhibit.
Kidzu Children's Museum Pollinator Garden's native pollinator garden is where growing gardeners can get their hands dirty! Children can explore our raised beds as they plant, tend, and care for our pollinator plots, and buzz about with their fellow pollinators at this exciting outdoor learning exhibit.
Laurel's Garden Design's mission is to create beautiful, functional, and self-sustaining gardens that promote conservation and increase biodiversity in the landscape. They also grow vegetables and fruits for harvest during the Summer and early Fall to give to the low-income community surrounding their area, as well as grow native plants year-round. The garden is certified with the North Carolina Native Plant Society’s Native Plant Garden Certificate and National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, as well as The Butterfly Highway.
Laurel's Garden Design's mission is to create beautiful, functional, and self-sustaining gardens that promote conservation and increase biodiversity in the landscape. They also grow vegetables and fruits for harvest during the Summer and early Fall to give to the low-income community surrounding their area, as well as grow native plants year-round. The garden is certified with the North Carolina Native Plant Society’s Native Plant Garden Certificate and National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, as well as The Butterfly Highway.
Morrisville Community Garden, located at 219 Church St. in Morrisville, designated by BCBSNC as Wake County's sole Nourishing NC Garden, sees our mission as a community-centered service organization.
We believe the garden offers the following benefits to our community: encouraging self-reliance by teaching people how to grow their own food; strengthening community pride by providing a common goal; increasing the Town's aesthetic by turning otherwise unused land into a productive garden; teaching compassion through charitable giving; teaching the values of commitment and patience; promoting good health by giving people the opportunity to work outside; providing access to healthy, fresh, locally-grown produce and benefiting the environment.
Through partnerships with the Town of Morrisville, Advocates for Health in Action and others, we aim to promote healthy living through the garden.
Morrisville Community Garden, located at 219 Church St. in Morrisville, designated by BCBSNC as Wake County's sole Nourishing NC Garden, sees our mission as a community-centered service organization.
We believe the garden offers the following benefits to our community: encouraging self-reliance by teaching people how to grow their own food; strengthening community pride by providing a common goal; increasing the Town's aesthetic by turning otherwise unused land into a productive garden; teaching compassion through charitable giving; teaching the values of commitment and patience; promoting good health by giving people the opportunity to work outside; providing access to healthy, fresh, locally-grown produce and benefiting the environment.
Through partnerships with the Town of Morrisville, Advocates for Health in Action and others, we aim to promote healthy living through the garden.
Durham's North St. Community Garden is a community building effort - to have activities for the people in our North Street Community of folks with disabilities and friends, and include the neighbors who have lived in this area before we moved in, as well as the many volunteers who helped put the gardens in place, so that we can all get to know and support each other. We enjoy planting, maintaining, and getting together to make pesto, salsa, etc from the bounty.
Durham's North St. Community Garden is a community building effort - to have activities for the people in our North Street Community of folks with disabilities and friends, and include the neighbors who have lived in this area before we moved in, as well as the many volunteers who helped put the gardens in place, so that we can all get to know and support each other. We enjoy planting, maintaining, and getting together to make pesto, salsa, etc from the bounty.
