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.
Trellis Horticultural Therapy Alliance uses the power of plants and gardening to improve the quality of life for people living with physical, cognitive and mental health challenges. Those they serve include those in recovery from brain and spinal cord injury, stroke survivors, the incarcerated, and elders. The Ability Garden at Callanwolde is a fully wheelchair accessible garden and greenhouse that offers supported therapeutic gardening programs for adults and youth. The Ability Garden and its programs strive to provide horticultural activities with purpose while fostering independence, improving self-confidence and rebuilding social connections. Groups that depend on the Ability Garden include special education students from Atlanta’s Inman and David T. Howard middle schools, Emory Stroke Survivor’s Support Group, the Ruby D. Neeson Diabetes Foundation, and past patients from the Shepherd Center.
Trellis Horticultural Therapy Alliance uses the power of plants and gardening to improve the quality of life for people living with physical, cognitive and mental health challenges. Those they serve include those in recovery from brain and spinal cord injury, stroke survivors, the incarcerated, and elders. The Ability Garden at Callanwolde is a fully wheelchair accessible garden and greenhouse that offers supported therapeutic gardening programs for adults and youth. The Ability Garden and its programs strive to provide horticultural activities with purpose while fostering independence, improving self-confidence and rebuilding social connections. Groups that depend on the Ability Garden include special education students from Atlanta’s Inman and David T. Howard middle schools, Emory Stroke Survivor’s Support Group, the Ruby D. Neeson Diabetes Foundation, and past patients from the Shepherd Center.
Threshold Community Program is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the social, emotional and educational growth of neurodivergent individuals and their families within a therapeutic learning environment.
Threshold Community Program is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the social, emotional and educational growth of neurodivergent individuals and their families within a therapeutic learning environment.
The Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture is committed to bringing good food, good health, and well-being to Atlanta’s urban community. Feeding people right where they live is their mission. Their guiding principles are to emulate nature in the production of food, to educate old and young to grow their own food and to create a welcoming space where people can gather and find harmony with the earth.
The Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture is committed to bringing good food, good health, and well-being to Atlanta’s urban community. Feeding people right where they live is their mission. Their guiding principles are to emulate nature in the production of food, to educate old and young to grow their own food and to create a welcoming space where people can gather and find harmony with the earth.
Unearthing Farm and Market is a nonprofit initiative working to provide equitable access to fresh, locally-grown produce in the Edgewood and Kirkwood neighborhoods.
They work in partnership with community members to center the needs of legacy residents, families with children, seniors, and other folks in the community with typically low access to fresh food.
Not only do they aim to provide affordable locally-grown produce through Unearthing Farm and Market, they partner with other local food entrepreneurs and businesses to cultivate an equitable hyper-local food system and provide opportunities for education for children and families around healthy food preparation.
Unearthing Farm and Market is a nonprofit initiative working to provide equitable access to fresh, locally-grown produce in the Edgewood and Kirkwood neighborhoods.
They work in partnership with community members to center the needs of legacy residents, families with children, seniors, and other folks in the community with typically low access to fresh food.
Not only do they aim to provide affordable locally-grown produce through Unearthing Farm and Market, they partner with other local food entrepreneurs and businesses to cultivate an equitable hyper-local food system and provide opportunities for education for children and families around healthy food preparation.
Wild Combination Organic Farm is a small diversified vegetable and herb farm in Atlanta, Georgia devoted to a composite framework binding food autonomy, environmental regeneration, land stewardship and shared access to resources for healthy community. They want to reactivate dormant inner connectivity between human bodies, minds, and their place among plants, animals and earth, while reimagining work and labor as a collective, egoless fount of purpose and the thing of life itself. Founder Valentina got their start and love for farming as a full-time crew member at Aluma Farm and never looked back. They love smallness, depth, and balance, and a life lived outdoors!
Wild Combination Organic Farm is a small diversified vegetable and herb farm in Atlanta, Georgia devoted to a composite framework binding food autonomy, environmental regeneration, land stewardship and shared access to resources for healthy community. They want to reactivate dormant inner connectivity between human bodies, minds, and their place among plants, animals and earth, while reimagining work and labor as a collective, egoless fount of purpose and the thing of life itself. Founder Valentina got their start and love for farming as a full-time crew member at Aluma Farm and never looked back. They love smallness, depth, and balance, and a life lived outdoors!
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.
The Reality Farm is a community farm project that fosters meaningful, creative and productive work for adults with disabilities.
The Reality Farm is a community farm project that fosters meaningful, creative and productive work for adults with disabilities.
Trees For The Triangle's mission is to improve the aesthetic, economic, and ecological health or the Triangle area through the planting of trees. They focus on planting native trees in Wake, Durham, and Orange counties in North Carolina.
Trees For The Triangle's mission is to improve the aesthetic, economic, and ecological health or the Triangle area through the planting of trees. They focus on planting native trees in Wake, Durham, and Orange counties in North Carolina.
Urban Community AgriNomics' (UCAN) Catawba Trail Farm's mission is to reduce food insecurity, reduce and reverse preventable health issues, increase academic success, and increase exposure to career opportunities in the field of agriculture. UCAN focus is to improve the health and wellbeing of our community by providing education and trainings on healthy lifestyles, seed-to-table food preparation and preservation, hands on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) and organic agriculture. They empower families and individuals with access to resources to grow their own healthy food using sustainable practices, in a supportive environment. They thrive to create an environment where individuals can learn to grow their own food, enjoy the healing effects of access to open green spaces, explore the history of the land, and recognize all who have labored on it through the years. Their work is manifested through a lens of diversity, inclusion, environmental and social justice, and the belief that each of us plays a role in abating and reducing climate change. Healthy People Need a Healthy Earth!
Urban Community AgriNomics' (UCAN) Catawba Trail Farm's mission is to reduce food insecurity, reduce and reverse preventable health issues, increase academic success, and increase exposure to career opportunities in the field of agriculture. UCAN focus is to improve the health and wellbeing of our community by providing education and trainings on healthy lifestyles, seed-to-table food preparation and preservation, hands on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) and organic agriculture. They empower families and individuals with access to resources to grow their own healthy food using sustainable practices, in a supportive environment. They thrive to create an environment where individuals can learn to grow their own food, enjoy the healing effects of access to open green spaces, explore the history of the land, and recognize all who have labored on it through the years. Their work is manifested through a lens of diversity, inclusion, environmental and social justice, and the belief that each of us plays a role in abating and reducing climate change. Healthy People Need a Healthy Earth!
The Urban Ministries of Wake County Garden's mission is to produce as much food as possible for the Urban Ministries Food Pantry.
The Urban Ministries of Wake County Garden's mission is to produce as much food as possible for the Urban Ministries Food Pantry.
Our Wake County School Garden Partners currently include Northwoods Elementary School, The Franciscan School, Abbott's Creek Elementary, Green Magnet Elementary School, Kingswood Montessori STEM Magnet Elementary School, Stough Elementary Pollinator & Learning Garden, The Montessori School of Raleigh, North Chatham Elementary School Garden, Joyner Magnet Elementary School, New School Montessori, and the Chapel Hill Day Care Center When you share your earned compost with Wake County Schools, the 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 Wake County School Garden Partners currently include Northwoods Elementary School, The Franciscan School, Abbott's Creek Elementary, Green Magnet Elementary School, Kingswood Montessori STEM Magnet Elementary School, Stough Elementary Pollinator & Learning Garden, The Montessori School of Raleigh, North Chatham Elementary School Garden, Joyner Magnet Elementary School, New School Montessori, and the Chapel Hill Day Care Center When you share your earned compost with Wake County Schools, the 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!
