GrowMemphis 2017 New Garden Campaign

After the first $500 in donations is raised, an anonymous donor will give an additional $500! Please give today to ensure we hit the $1,000 mark!

Memphis Tilth’s GrowMemphis Garden Program helps communities build gardens to improve access to locally grown food in their neighborhoods. We believe that neighborhoods should be given the opportunity to grow their own food, share knowledge of sustainable growing practices, support urban and rural farmers, and cultivate community.

We currently support over 50 community gardens across 11 Memphis zip codes, and want to continue to build and support gardens for neighborhoods that need them the most.

The GrowMemphis Garden Program provides funding and training for neighborhood residents who want to create and sustain community gardens in their neighborhoods. Gardens eliminate blight, provide fresh, healthy food, create a safe space for community building, and often provide economic opportunity for neighborhoods. Each garden is as unique as the neighborhood in which it is located.

A new GrowMemphis garden receives the tools, supplies, and infrastructure it needs to get started. After receiving funding, each new partner garden goes through our Community Gardening 101 training, which helps new gardeners feel comfortable with organic horticulture. More importantly, this training prepares gardeners to do the community work that makes a community garden successful. 

First, GrowMemphis solicits applications from neighborhood residents who have a garden project idea.

Next, our staff prioritizes applications based on community need and neighborhood leadership.

Once projects are selected, new gardeners go through Community Gardening 101, a training program designed to train new gardeners in organic horticulture and give them the community-based skills they need to run a successful garden or farm. This training also helps gardeners create a successful project design that best meets the needs of their neighborhoods.

After training, GrowMemphis helps new gardeners purchase supplies and infrastructure and works with them to plan a successful ground-breaking celebration.

Finally, partner gardens continue to receive technical assistance, training, seeds, and starter plants to ensure their projects continue to be successful.

The GrowMemphis Garden Program wants to provide our city with a means to access fresh food, care for their neighborhood, protect their environment, and encourage community collaboration and development. Year round, GrowMemphis receives continuous inquiries about starting gardens in various neighborhoods throughout the city; we want to meet this demand.

Community gardens enable communities to increased access to fresh local food, reduce blight, and beautify an otherwise unoccupied space. Community gardens also pose as a vehicle to initiate larger conversations about food access and affordability, self-reliance and the environment on a neighborhood level. 

The overarching goal is to provide more communities with full access to affordable, fresh, locally, and sustainably grown food. We want to create opportunities for everyone to grow their own food, share knowledge of sustainable growing practices, support urban and rural farmers, and cultivate community.