Garner Grows Community Garden
Garner Grows Community Garden is a great place to increase your gardening knowledge, put healthy and delicious food on the table for very little cost, and make new friends in your community!
Latest News
We completed one of the biggest projects on our to-do list this year: the compost area! Compost will do more than just nurture our crops with rich nutrients and improve plant health, but also helps the environment as a whole. Composting is proven to help improve soil quality, prevent soil erosion, and even conserve water. Because the contents of the compost bin are not taken to a landfill, this in turn saves landfill space and reduces methane emissions.
Join today so you can “Share the Work, Share the Harvest”!
Follow along with our progress in our Garden Blog!
Christmas Parade
When: December 7th 2024 4:30pm-5:45pm
Where: Main Street, Garner, NC 27529
What: Garner Grows will be marching in the Town of Garner Christmas Parade, come on down and see us!
Wreath Making Workshop
When: December 15th 2024 2:00pm-4:00pm
Where: 921 Buffaloe Rd, Garner, NC 27529
What: Join us for a free, hands-on workshop making wreaths for the holiday season! Hot beverage bar included. Register Here
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Mission Statement
To increase access to fresh produce and horticultural education for residents of the Wake County area
Our motto, “Share the work, share the harvest” emphasizes our focus on collaboration and community spirit. Our organization seeks to fight local food insecurities by providing community members with an avenue to engage with food systems for low or no cost. We facilitate four or more free educational programs each year for all experience levels to nurture their agricultural skills while connecting with neighbors. To further prioritize addressing food insecurity, we donate hundreds of pounds of produce and canned goods each year to a collection of charitable organizations responsible for distributing food in our community.
How It Works
Membership Fees:
Annual membership is $30 per household. The membership fee remains low in order to encourage participation of low-income households in sustainable living and gardening. We never want money to be a barrier to getting fresh food so we offer free scholarships to anyone who feels that money is a burden (no questions asked).
Tending The Garden:
Our garden operates through shared garden plots, where everyone shares the work among the entire garden. This allows for a larger variety of crops and a more plentiful yield. It also allows novice gardeners to learn and benefit from the wisdom of more experienced members. Every member is a valuable resource, and we work to delegate a variety of tasks so that members of all ages, level of physical ability, and gardening skill can pitch in!
Harvesting Crops:
We operate on a “Share the Work, Share the Harvest” model; splitting what we harvest on any given workday among those who worked that day. Members are under no obligation to work in the garden, but to be fair to other members we do encourage you to work at least 4 hours in a given month if you plan to take a share of the harvest. There are plenty of jobs to go around and we will work with you to find tasks that fit your skillset (even the kids find ways to chip in).
Funding:
The cost of gardening tools and supplies can really add up, so to keep our membership fees low, we participate in a number of different fundraising activities each year. These include things like: grants, plant sales, yard sales, barbecues, State Fair competitions, and soliciting donations from businesses and the general community. If you’d like to donate online you can do so via PayPal. We are open to other ideas for fundraising as well, so if you have any out-of-the-box ideas or would like to lend your skills towards raising money for the garden, please reach out to us at info@garnergrows.com.
Get Involved
There is more than one way to get involved with Garner Grows. You can of course join as a member, but there are other ways you can participate or contribute as well!
Make A Donation
As a nonprofit organization donations are what keep us running! And don’t think that donations have to be monetary either. We accept donations of many other items and services as well!
Become a Member
We would love to have you as a full fledged member, in whatever capacity you have time for. We have no attendance requirement for membership. If you pay your fee and then life happens, keeping you from ever actually coming to the garden, then we thank you for your support! Know that your money will be well spent and appreciated either way.
Attend an Event
In addition to our day to day happenings here at the garden, we often have events that are open to the public. If you don’t have time to join as a member, you might like to attend one of our public events instead. This will give you a chance not just to meet some of our members, but there will usually be some benefit in the event for you as well!
Join A Mailing List
If you are interested in certain events such as plant sales, free educational workshops, and volunteer days, you can receive email notifications! Just sign up for the corresponding mailing list and we will send you an email before each event.
Buy some Plants
One of the ways we raise money for the garden is by selling some of our gently nurtured baby plants to the public! Come on down and buy some plants for your own personal garden. Your garden will thank you!
Buy a T-shirt
Our members often make quite the sight when we are out in public as a group. When we are all wearing one of these Garner Grows T-shirts we are like a giant wave of green coming your way! Show your support by purchasing one for yourself as well!
About Us
Garner Grows Community Garden is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit in the greater Raleigh, NC area that provides access to land, education, and resources to grow food in an environmentally sustainable manner. The garden was originally founded in the spring of 2010 on a 1.5-acre site that fronted Highway 70 about a mile from downtown Garner. After being forced to move twice, we decided to petition the Town of Garner for a space, and hope that we have found our forever home at Thompson Road Park (550 Thompson Rd.)!
It started as a way to make friends and it blossomed from there, successfully bringing people of all walks of life together for over a decade! We have worked with scout groups, students of all levels, and community members from a myriad of backgrounds to spread horticultural knowledge and more. We have grown so much since those early days, not only in numbers and in relationships and commitment to each other, but also in our knowledge of gardening techniques and processes. Direct benefits to our gardeners include delicious food, friendship, fellowship and free healthy exercise in the fresh air.
We are dedicated to creating a local food system where, as a community, we are able to produce nutritious foods with affordable annual dues. This allows members (novice or expert) to grow their gardening skills, as well as edible produce and flowers. The garden is a 100% volunteer-run organization which promotes a positive and sustainable environment for residents and neighbors to work together and grow strong community bonds. We prioritize giving back to our community by donating approximately 10% of our food to charitable organizations that distribute food in our community.
