The Grow Food Northampton Organic Community Garden

The Grow Food Northampton Organic Community Garden is comprised of 320 plots available for lease to community members who want to get their hands dirty, enjoy nature in the company of other gardeners, and grow their own food organically!

Gardeners receive numerous benefits including:

A 20 X 20-foot plot, or a 20 X 10-foot half plot
Access to prime soil and City water
A Garden Shed stocked with shared tools, wheelbarrows, and watering cans
Access to low cost finished compost and other resources such as seedlings and straw
Free wood chip mulch
The Gardener’s Guide in English and Spanish describing our resources, rules, and practices
Regular News from the Garden Shed-newsletter with updates, community service opportunities and upcoming events in English and Spanish
Membership in an email-based community to share information and resources with other community gardeners
Communal picnic tables in each garden “neighborhood”
Harvest from community plantings including the 800-foot long Edible Hedgerow along Meadow Street, the Medicine Garden, the Pollinator Habitat Garden, and a large Bramble Patch
Use of our state-of-the-art composting outhouse
Access to online Gardener Resources
Support from skilled staff, interns and other gardeners
Information about Grow Food Northampton programs and events

Gardeners contribute three hours of community service per plot. This helps the garden function as a vibrant community resource.

Gardener Resources

Volunteer

Community Garden STORE

2016 Photo - Click & spin for 360 degree view

Creating the Garden

Planning of the Garden began in 2011, with design by the Regenerative Design Group in Greenfield, MA. The heart of the 17-acre parcel in Florence, MA is the 7-acre Community Garden. The Garden opened during the summer of 2012 to its first group of Pioneer Gardeners. Support from the City of Northampton enabled the creation of basic infrastructure such as water lines, a tool shed, a composting outhouse, picnic tables, and a hedgerow along Meadow Street. Grow Food Northampton also provides affordable access to compost and mulch.

Permaculture principles are reflected in the Garden’s 700-foot edible hedgerow along Meadow St. The hedgerow provides food and shelter for wildlife (including a staggered flowering plants to support pollinators), snacks for people, and a much-needed wind-block and visual barrier between the garden and sports fields across Meadow Street.

Originally called the Florence Organic Community Garden, or FOG, the name was changed in 2014 to more accurately identify the Garden as a program of Grow Food Northampton.

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