our mission
nourishing our community through
cooperatively growing and sharing our own food
our vision
a network of volunteers and gardens that provide Hillsborough and the surrounding communities local food resilience and equitable spaces
to gather, share and grow together. All Are welcome.
our values
equity
We value racial and social equity and strive to maintain spaces that welcome, support, and reflect our entire community.
resilience
We strive to empower our community by growing our own food and reducing our collective reliance on corporate food and supply chains.
sustainability
We grow naturally and organically with minimal environmental impact. We will reduce, reuse, and be mindful of how we can minimize our impact on the planet for future community gardeners.
education
We provide spaces that foster opportunities to share and grow as people as well as gardeners. No experience necessary.
integrity
We will treat each other, our community, our gardens, and our partners, with respect and honesty. We will hold one another accountable to our values. We will provide the space to share and be heard. And we will foster a community willing to continually improve; embracing change and growth together.
how we work
We strive to...
...create spaces that can G.R.O.W.
As we begin new projects, engage with our community, or explore new partnerships,
we will continually check in and ask ourselves;
"Are we building something that can G.R.O.W.?"
"In this project or effort or partnership, are we...?"
Guided by our mission and values? Removing barriers? Offering to listen? Welcoming everyone?
...empower community ownership
We want to create safe and welcoming spaces. To do this we must engage with our community and ask what this looks like to them. We must hear their voices, and meet their needs.
... provide universal access
That accommodates all of our visitors needs, invites everyone around their own schedule, offers guidance in multiple languages; and continually identifies and removes barriers to participation.
... provide navigable design
We want to create community garden spaces that help make first time passer's by feel welcome to explore and join our efforts right away; offer jobs they can help with, highlight food they can take home, and invite them to become more involved in the organization if they desire
- all in their first visit.
To do this we must continually identify and remove barriers, offer thoughtful signage and friendly, informative design, and consider multiple avenues for sharing organizational and garden space information and events.
...consider all experience
We believe in growing a community first. And learning to grow a garden communally.
No gardening experience is necessary. Our goal is to engage everyone in learning and growing and building shared spaces together.
We also want to provide our more experienced gardeners with channels for sharing their experience, through workshops, skill shares, and encouraging multiple methods in the garden. We want to foster a love of gardening that is rooted in the journey and not the destination. We will make mistakes and learn together.
...welcome participation
We want to create and maintain channels for our community members to grow into organizational leaders. We want to continually work to interrupt insular/closed/siloed decision making culture, and encourage pathways to participation in communal decision making.
...rely on the collective
We want our garden operations, jobs, tasks, and roles to be manageable and sustainable so that we can share the burden and the harvest as a collective. This will also help us to maintain consistency, increase resilience, reduce reliance, encourage cooperation and shared ownership, and help us in continuing to grow as a collective, even as membership and individuals commitments change over time.