Gloucester’s weekly farmers market The Backyard Growcery is BACK for a pop-up holiday market hosted at The Cut in downtown Gloucester on Saturday, December 6, 12-3pm. Brought to you by Backyard Growers, stop by to celebrate the season in community, shop farm-fresh and locally-made foods, enjoy live music, and more, all in a great location. SNAP accepted. Plus, the Growcery is offering a $20 SNAP match per SNAP customer, through Backyard Growers’ Market Mint program.
Featuring:
Farm-Fresh & Locally-Made Food
Community Seed Swap
Eco-friendly Gifts for the Gardener
Family Holiday Craft Corner
2026 Backyard Growers Garden Applications
Live Music
And More!
Backyard Growers is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization committed to creating equitable access to the resources, space & knowledge people need to grow their own food in our community and 100% of Gloucester Public Schools. Learn more about Backyard Growers at backyardgrowers.org.
Join Backyard Growers for an evening of festive fun for a cause at our FUNdraiser: Holiday Door Swag Workshop! Learn to make your own holiday swag for your door using seasonal foraged materials found on Cape Ann. We’ll provide drinks, nibbles, and all the materials.
Proceeds support Backyard Growers’ work creating equitable access to the resources people need to grow their own food in our community and at 100% of Gloucester Public Schools.
Let’s celebrate another successful season growing food in our community! Join us at Oak to Ember in downtown Gloucester for a farm-fresh dinner, libations, and fun. We’ll be sharing stories of impact to highlight all we’ve achieved together, with a live fund-a-need auction where you can help power our work into 2026 and beyond.
Proceeds from this fun (and delicious!) evening support Backyard Growers’ school and community programs. Backyard Growers has been connecting people and communities with the resources, knowledge, and space they need to grow their own food for 15 years, most recently with the launch of the Backyard Growcery, a new farmers market in downtown Gloucester.
THANK YOU for making an impact. Our work is your work and we couldn’t do it without you.
Backyard Growers, the Gloucester-based food equity nonprofit organization, is thrilled to share the return of the Backyard Growcery, Gloucester’s community-centered, food-focused farmers market in America’s Oldest Seaport. Now in its second season, the Growcery reopens on Wednesday, June 18, at Burnham’s Field and will run weekly until October 15, 2:30-6:30pm.
The Backyard Growcery brings fresh, local food to the heart of downtown Gloucester while supporting small-scale farms and up-and-coming food businesses. It’s more than just a market—it’s a space to connect, learn, and grow together.
“We can’t wait to see everyone back at the market for another fun season of supporting local growers and making fresh, local food easy for everyone to enjoy,” said Alison DiFiore, Executive Director of Backyard Growers. “The Backyard Growcery is a great spot to hang out—whether you’re picking up veggies, learning something new, getting creative with art, or just spending time with friends and neighbors. See you at Burnham’s!”
The Backyard Growcery is a food-focused market with a mission to boost the local economy and help small businesses thrive while also creating opportunities for community connection. In order to reduce business risk to small-scale food producers, the market does not charge a vendor participation fee.
New This Year: Growcery Quest!
Want to get to know seasonal, local food, and the people who grow it? The Backyard Growcery is introducing Growcery Quest, a season-long scavenger hunt for kids and families to inspire them to make weekly discoveries at the market. Stop by the Backyard Growers table at the market to get involved.
Accessible, Welcoming, and Here for Everyone
Located at Burnham’s Field—just a 5-minute walk from the MBTA station—the Growcery is easily accessible by foot, CATA bus (near Sheedy Park stop), or car (free parking on Sargent Street and nearby streets). The park also features a playground, basketball courts and athletic fields, walking paths, and a 55-bed community garden managed by Backyard Growers. Burnham’s Field is the homebase of Backyard Growers’ work in the community, connecting low-to-moderate income Gloucester residents with access to the space and resources to grow fresh food.
With the closure of Shaw’s on Railroad Avenue, the need for fresh food in this downtown neighborhood has significantly increased. The Growcery proudly accepts SNAP/EBT, and Backyard Growers provides Market Mint, a SNAP Match up to $5 per week. This year, the Backyard Growcery is doubling the number of vendors who accept WIC and Senior Farmers Market Coupons. WIC coupons will be available at the market on July 23, with more chances to pick up WIC and Senior Coupons throughout the season.
Cultivating food-growing knowledge & resources in our community
Backyard Growers is committed to ensuring equitable access to the resources, space, and knowledge needed for communities to grow their own food. During the Backyard Growcery, Backyard Growers will once again host regular free workshops, with a focus on vegetable gardening, food preparation and preservation, art, and gardening for pollinators. The nonprofit will also offer regular free giveaways of resources such as vegetable seeds and guidance, with the opportunity to purchase fertilizer, compost, and more, directly from their booth.
🥕 Join us for a Sip & Sow evening at Cape Ann Lanes and Laneside Pub & Brewery, where we’ll share tips and guidance for successfully starting your own veggie garden in containers this year. Backyard Growers will be planting herbs and veggies for the season in the brewery’s beer garden planters.
🍻 Thanks to Laneside Brewery for collaborating with Backyard Growers on Grow Wild, their new limited edition sour featuring prickly pear. $1 from every Grow Wild goes to supporting Backyard Growers’ programs in the community connecting people with the resources, space, and knowledge they need to grow their own food.
💚 Your ticket purchase for this event also supports Backyard Growers’ programs.
🍅 Come on down to chat veggie gardens and enjoy a delicious brew!
BOWL TO BUILD SCHOOL GARDENS with us at Cape Ann Lanes
Join Backyard Growers for family fun at Cape Ann Lanes to support all eight Backyard Growers-managed school gardens in Gloucester this spring. We’ll be planting fresh spring crops with 2,000 students in March and April to harvest together in June, and enjoy in cafeteria taste tests.
Your ticket will include all-you-can-bowl for two hours and exciting raffle prizes. Make sure you enjoy the on-site arcade and in-house brew pub. We’ll be collabing with Laneside Pub to create a special Backyard Growers brew for the event.
Hoping to grow your own food in a small or unusual space this year? Join our Container Gardening Workshop and work with us to plan a veggie garden using a range of containers. You don’t need a traditional garden bed to have a bountiful harvest!
Container Gardening Workshop
March 29 OR May 10, 9:30-11am — pick the session that works best for you
Backyard Growers HQ @ 103R Maplewood Ave
Free for Backyard Growers program participants. $20 general admission. Proceeds from our spring gardneing workshops are essential to support our work throughout the year connecting communities with equitable access to the resources, knowledge, and space to grow their own food.
🥕 In this workshop, the Backyard Growers team will introduce you to the Square-Foot Gardening Method, which helps veggie gardeners make the most of often limited growing space to grow the most food possible for a household. We’ll show you how to do this by using gridded square-feet instead of rows.
🍅 You’ll work with us to create your own custom vegetable garden plan for the season.
💚 This is an interactive workshop. All are welcome!
🎟️ Tickets are free for Backyard Growers Program participants (e.g. those who grow food with us in our Community Garden, Backyard Garden, or GrowBag Garden Programs.) Tickets are $20 for the general public. Proceeds from our spring gardening workshops are essential to support our work throughout the year connecting communities with equitable access to the resources, knowledge, and space to grow their own food.
🎉 THANK YOU for supporting our work and being part of our community!
Accompanying the workshop will be a curated wine offering and bites from the Cave.
📍 Sought Interiors, 11 Center Street, Gloucester
📅 Wednesday, December 11, 2024 OR Thursday, December 12, 2024, 6-8pm
🎟️ Tickets for this beautiful evening are a $120 donation to support Backyard Growers’ food equity work in our community, including the new Gloucester farmers market, the Backyard Growcery
This is an opportunity to ignite your creativity this holiday season, and all for a good cause! Discover how to seamlessly blend timeless charm, organic beauty and contemporary sophistication on your holiday (and everyday) table. Rochelle will cover other essentials like selecting natural elements, incorporating textures, playing with color palettes and combining vintage heirlooms with modern accents.
Thank you for supporting Backyard Growers’ work and joining us to celebrate the season!
Join 
Proceeds support Backyard Growers’ work creating equitable access to the resources people need to grow their own food in our community and at 100% of Gloucester Public Schools.
BOWL TO BUILD SCHOOL GARDENS with us at Cape Ann Lanes 
Sunday, March 30, 4-6pm
Cape Ann Lanes, Gloucester
Learn more & reserve your lane: 
Container Gardening Workshop
March 29 OR May 10, 9:30-11am — pick the session that works best for you
Cape Ann Community 