🥕 In this workshop, the Backyard Growers team will introduce you to the Square-Foot Gardening Method, which helps gardeners make the most of 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.
🎟️ Tickets are free for Backyard Growers Program Gardeners (e.g. those who grow food with us in our Community Garden, Backyard Garden, or GrowBag Garden Programs.)
🎟️ General admission tickets are $20. Proceeds from general admissions tickets to 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.
If you are a SNAP EBT, WIC, or ConnectorCare cardholder, you are eligible for a 50% discount on General Admission to our workshops, thanks to Massachusetts Card to Culture. Please use the following discount codes:
Backyard Growers is a Gloucester-based 501C(3) nonprofit organization committed to cultivating healthy, connected, resilient communities by empowering people to grow their own food where they live. Backyard Growers’ programs creates equitable access to vegetable gardens all over Cape Ann, while hosting Gloucester’s farmers market, the Backyard Growcery, with a focus on supporting local farms and food businesses and connecting more residents to high-quality, fresh food.
You can get involved in one of six Gloucester community gardens, support a neighbor growing food in their backyard, build raised garden beds at a nonprofit partner organization, or help staff the Backyard Growcery. We have volunteer opportunities for all abilities and gardening experience levels.
Join us for family fun at Cape Ann Lanes, in support of all nine Backyard Growers-managed school veggie gardens in Gloucester this spring. That’s 75 individual garden beds! Your ticket will include all-you-can-bowl for two hours at Cape Ann Lanes. Don’t miss out on exciting raffle prizes, the arcade, and delicious brew pub. Proceeds from this fundraiser will support Backyard Growers’ work in Gloucester schools for the 2026 growing season.
As our veggie gardeners know well, teamwork makes the dream work! Please consider recruiting a team to bowl at this fundraiser — just make sure all team members select the same lane at checkout.
Book a full lane of 6 bowlers and get $20 off with code: LANEFAMILYPACK
Backyard Growers is a Gloucester-based 501(C)3 nonprofit organization engaging over 2,000 Gloucester Public Schools and Pathways for Children students from Kre-K to grade 8 in full-circle veggie garden experiences every year. With Backyard Growers, students learn to grow their own vegetables and staple crops in their school gardens to enjoy in the cafeteria. Backyard Growers also supports the Gloucester High School Garden Club in their 10-bed vegetable garden, in addition to a veggie garden at Gloucester Alternative Program. Gloucester’s school gardens are funded by individual donations, grants, and corporate sponsorships.
Stop by Backyard Growers HQ to browse our vegetable seed library and take away free seeds to get your 2026 garden up and running this season. At this event you can expect:
🍅 Free vegetable seeds to start indoors at home
🥕 Free vegetable seeds to sow directly into your garden
🌱 New vegetable seed varieties for you to explore, in addition to the classics
🥬 Vegetable garden planning resources and guides, with places to sit down and plan with your family, friends & neighbors
💡 Our team on-hand to answer vegetable gardening questions, from beginner to expert
🎨 Activities for kids
💚 Applications for Backyard Growers’ 2026 Community Garden, Backyard Garden & GrowBag Garden Programs
☕️ Coffee & pastries
We can’t wait to see you!
Can’t make it on March 7? We will be hosting Drop-In Hours Monday March 9 – Thursday March 12, 10am-3pm, at Backyard Growers HQ.
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!
Join us for family fun at 
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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.
Cape Ann Community 