Stop by downtown Gloucester’s farmers market, the Backyard Growcery, brought to life by Backyard Growers every Wednesday from 2:30-6:30pm at Burnham’s Field in downtown Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The Backyard Growcery brings fresh, local food to our community while supporting small-scale farms and up-and-coming food businesses. Visit weekly to shop high-quality, local produce, eggs, and other fresh and prepared foods. Join free veggie gardening and arts workshops, connect with family & friends, and support a vibrant local food system right in your own backyard!

The Growcery accepts SNAP/EBT, WIC and Senior Farmers Market Coupons. SNAP users can visit the Backyard Growers table every week to receive extra cash to spend at the market through Market Mint, Backyard Growers’ $5 SNAP match.

To kick off the season, on July 8 we are welcoming:
🥖 Bonny Breads – delicious bread & baked goods
🥪 Between Sandwiches – incredible prepared foods
🔨 The Cornerstone Creative – youth-crafted wood creations
🥕 First Light Farm – fresh produce from Hamilton
🐣 Pleasant Valley Gardens: The Bonanno Family Farm – fresh produce & eggs from Methuen
🍕 Rhea Pizzeria Napoletana – artisanal pizza to pre-order online and enjoy at the market
🥤 Shore Sips – the North Shore’s only dirty soda company
🌱 SweetSoil Foods – dried herbs & spices, natural snacks, and cocktail enhances from local organic produce
🥨 The Woven Crust – a hyper-local sourdough cottage bakery
🍄‍🟫 Underground Mushroom Co – fresh mushrooms & mushroom grow kits

Bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy live music by 2 Guys, 10 Strings.

Plus, Burnham’s Field Community Garden will be open for public tours.

See you at Burnham’s!

Backyard Growers is on the hunt for a new Farmers Market Manager for the Backyard Growcery, downtown Gloucester’s farmers market managed by Backyard Growers. The Manager oversees the operations of the Growcery at Burnham’s Field from July 8 – September 30. This role ensures the market is welcoming, well-run, and impactful, with a variety of vendors and offerings.

Responsbilities include:

🍅 on-site market logistics

🥕 managing vendor, customer & partner relationships

🥬 food access programming

🌽 marketing coordination

This role is seasonal and part-time.

Stock your garden with beautiful vegetable seedlings at Backyard Growers’ annual Community Seedling Sale. All seedlings are grown by our friends at Cedar Rock Gardens in West Gloucester. Proceeds support Backyard Growers’ work cultivating equitable access to the resources, space & knowledge people need to grow their own food in our community.

Plus, this year’s event will feature an early season pop-up Backyard Growcery, downtown Gloucester’s farmers market. In addition to seedlings, attendees can shop fresh, high-quality produce from local farmers, enjoy prepared foods and live music, join kids’ activities, enter exciting raffles, and celebrate growing food together in community.

Vendors include:

Milky Way Apothecary’s medicinal plants

Garden of Wings pollinator kits

First Light Farm

Underground Mushroom

Marshview Farm

The Woven Crust

Salty’s Bagels

Between Sandwiches

See you at Burnham’s!

Starting a veggie garden for the very first time? Join us in this workshop to learn the basics to set you up for success.

Together, we’ll explore:

🥕 how to pick a location for your vegetable garden

🍅 what to sow directly in your garden vs what to plant as a seedling

🥬 how to handle seedlings

🍓 how to read a seed packet and plant seeds

🌽 how and when to water your garden

🥦 when to harvest and when to remove a plant

and more!

🎟️ 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:

• SNAP EBT cardholders should use the code MCCEBT.
• WIC cardholders should use the code MCCWIC.
• ConnectorCare cardholders should use MCCCC.

UPCOMING CONTAINER GARDENING WORKSHOPS These workshops cover key considerations and benefits, container sizing, container-friendly plant and seed varieties, soil health and care & more.

Choose a date:

Saturday 4/11 9:30-11am at Backyard Growers HQ OR Thursday 5/14 5:30-7pm at Cape Ann Lanes

FREE for Backyard Growers Program Gardeners. $20 general admission. Proceeds support Backyard Growers’ work creating equitable access to the resources, space & knowledge people need to grow their own food in our community.

Interested in a container garden with Backyard Growers? Learn more about our GrowBag Garden Program, which provides income-eligible household with three containers, container-friendly seeds and seedlings, organic soil, and more.

SQUARE-FOOT GARDENING WORKSHOP

Backyard Growers HQ @ 103R Maplewood Ave, Gloucester

Pick a date that works for you

Wednesday, March 11, 5:30-7pm

Saturday, March 14, 9:30-11am

Saturday, May 2, 9:30-11am

🥕 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:

• SNAP EBT cardholders should use the code MCCEBT.
• WIC cardholders should use the code MCCWIC.
• ConnectorCare cardholders should use MCCCC.

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.

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.