Do you love chickens? Have you been wanting a small flock of your own? Wondering what breed is best for you?
Come join Backyard Growers on October 12th as we partner with local chicken farmer, Jess Araneo as we go over the ins and outs of chicken raising, and even get to meet a bird or two!
Tickets and more information here.
An evening of fun, friends, food and music to support our Farm to School and Community Gardening Programs.
Enjoy appetizers, dinner and cocktails prepared by Short & Main followed by a rockin’ dance party with local 80’s band SAFETY.
September 26, 2017
6:30-10:30 pm
Short & Main
36 Main Street, Gloucester, MA 01930
Purchase your tickets online at backyardgrowers.org or the event page today!
Backyard Growers is hosting it’s second summer cooking workshop this Tuesday, Aug 8, 6:30-8pm at The Open Door. Come share knowledge about summer gardening, harvesting, and cooking with BYG and local community gardener Patricia!
Tickets and more information here
Join Backyard Growers to harvest, cook, and eat a delicious vegetarian meal inspired by the summer garden! Participants will be led by community gardeners and Backyard Growers staff and will leave with recipes, tips, and tricks to make seasonal menus at home. Not an experienced cook? No problem! We’ll go over the basics, so all levels of cooking experience are welcome.
At The Open Door, 28 Emerson Ave, Gloucester
Family Night – Bring the kids! August 1; 6-7:30 pm; Sign up here or email community@backyardgrowers.org to reserve your spot today!
Senior Night August 8; 6:30-8 pm; Sign up here or email community@backyardgrowers.org to reserve your spot today!
Join us on July 15th for Backyard Growers’ first-ever, self-guided, INCREDIBLE EDIBLE GARDEN TOUR fundraising event!
Where: Backyard, community, and school gardens in Downtown and East Gloucester
When: July 15th 10am-2pm (Rain date 7/16)
Tickets: $15 per person; FREE for children
Purchase Tickets Here or by calling 978-281-0480 or by visiting us at 271 Main Street
This is your chance to see how Gloucester folks are squeezing vegetable gardens into small spaces to grow some of their own food. You will visit backyard, community, and school gardens plus a few special guest gardens where you can learn about chickens and bees! Chat with gardeners and learn a few gardening tricks as you leisurely make your way to the different garden sites. Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes look at urban gardening in Gloucester! Receive the exclusive garden tour map with your ticket purchase!
We can help! Join Backyard Growers June 22nd at 6:00pm for our Tomato Workshop! We will meet at Riverdale Community Garden at 1 Veteran’s Way in Gloucester, and discuss everything from disease, pruning and feeding techniques, and trellising. $10 for community members, free for program participants.
Backyard Growers is a grassroots organization helping to reshape Gloucester’s relationship with food and healthy eating. We provide resources and support to establish vegetable gardens at homes, housing communities, organizations, and schools, and provide learning opportunities in growing and preparing fresh produce in order to create life-long gardeners inspired by the power of growing and eating one’s own food.
Representing Backyard Growers, Lara Lepionka, Executive Director, and Anna Swanson, Community Programs Manager, will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $170 million to local nonprofits alone.
“We are thrilled to be among the 100 organizations receiving this generous funding from the Cummings Foundation,” said Lara Lepionka. “This grant will make it possible for Backyard Growers to increase the number of children and families we serve, and expand gardening resources in Gloucester. We’re so excited to have the support we need to help more people learn how to grow their own fresh, healthy food.”
Backyard Growers will use the Cummings Foundation money to expand their signature Salad Days School Garden program into new school districts in Massachusetts, develop new garden education programs at O’Maley Innovation Middle School, and expand community gardening resources in Gloucester for low- to moderate-income families and older adults.
The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefiting 35 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth.
Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“Nonprofit organizations like Backyard Growers are vital to the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “ We are delighted to invest in their efforts.”
This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention and affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years.
The complete list of 100 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
About Backyard Growers
Founded in 2010 by urban farmer Lara Lepionka as a way to help her neighbors stretch their budgets by growing their own food, Backyard Growers has grown exponentially to include a suite of programs serving students in the Gloucester Schools and a broad segment of Gloucester’s low- to moderate-income residents with a focus on serving children and their families. Since 2010, Backyard Growers has built over 200 new garden beds in Gloucester, serving over 2,500 individuals.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc, was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1.4 billion, it is one of the largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.cummingsfoundation.org
Cape Ann Community 