The Big Garden

The Big Garden’s mission is to cultivate food security by developing community gardens, creating opportunities to serve, and providing education on issues related to hunger.

 The Big Garden was founded in 2005 by United Methodist Ministries through funding from the USDA’s Community Food Project. The initial goal was to create 12 community gardens in three years. As of today, The Big Garden has helped to establish more than 170 community gardens in urban and rural communities throughout Nebraska, Kansas, and Southwest Iowa.

Our goal is to reduce hunger by increasing access to fresh, healthy produce and teaching people to grow, cook, & preserve their own.

At The Big Garden, we grow healthy food, healthy kids, and healthy communities. We do that by building gardens; teaching children to grow, cook, and preserve their own food; and providing education to address the systemic nature of hunger in our communities.

Our programs include:

• Community gardens
• Growing Gardeners Workshop Series
• Grow-your-own: Each summer, we hire young adult interns to work in childcare settings, teaching kids to grow, cook, and preserve garden produce.
• New Roots Internship: 12-week paid summer internship for young adults interested in organic gardening, food security, local food, and working with children
• Nature Camp: The weekly classes, for children ages 3-7, provide children with hands-on opportunities for learning and play in the garden.
• Garden to Table: After school classes at middle schools teaching children about plant science, gardening techniques, nutrition, and healthy life styles. 
• Farm to School:  Farm to School is a national program that has three components: school garden installation, garden education, and local foods procurement.
• The Giving Grove: Planting community orchards and providing a lifetime of technical support and training to the folks at these sites.