Giving Gardens

Giving Gardens seeks to build community awareness of the barriers that many of our neighbors face in accessing fresh produce. How do we do this?

We address these barriers by empowering neighbors to grow and donate produce to local food shelves and senior programs. Giving Gardens is a nonprofit based in White Bear Lake that seeks to build community awareness of local food insecurity, and to build local sustainability through neighbors growing produce to be donated to neighbors in need of access to healthy food options. Giving Gardens benefi

ts the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf as well as other local food shelves and service organizations. Giving Gardens delivered 50- 4'X8' raised bed gardens through our 2017 Spring Launch initiative to people in the community who adopt the garden bed to raise produce to be donated to those in our community who need it most! Giving Gardens provides all of the resources necessary, free of charge, to start growing, to include the garden bed structure, high quality nutrient enriched top soil, and the seeds and started plants. All we ask that those who have adopted a garden bed donate the majority (51% or more) of the vegetables grown to a local food shelf or community support organization that provides "hand to hand" service in assisting nutritional support to those in our community that lack access to fresh produce. The garden beds distributed through the 2017 Spring launch initiative have contributed to over 700 lbs of produce being harvested and donated to the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf and the White Bear Senior Program! Giving Gardens is celebrating this successful growing season with another garden bed launch event over the weekend of October 27th-29th, during which 100 more garden beds will be distributed within the community to the many good folks wishing to adopt them.

07/23/2021

Raising 16 year old children definitely comes with it’s ups and downs, but one nice perk is them being able to deliver your donations to the food shelf for you!! Here are the first 4 containers of “Rapunzel” tomatoes harvested from our gardens at home this season!

04/10/2021

Is anyone else having a tough time holdin out until it is finally time plant? Today we are choosing our remedy of killing time by amending our soil. We are mixing in the leaves we raked and piled onto the garden beds in fall to start up a killer compost! Soil preparation might not be glamorous, but it will pay off all summer long. Remember, happy plants need happy, healthy soil!

02/04/2021

Hello Giving Gardeners!
This is a great free opportunity to brush up on your gardening skills taught by U of M Master Gardeners!!

Sign up for a FREE Vegetable Gardening Basics class taught by University of Minnesota Extension Hennepin County Master Gardeners. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: Whether you're a novice vegetable gardener or a more experienced gardener looking for better results, you'll learn how to plan, plant, and maintain a v...

12/01/2020

Happy Giving Tuesday!! This year has most definitely been unusual with all the challenges COVID-19 has thrown us all, and Giving Gardens certainly hasn’t been spared from the associated setbacks. The good news is that today is Giving Tuesday, a special day of the year set aside for you to support your favorite nonprofit organizations! We have some amazing goals lined up for 2021, but we need your help TODAY in meeting our end of year fundraising goals! Small nonprofits change the world thanks to many small donations from donors like you! As we always say, no donation amount is too small, and every dollar goes a long way! Please consider a small donation for Giving Tuesday, to help us continue our fight against food insecurity!

Your donations go directly towards sustaining the amazing work we do, and support the organization we will become as we expand the ways we grow fresh produce for the community. Any amount helps us achieve our goals and continue making impact in our community.

11/30/2020

In a couple of days, Giving Tuesday will be upon us! Giving Tuesday is a special day to remember your favorite nonprofit organizations by making a small contribution toward our end of the year fundraising efforts. In this most unusual of years, after all of the deals and good fortune Cyber Monday will bring you, I hope you will keep Giving Gardens in mind on Giving Tuesday! For early giving, please visit us @

10/18/2020

As the driving wind, sleet, and snow blew in on Friday morning, I made it over to the White Bear Lake United Methodist Gardens for one more harvest this fall before we put the gardens to bed for the winter. What a harvest it was!! My tomato girl helped me wash, rinse, and package 34 more containers of cherry tomatoes that will be dropped off at the White Bear Lake Senior Program tomorrow morning! Thank you to the White Bear Lake United Methodist Church for hosting our garden beds, rent free, for another growing season!!

09/05/2020

We are so thankful that our Meals on Wheels clients are able to experience the wonderful produce from Giving Gardens! Thank you for your donations to the WB Area Senior Center.

08/27/2020

Another awesome harvest between the St John and Wilderness Episcopal Church and White Bear Lake United Methodist Church These gardens are in overdrive mode, churning out 29 containers of cherry tomatoes for our friends at the White Bear Senior Program! 24 containers from WBLUMC gardens, 4 from St John in the Wilderness, and 1 Ecumenical container with tomatoes from both. Our anonymous friend left us 2 more cucumbers as well!

08/20/2020

At St John in the Wilderness Episcopal, a part of the Eucharistic Liturgy is a proclamation of “The Gifts of God for the People of God.” I think that best describes this beautiful picture of 13 packages of cherry tomatoes from the White Bear Lake United Methodist Church Giving Gardens, and 3 packages from the Giving Gardens at St John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church, all of which were donated to the White Bear Senior Program. We are so blessed to have the support of both of these congregations, who understand and believe in our mission! The cucumber I found on one of our gardens beds at the White Bear Lake United Methodist Church community garden with a simple, anonymous note that read “for Giving Gardens.” The anonymity of this gift/giver is so beautiful, because whoever gave it doesn’t likely know everything about our organization, or have our vision and mission statements memorized. But they gave anyways. Maybe I’ve met them before, or maybe not. All they knew was that we give fresh produce to others, and they gave of their own harvest. They will brighten a local Seniors day tomorrow with fresh produce, and the the gift of the anonymous grower will continue giving. Whoever receives the contribution of fresh produce feels seen, heard, and dignified as a member our community. Whoever you are anonymous giver, thank you. Because of you and people like you, I get to smile and look forward to a tomorrow with the knowledge that folks like you are out there doing the heavy lifting for the dignity of others, anonymously.
“The Gifts of God, for the People of God.”

07/20/2020

I encourage everyone to visit the Giving Gardens website for our Official George Floyd Statement. The link below will direct you straight there. A public statement isn't important just for the purpose of joining the public forum on an important issue, but rather to analyze the issue, and deeply, thoughtfully reflect where our organizational values stand in these challenging days.

Giving Gardens believes that dignity is owed to every human being regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, sexual orientation/identification. In this time of challenge, Giving Gardens stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community in sayin

07/11/2020

Of the many different people, places, and things that have meaningfully contributed to Giving Gardens existence over the past 4 years, the community garden at the White Bear Lake United Methodist Church ranks up there near the top. The church has allowed Giving Gardens to grow on 2 plots, rent free, that enables 10 garden beds to grow fresh produce for 100% donation to the White Bear Senior Program and White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf. This year, we are growing cherry tomatoes, and I am looking forward to bringing our first container to donate on Monday!

Address

1851 Birch St
White Bear Lake, MN
55110

Website

http://www.givinggardensmn.org/

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