Giving Gardens

10/29/2026

Brooks stopped by the public access garden at 1st Pres to create a bouquet the other day. It’s the end of October but we still have lots of great cut flowers. Don’t forget to get to cut marigolds for your Day of the Dead celebration.

10/23/2026

Working on year end garden mapping at First Pres this afternoon and checked out our hidden patch of hot peppers between the wheelchair ramp and the building. There are a lot of unpicked hot peppers here!

Another beautiful fall day in the garden.

10/23/2026

Throughout the year, people and organizations from across Illinois and beyond (including from as far away as northern Michigan and Moab, Utah) have been reaching out to us about hosting Giving Gardens in their communities.

This week, we began interviews for people and organizations who have made formal applications through the 1000 Giving Gardens portal on our website (givinggardensforall.com).

Yesterday, we met with Shawna and Curtis (pictured with Nikki) about the possibility of creating a public access garden in Industry, a small town near the southern edge of McDonough County.

We have also met with community members and organizational leaders from Rushville (Schuyler County) and Mohammet (near Champaign) and have more meetings set up for next week. If you or your organization are considering applying to host a Giving Gardens in 2027, weeks recommend applying in the next week!

10/21/2026

While working on mapping (see picture of Tyler) the First Pres garden this afternoon, a lot of visitors came by to check the share space and pick flowers. Three visitors came by to check the raspberries and cherry tomatoes and pick a bouquet for Mom. They often go to the different public access gardens in Macomb and also visit the one in Bushnell. These boys love to harvest and see butterflies.

10/21/2026

We had a great night on Saturday at our 2nd annual Giving Gardens Sip & Savor Celebration. More than 100 volunteers, community partners and financial supporters came together to celebrate a truly impactful year. Special thanks to Cecile Moore-Hopson for putting together a delicious assortment of hors d oeuvres and desserts, Justina and Nikki for some truly beautiful and tasty flower themed mocktails, George Turner and John Lane for live music, dinner business sponsors Clock Tower Bank and Meredith Garage, and First Presbyterian Church for hosting us for a 2nd year. It's amazing what we can do when we come together to make our neighborhoods and communities greener, more abundant and more hopeful.

10/08/2026

You can coax a few extra ripe tomatoes from your plants if you follow the instructions from our most recent YouTube video. Check out all the videos on our YouTube channel at Givinggardensforall.

It's almost time for the first frost in our area, but if you are al...

10/07/2026

Yesterday was a hive of activity at the production gardens with young and old harvesting, counting, weighing, and packaging produce for the WIRC food pantry.

10/06/2026

Can you believe some people still don't know about The Giving Gardens? It's true, some community members still don't know that we provide 12 public-access gardens in the region where anyone can visit and harvest for free. Some still don't know that The Giving Gardens are for ALL. Help us spread the word and the abundance. Do you remember your first visit to The Giving Gardens? It's truly a special moment, and we would love to hear about yours in the comments. How did you find us? What brought you in? What keeps you coming back? Share your story, and tell a friend or neighbor about us, we want our community and our impact to continue to grow, just like our gardens. The community members and the harvesters are why we do what we do, so thank you to you all. And, as always, we look forward to seeing you in the gardens. 🌱💚

10/02/2026

Happy Friday and Welcome October! 🍃🍂We have at least a couple more weeks until that first frost moves in and wipes out our gardens. Be sure to continue to go out and visit them while they are still lush, beautiful, and full of vegetables, fruits, and flowers to harvest! There are still plenty of sweet & hot peppers, tomatoes, collard and kale greens, cilantro, dill, parsley, eggplants, tomatillos, green beans, squash and zucchini at some locations, and of course, lots of flowers for bouquets and our pollinator friends. Please go out and enjoy these last weeks of the season, we definitely are, and as always, we look forward to seeing you in the gardens!

09/29/2026

Fresh, free, nutrient-dense food belongs in every neighborhood.

This season, The Giving Gardens' public-access gardens, pantry donations, and our now two signature Giving Gardens Sharespaces have shared thousands upon thousands of fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruits across our region. If our gardens helped put fresh food on your family’s table this season, we would love to know:

What was your favorite vegetable, fruit, or herb to bring home, and how did you prepare it, or who did you share it with?

Share your garden-to-table meals, stories, and pics in the comments! Your experiences show our community partners and supporters the true impact of our work of cultivating abundance together. 💚🥦🌱