Garden to Table: MSCG FarmStand Program Serves the Community
Maxwell Street Community Garden strives to address multiple needs of the community by promoting healthy eating and increasing opportunities for outdoor activity; beautifying and preserving open space; reducing waste and addressing environmental education; and building stronger communities. One way we work toward this mission is with our FarmStand Program.
Through dedicated FarmStand plots and produce volunteered by gardeners, MSCG provides free veggies, herbs, and fruits to local community members - some of which do not have easy access to this type of food. Gardeners, community partners, and volunteers alike help harvest, sort, and distribute the food.
The work is important, but it is not always easy. Growing food is only one part of the process. Getting it into the hands of people who can use it takes time, trust, outreach, and coordination. Timing this program to minimize food waste and maximize utilization is an ever moving target. This fall and winter, MSCG hopes to raise funds through its Seed Money Campaign (November 15th - December 15th 2026) to expand the program so that we can grow even more more food for free distribution, expand access to the community surrounding the garden, and offer classes and events that teach practical gardening and food preservation skills.
It Takes a Village
MSCG is located in an urban area where land to grow and garden is at a premium. Our dedicated FarmStand plots exist with a purpose to provide access to home grown food to the larger community.
These plots are planted with communal use in mind. Instead of producing food for one household or one gardener, they are planted, tended, harvested, and shared through the FarmStand program. This makes the garden more than a place where individuals grow their own food. It becomes a shared community resource.
The program also relies on surplus produce donated by gardeners. During peak growing season, a garden plot can produce more than one household can use. Tomatoes ripen all at once. Greens may need to be cut before they bolt. Herbs can grow faster than expected. Beans, squash, peppers, and cucumbers often come in waves.
A handful of extra peppers from one plot may not seem like much on its own. Combined with herbs from another gardener, greens from a FarmStand bed, and tomatoes from a third plot, it becomes a meaningful offering to the community.
Distribution
It is easy to picture free produce distribution as a simple process: grow food, pick food, give food away. In reality, the process is anything but simple. Produce is perishable and all does not ripen at once. Root veggies can sit for a bit, but greens wilt quickly. Pests can take out an entire zucchini harvest without warning. Free produce should feel like a neighborly exchange, not a complicated process. MSCG’s work helps make that possible, but it takes time and people power.
Getting the word out can be harder than growing the food
It is not always easy to get the produce into the hands of those who need it. Not everyone has access to transport or is mobile enough to come to the garden. Likewise, some do not have reliable internet access to receive notifications of a harvest. As a result - distribution is an ongoing effort that involves not just gardeners and volunteers but community members with access to the local knowledge of how to best get food into the hands of residents across the community.
MSCG coordinates with local individuals to distribute produce, but that coordination takes effort. A mix of word of mouth, purposeful outreach, pop up stands at community events, and trial and error bring this harvest into the hands of the community and nothing is wasted.
Raising Money for 2027 FarmStand Expansion
MSCG is participating in the 2026 Seed Money Challenge to raise a mixture of grant money and donations in hopes of expanding the FarmStand program for the 2027 growing season.
More funding can help with supplies for dedicated farmStand plots. Seeds, soil, added raised beds, and supplies for food focused educational programs. Even basic materials can make a difference when space is limited and every bed needs to produce well.
Support can also help improve the hands on side of the program. Harvesting and distribution require containers, signage, communication tools, and distribution support. If the goal is to reach more people, the program needs both food and the systems to move that food where it can be used.
Events and classes will require more than just a few cucumbers from our FarmStand plots to pickle. They will require jars, lids, labels, containers, educational hand outs, marketing, and other general supplies.
Fundraising can support:
Expanded FarmStand plots to grow even more for out community
More seeds, starts, and soil-building materials
Harvest and distribution supplies
Outreach materials to help more people learn about the program
Preservation class materials and teaching supplies
Because MSCG operates in an urban area with limited green space, growth has to be thoughtful. Expansion does not simply mean taking over more land. It may mean using existing plots more efficiently, choosing productive crops, improving soil health, extending the season where possible, and planning harvests around community needs.
Education Across the Process:
MSCG hopes to host more events and activities in 2027 that provide education on the process of growing food. We hope to provide education and activities to individuals of all ages next year so that everyone can enjoy harvest in more ways.
Possible Topics:
Seed Starting
Planning & Implementation of Planting
Harvesting
Utilization of Produce
Food Preservation: Drying, Pickling, and General Preservation
We would love to hear more about what topics and opportunities related to FarmStand mean the most to our community! Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming call to survey the community.
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