NGM Garden Club

The NGM Garden Club is an initiative to make growing food more accessible

Getting started with gardening can be intimidating - we know firsthand from going through it too! It can be overwhelming trying to figure out what seeds to get, which tools are necessary, when to start planting, and where to find a garden space. That’s why we created the NGM Garden Club, a completely FREE program open to anyone. So you don’t have to worry about anything - all you have to do is apply and get growing!

What’s included in the Garden Club?

The NGM Garden Club offers community members the opportunity to garden with support. We provide everything you need to grow food - tools, seeds, seedlings, planters, soil, water, knowledge, and space!

NGM uses the City of Edmonton’s Pop Up Garden program, which provides the planters, soil, and water. The boxes are set up at the beginning of the season and removed at the end. NGM provides the tools and planting materials. This makes it easy for our gardeners to simply walk in and start planting.

Gardeners are matched with a garden box to care for over the whole garden season from May to September. This means you get control of what you plant.

But NGM gives you more than just the garden supplies, we also provide educational opportunities throughout the garden season to ensure that you have the knowledge to grow with confidence. Gardening workshops led by experts ensure that no matter what level you’re at or what questions you have, you always feel welcome at the Garden Club.

Gardening is a powerful step toward food sovereignty, allowing individuals to grow fresh, healthy food and rely less on commercial supply chains. In a time of rising prices and unpredictable availability, it provides a reliable, affordable, and sustainable alternative to grocery stores. Gardening strengthens communities by creating shared opportunities for success, where people can connect, support one another, and build resilience together.

How is it more than just a community garden?

The NGM Garden Club is not your average community garden - here we are heavy on the community! Rooted in NGM’s mission to make sustainable, local food accessible to everyone, the Garden Club goes beyond gardening. It’s a way to foster connections — with nature, sustainable practices, and a like-minded community — while creating a lasting impact on your health, your community, and the planet.

We see the garden as more than a space to grow food, it is also a place we build community and, simply, hang out! Our workshops and events touch on more than just garden education. We also host creative and recreational opportunities, where you can meet fellow gardeners and members of the community. You may show up to the garden to learn how to build your own planter, paint or draw, practice yoga, or stargaze.

And if we’re going to build community, we need to learn how to do that effectively and support each other outside of food. NGM collaborates with other groups, from mutual aid to climate action organizations, to host workshops in the garden that sharpen our community organizing, advocacy, harm reduction, and collective action skills.

The Garden Club is a community of people coming together to learn, grow, and connect through gardening, while building transformative and genuine community spaces where all are welcome.

Key Information

Location: Edmonton, Alberta (Treaty 6 Territory), Ritchie neighbourhood.
Address: 95a st and 82 ave (on the southwest side of the bridge right on Whyte Ave!).
Garden Season: Gardeners will be matched with a garden box to care for from May to September 2025.
What’s Offered: Planters, seeds, soil, water, and workshops to make gardening accessible and fun.
Inclusivity: Focused on supporting youth and equity-deserving individuals, but open to everyone.
Applications: Currently closed; reopening in April 2025.
Contact: Reach out to rebecca@newgrocerymovement.com for more information.

The NGM Garden Club was thrilled to be chosen as the recipient for the 2024 Pop-Up Community Garden Award as part of Edmonton’s Communities in Bloom Awards.

We are proud to be awarded this honour at the end of our first year as a community garden. This recognition comes in part due to the effort our team put in to build beyond a normal community garden. We are grateful that our work to create community through an accessible garden space and offer supportive, fun, and educational programming to enrich the gardening experience is acknowledged in receipt of this award. We look forward to continuing to build our community garden into a vibrant, multipurpose green space that welcomes the whole community!

The NGM Garden Club operates as a community garden that is part of a bigger green space called the Mill Creek Healing Park. We are currently leading a process to transition this green space into a designated community garden and community park under the City of Edmonton. We are always looking for community members and gardening enthusiasts to join our Advisory Board, which acts as the leadership team guiding and designing the space through this process. If you are interested to get involved, please contact us for more information.

Applications Closed!

We look forward to welcoming you in the next season of gardening and growth!