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Million Gardens Movement is a community of gardeners who want to inspire a happier and healthier world by educating and supporting millions of new gardeners to grow their own food.

NEW GARDENS

Learning Gardens in Schools

Garden Kits Given Away

Gardeners Signed up to Grow in 2021

Starting a garden is easy & delicious

4 Easy Veggies to Grow Inside

HOW TO GUIDES

4 Easy Veggies to Grow Inside

A Guide to Companion Planting for Your Vegetables

HOW TO GUIDES

A Guide to Companion Planting for Your Vegetables

Growing a garden is easy – in your backyard, on a fire
escape or on your windowsill

Join the movement and learn how to grow and cook delicious vegetables with our garden guides, resources, and recipes.

Make a donation after you register to give a garden to a family in need, and get a limited edition Million Gardens Movement bracelet!

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All proceeds go to funding our Learning Garden and Little Green Garden projects as well as our charitable partners, helping to overcome food insecurity and improving food literacy across America.

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OUR GARDENERS

Walk With Me

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Market Manifesto

A chicken manure heated mini polytunnel at Edibles Acres homestead

HOW TO GUIDES

Small-Hold Farmer Love

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Despite rumors, there are naturally blue edible pl

Despite rumors, there are naturally blue edible plants! There's also flowers, fruits, and pieces of other plants that bridge the world of color from blue to purple/black. Our members are growing so many: check out this list! Welcome to the fourth week of #MillionGardens celebraing #eattherainbow , it's PURPLE/BLUE WEEK.

Did we forget any you're growing? Let us know and show off your deep-hued plants below/DM! 💙

This Friday at 3 PM EST we're hosting our next Ove

This Friday at 3 PM EST we're hosting our next Over the Garden Fence chat with @RockSteadyFarm , a queer owned/operated cooperative veg farm, on Instagram Live: mark your calendars!

Rock Steady is an amazing group of growers who have a wealth of experiences to discuss, from what it’s like to run a queer farm, how to harvest 500 pounds of kale (happy Green Week!) to how to deal with frustrating insects, from aphids to ticks. So we want to hear from y'all: what questions do you have for these farmers? Comment below or DM us and we’ll try to find space in our chat to discuss your topic. If you don’t already, follow @RockSteadyFarm here on IG: their CSA boxes and harvests are an inspiration to all sizes of growers! All 📸 from them 💚💚💚

According to #MillionGardens members who have sign

According to #MillionGardens members who have signed up to grow a garden with us this June (link in bio if you haven't), their top garden color is GREEN, with next week's purple/blue taking second place. Part of this could be because of how easy green crops can be to grow, like mint and peas, or because humans are evolved to see more shades of green than any other color. Not only are there more green crops, but green covers more of our visible spectrum of light!

Do you know why? One theory spouted by some evolutionary biologists, as well as Billy Bob Thorton in the TV show "Fargo", is so that humans can easily see predators in the greenery. When we were out picking berries or peppers, our enhanced perception let us sneak away, pouches filled with foraged harvests, without being harmed. So we think appreciating green let to our survival, then to our agriculture, then to our gardening hobbies, and now back to appreciating green! We hope you are appreciating green this week as much as so many of our Movement members. Be sure to sign up your garden up so we can count you as a dedicated member!

The awesome @joshrichards representing green veget

The awesome @joshrichards representing green vegetables, from lettuce to green tomatoes to peas. There are near endless green parts of your garden to harvest!

Join the Movement with Josh and let us know what color you're most excited to see in your garden at the link in bio.

Despite it being Green Week, it looks like our tomato polls has come to a close and green tomatoes have NOT won 😥. On Twitter, ORANGE tomatoe such as Sungold took the lead and stayed with it, with red tomatoes a close send. On Instagram, after an initial tie between purple and red tomatoes, red ran off with the lead, despite purple being the more interesting color (one that unfortuantely is often lost when you cook with purple tomatoes). Do you have strong opinions for other vegetable colors? Only yellow chard eaters in your family, or purple kale chips for you?

📸 @warwicksaint

Yesterday was Nature Photography Day, and we got t

Yesterday was Nature Photography Day, and we got this member submission of great greenery: that's no wild forest, it's a Garden Tower II covered with plants growing tall and wide. Thank you @sjreeves1976 for sending this our way. Can you identify all of themin the comments? @sjreeves1976 says that everything they're growing here is flourishing (they're also utilizing a drip system) and they'd recommend the tower to others: are you using anything this vertical in your farm? How about anything this green? Our DMs are open, feel free to send over photos (especially ones for GREEN WEEK) so we can share your wins with other Movement members! Wonderful growing @sjreeves1976 💚

It's not easy being green, but it is easy to plant

It's not easy being green, but it is easy to plant green! Welcome to the third week of eating the rainbow, Green week. Your survey responses (link in bio) had so many green crops that our members are growing: but that makes sense, given how plants are usually green. Still, ever heard of rattlesnake pole beans? Have you ever grown Chinese mustard greens?

Let us know if we've forgotten any edible green plants our members are growing so we can celebrate our harvest together. Unfortunately, we still aren't getting any love for the green tomatoes 😥. It's okay green tomatoes, we will always love you. Let us know if you have any questions about these crops, we'll be posting a quiz soon! 💚

Our co-founder Frank Giustra once wrote that the s

Our co-founder Frank Giustra once wrote that the saying "Never discuss politics or religion in polite company" should also include . . . tomatoes. It can bring out strong feelings, but we want your opinions! As we #eattherainbow this June, we can almost eat every color JUST in tomato plants. There's the classic red but also yellow, orange, green tomatoes (fried, probaby), and a host of darker tomatoes that can shift from violet to blue-black to deep purples. You can read Giustra's thoughts on his favorite types in our link in bio, but what tomato color is your favorite by flavor alone? Comment below or answer our poll in our Story today!

Nutritionally, all colors have roughly the same antioxidant benefits and great levels of vitamins, A, C and K, but that does change very slightly from plant to plant and color to color. Which not only looks the best, but tastes the best in your opinion? Thank you @upfrontandbeautiful for some of these colorful photos!

Read more at the link in bio.

So many members have been fascinated by co-founder

So many members have been fascinated by co-founder
@FGiustra 's garden, designed by
@upfrontandbeautiful, so every Sunday we'll be presenting a new part of this inspirational garden! This week, take a look at this mini-herb spiral. Our full guide to building your own larger herb spiral is in our link in bio, but the lessons this piece of garden landscaping can teach you can be applied anywhere: planting on downslopes to get partial sun, using the natural flow of water to hydrate plants, and companion planting easy-to-mantain herbs.

We celebrated red tomatoes last week, but our Move

We celebrated red tomatoes last week, but our Movement has some STRONG opinions that orange Sungold tomatoes being the best tomato. In our next newletter, members will receive Chef Robert Bartley Melted Sungold Tomatoes recipe, a golden dip 🧡🍅 great photo and article by @upfrontandbeautiful 💛

Sign up at milliongardensmovement.org , link in bio!

Join @christianamusk with the @MillionGardensMovem

Join @christianamusk with the @MillionGardensMovement to help support millions of people to grow a rainbow of fruits & veggies. 🌈 This week we're all about orange foods rich in beta-carotene / vitamin A to keep healthy vision, heart, skin, bones and teeth. 🧡🥕🍑🍊 Check our stories soon for trivia about these colors' nutritional benefits! Visit the link in bio to register your garden and tell us what your favorite color to grow is. 🌈

We have a challenge for our members! Member @keiko

We have a challenge for our members! Member @keikowales has planted mint, but we're not sure what type: without smelling or tasting through your phone, can you identify what these four plants are? Spearmint? Chocolate mint? Apple mint? Eek! Comment below if you have a suggestion or tip on mint ID.

Welcome to the second week of eating the rainbow,

Welcome to the second week of eating the rainbow, Orange & Yellow week! We dove through the survey data (link in bio) like a rabbit in a bag of carrots and found all of these different orange & yellow crops YOU have collectively planted. But have we forgotten any? Let us know below so we can celebrate our harvest together. Also, see any plants you don't recognize here? We'll be quizzing y'all on some of them later in the week, but we want to pick those you've heard of! 💛

Thank you everyone who attended this weekend's #Mi

Thank you everyone who attended this weekend's #MillionGardens event with @chestercountyfoodbank and @laurelvalleysoils . Some great garden tours, free compost, and lots of smiling faces.

If you haven't registered your garden, it takes a sec at, just see the link in bio!

Today is National Gardening Exercise Day, in celeb

Today is National Gardening Exercise Day, in celebration with all of the ways gardening improves our physical health: both in what we harvest from our garden, and how we workout in the garden. What better way to represent that then through growing red/pink fruit and vegetables?

Earlier this week, we quizzed y'all on the health benefits of red/pink crops, and the majority of thought that they helped reduce stroke risk - actually, they're best known for lower cancer risk, thanks to lycopene and anthocyanin, the same chemicals that give them a boost in vibrant color! Other benefits of this antioxidant/flavonoid power couple include:

Protecting the eyes, and improving eyesight
Fighting infections and tumors
Reducing blood presure/inflammation
Protecting tobacco smoke damage

Imagine all those benefits in addition to the exercise of caring for and harvesting plants! You can get in your squats as you pick peppers and tomatoes, stretch out your arms as you pick ruby-red grapefruit, and practice deep, full breaths to small all the radishes and strawberries you've planted (a little form of yoga, one might say). Just remember to stay hydrated out there and switch between using your left and right hand in the garden for an equal workout!

Are you feeling healthier the longer you're in the garden? Let us know how it's going!

#milliongardens #milliongardensmovement #growagarden #giveagarden #gardenpathways #farmlife #homestead #backyardgarden #gardening #homegrown #growfoodnotlawns #eatwhatyougrow #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #greenthumb #gardenscrapbook #instagardeners #gardeningismytherapy #newgarden #grownwithlove #fresh #fromseed #dogoodbegood #growyourownfood #gardeninglife #giveback #makeadifference

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Chester

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Chester County Food Bank's inaugural "Rooted in Community Garden Tour" today! With sites including a school, a horticulture learning center, a community garden, and a farm, you got to see how these gardens grow as part of our mission to educate and ensure access to real, healthy food. It means so much that people traveled safely, visited gardens, and registered your gardens for #MillionGardens.

A special thanks to those who donated to support both orgs! We're excited to see our new members online and celebrating eating the rainbow with us this month ❤️🧡💚💙💜

The wonderful @salmahayek representing red/pink ve

The wonderful @salmahayek representing red/pink vegetables, from hot peppers to pink cauliflower. This week's colors really pop!

Join the Movement with Salma and let us know what color you're most excited to see in your garden at the link in bio.

Here Salma is showing off her hot pepper spice tolerance, but did you know that you can use their heat to great advantage in your garden? We were discussing this with a #MillionGarden member in the comments on our last post: the capsaicin in hot peppers is super helpful for pest control. Capsaicin—the active ingredient that makes peppers hot—is the plant’s defense against so many rodents and insects that don’t have the spice tolerance humans do. That means you can harvest capsaicin from peppers, diluted them, and water that mixture onto seeds in your garden to lower the amount eaten by pests! Or peppers can be turned into a spray to protect leaves and flowers in your garden (link in bio). Hot peppers are also great companion plants for tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, and basil. Have you seen pepper deter pests in gardens? One important note is that most birds don’t care about capsaicin and love eating pepper—that’s how pepper seeds were able to travel to so many countries, in the bellies of birds!

📸 @warwicksaint

Red and pink crops come in all shapes and sizes, f

Red and pink crops come in all shapes and sizes, from the bright red skin of Valencia peanuts to the rich and hydrating interior of a sugar baby watermelon. As #MillionGarden Movement members fill out our survey (link in bio if you haven't), we're learning just how many red and pink plants we're planting in our gardens, especially the fruits and flowers! Did we miss any? What do you have growing in your garden that's red and pink? Comment below an we'll add it to our tally!

Every garden is unique, and every gardener is too.

Every garden is unique, and every gardener is too. We welcome and celebrate all of them. This month, in celebration of the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables and Pride Month, we are showcasing all the colors of the garden rainbow. Starting this week with red and pink, we'll be showing you how to eat the rainbow and grow as colorful of a garden as you deserve. Thank you @mayemusk for your wonderful advice as a nutritionist and mom!

#milliongardens #milliongardensmovement #growagarden #giveagarden #gardenpathways #farmlife #homestead #backyardgarden #gardening #homegrown #growfoodnotlawns #eatwhatyougrow #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #greenthumb #gardenscrapbook #instagardeners #gardeningismytherapy #newgarden #grownwithlove #fresh #fromseed #dogoodbegood #growyourownfood #gardeninglife #giveback #makeadifference

Kara from Virginia is growing these beautiful flow

Kara from Virginia is growing these beautiful flowers in her #MillionGardens Movement garden: don't we always say that April showers bring May flowers? Or is it that May flowers could bring June showers? Newsletter subscribers tomorrow can read all about flower power, from edible flowers to pollinator gardens to how greenery alters humidity and creates a space for quiet reflection. Also, there's a gin-based recipe. Subscribe now so you don't miss out! If you want to share your photos with us, the easiest way would be to complete our survey at milliongardensmovement.org/survey . We'll be raffling a free gardening t-shirt soon. Link in bio for the 3-minute survey. Thank you Kara for submitting these images!

#milliongardens #milliongardensmovement #growagarden #giveagarden #gardenpathways #farmlife #homestead #backyardgarden #gardening #homegrown #growfoodnotlawns #eatwhatyougrow #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #greenthumb #gardenscrapbook #instagardeners #gardeningismytherapy #newgarden #grownwithlove #fresh #fromseed #dogoodbegood #growyourownfood #gardeninglife #giveback #makeadifference

Have you entered the stage of the spring where ant

Have you entered the stage of the spring where ants seem to be crawling out of every crack in your house? Although they can be annoying buggers around your compost, electronics, or wood, ants in the garden are part of a healthy ecosystem: the tunnels they dig help aerate soil and move water through the ground, and they speed decomposition of insects and leaves. Other bugs, however, are more garden pests: aphids, flea beetles, and some worms, to name a few. But don't worry, we have a starter guide on identifying pest problems and nipping them in the bud (no pun intended) in our link in bio (and atbmilliongardensmovement.org/pests-and-plant-diseases/)

Happy gardening, hope the ants find a lovely home in your garden!

#milliongardens #milliongardensmovement #growagarden #giveagarden #gardenpathways #farmlife #homestead #backyardgarden #gardening #homegrown #growfoodnotlawns #eatwhatyougrow #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #greenthumb #gardenscrapbook #instagardeners #gardeningismytherapy #newgarden #grownwithlove #fresh #fromseed #dogoodbegood #growyourownfood #gardeninglife #giveback #makeadifference

We're working with so many great organizations the

We're working with so many great organizations these days that Movement members are building gardens in celebration! This is a wild one from member @thebeginningisnear (nice detail work) that we're reposting after our co-founder @kimbalmusk joined @elongate.cc yesterday to discuss our work together and why gardens matter. Thank you everyone who attended, be sure to pledge to grow a garden on our website (link in bio)!

We posted our quick survey in our weekend newslett

We posted our quick survey in our weekend newsletter and have only seen dozens of amazing stories about gardens roll in (swipe to read a few)!

Can you fill it out when you have a minute or two? It would mean the world, and when you finish you'll be entered to win a Movement tee! Link in bio, or visit milliongardensmovement.org/survey

Here's an easy DIY covered garden that works almos

Here's an easy DIY covered garden that works almost anywhere: throw a medium-sized potted tomato or pepper plant into an upturned crate and keep it on something that heats up quickly (think: stone, concrete, dark asphalt driveway, etc.) Keep the front of the crate open to sun and rotate the plant every so often to get different sides get light. Why does this work? @upfrontandbeautiful 's design for this mini-hothouse uses the crate to insulate the plant from harsh wind, keep heat in, rain out, and bonus heat from whatever's below it. This one is at @fgiustra 's house, but he wants copycats, so if you build this, let us know how it works!

Want more ideas on how to design your garden in easy, smart ways? Sign up to our newsletter today to be the first with stellar new garden design tips and the chance to win a prize! Link in bio, we'll be sending out the newsletter starting this evening. 🌲🍅💚

An amazing container garden from #MillionGardens M

An amazing container garden from #MillionGardens Movement member— @newfound_liz (so green!), inspired by some of the gardens we've been promoting. See any plants you're growing in your gardens? Let us know, and tag us in your container gardens! More the merrier here. 🥬💚🥬💚🥬💚

We're so excited to share more photos from our eve

We're so excited to share more photos from our event last week at the launch of Huerta Urbana, a community garden project in east Denver. We gave out 65 garden kits, including these 2! Pictured here is Liz Dikeman and her daughter. Liz is inspired by the power to grow her own food and even started interning at a nearby farm to learn even more. She's excited to join the Movement to learn even more and to continue to build community through food - she wants to become a food entrepreneur and start her own farm for her family and community.

We love her intiative so much and are so glad that she could join the Movement last week! Welcome Liz, we're excited to support you and share your story however we can! Sending sun rays to your garden kits wherever they are.

#milliongardens #milliongardensmovement #growagarden #giveagarden #gardenpathways #farmlife #homestead #backyardgarden #gardening #homegrown #growfoodnotlawns #eatwhatyougrow #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #greenthumb #gardenscrapbook #instagardeners #gardeningismytherapy #newgarden #grownwithlove #fresh #fromseed #dogoodbegood #growyourownfood #gardeninglife #giveback #makeadifference

The Million Gardens Movement was proud to be at th

The Million Gardens Movement was proud to be at this week's launch of Huerta Urbana, a community garden project in east Denver to give 65 Little Green Gardens with lettuce seedlings to members of the community.

Every $10 you donated to give a garden helped make this possible! In this first photo is Josh, a Garden Educator from Big Green who helped deliver the gardens and answer veg questions. Thank you Josh and everyone who came to give and receive gardens.

Have you noticed the boom of chefs, foragers, and

Have you noticed the boom of chefs, foragers, and gardeners cooking with ramps recently? This wild allium is best harvested this month in much of North America, but because of their popularity and long grow-time (4 years before it can grow a flower stalk!) we’ve had lots of reports about overharvesting. If you enjoy ramps this season, be sure your supplier is sustainable, or, better yet, plant them yourself! We believe in you, and in tomorrow's newsletter we'll be including a ramp guide + recipe to help you out! 4 years is a commitment to grow these delicious onions, but if you move in that time, you'll be paying forward a delicious crop to whoever lives in your place next!

Sign up to our newsletter to learn more and stay updated on garden tricks + tips at milliongardensmovement.org . #payonionsforward

Thank you to every garden who came out to the @new

Thank you to every garden who came out to the @newgardengrowersmarket last weekend to fill up buckets with complimentary garden compost and register to grow or give a garden for the Million Gardens Movement! Our partners @LaurelValleySoils hosted this amazing event, and between all of their compost awareness events, 116 people joined our Movement, not even counting all of the garden kits we helped fundraise! Hope your topsoil and compost is as happy as we are, and if you ever need more, check out Laurel Valley Soils! #icaw2021

Let's check in about your plants! We want to see h

Let's check in about your plants! We want to see how our members' vegetables and herbs are doing and congratulate you on growing them. If you post about them, tag us and we'll take a look + share with other members. You can always get guided advice at milliongardensmovement.org !

We hope you had a wonderful Compost Awareness week

We hope you had a wonderful Compost Awareness week and learned more about what's underneath you feet: it's an entire soil ecosystem! Pictured here is @upfrontandbeautiful talking to Movement founder Frank Giustra about rapini seeds, soil ecosystems, and the health and life of compost. Inside healthy soil there might be bacteria, fungi, nematodes, arthopods, and the classic soil creatures we all know and live (worms) - in fact, there can 10-50,000 species in a teaspoon of soil! That's what makes recent studies into pesticide use so scary: they show that pesticides can damage hundreds of small soil organisms and disrupt entire ecosystems that exist under the surface of our gardens. Soil ecosystems are understudied and full of a lot of unknowns, but it’s one reason why here at the Movement we take a light touch on pesticides and urge our members to do the same. Neubert's soil guidance is a great resource to learn more about your garden and the life inside it: read more on our blog, especially last week's post "Delicious, Nutritious Soil". Link in bio! You can also sign up for our newsletter on our website: last week we discussed soil, pesticides, and compost, and this week we'll be covering hardening off crops, indoor heat, and keeping your plants healthy if damp or wet!

We hope you had a good Mother's Day and were able

We hope you had a good Mother's Day and were able to get out into the garden with loved ones! You might be as lucky as Movement champion @mayemusk and be able to spend time in the garden AND in Saturday Night Live, all in one weekend. If not, there's always next weekend! #dreambig #milliongardens

Did you know that if you sign up to grow a garden

Did you know that if you sign up to grow a garden on our website, you can select what vegetables you'll be growing and receive personalized guidance from our Garden Pathways system? That means learning when to plant, how to care for your vegetable or herb, and how to harvest and what to cook with them! We love helping you #growagarden and hope you can sign up! Tag a friend below who could use some fun guides and reminders.

Reposting an amazing free compost and Movement Sat

Reposting an amazing free compost and Movement Saturday event with our partners at @laurelvalleysoils , if you're in the area please check this out!

From @laurelvalleysoils :
BYOB (buckets and bags) to the @newgardengrowersmarket on Saturday, May 8th for your FREE Premium Compost to celebrate International Compost Awareness Week.
This year we are partnering with @milliongardensmovement Grow a Garden, Give a Garden campaign. For a $10 donation you can provide a family with a little garden, and get a cool bracelet for yourself. #ICAW2021 #GrowEatCompostRepeat #MomWantsCompost *(2) 5-gallon buckets/bags per family

Did you know that 20% of people did not know that ketchup was made from tomatoes?