About

HISTORY

The Big Garden began in 2005 as a program of United Methodist Ministries. Initially funded by the USDA's Community Food Project, The Big Garden had a goal of creating 12 community gardens in three years. Five years later The Big Garden included 26 gardens in the metro-Omaha area and added a sister project, The Big Rural Garden, in Southeast Nebraska. Today, The Big Garden is a network of 200+ community gardens in metro-Omaha and rural and semi-rural communities in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas.

The Big Garden is unique nationally both in terms of the large number of sites, and its partnerships with neighborhood-based congregations, schools, and non-profits. All Big Garden sites are located on land owned by community agencies; partnering with sites to assist with initial start-up costs, ongoing program support, garden and nutrition classes for children, and brokering collaborative relationships in the community.

MISSION

Teach. Build. Grow.
Teaching people, Building Communities, and Growing Food Sovereignty.

Our goal is to reduce hunger by increasing access to fresh, healthy produce and teaching people to grow, cook, & preserve their own. Click here to see our re-focused mission!

FUNDING

The Big Garden is a private 501-c3 nonprofit organization. We are governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. As a non-profit agency, we rely on private donations to keep our doors open. The Big Garden is funded by private grants and foundations, the Great Plains United Methodist Conference, the Missouri River District of the Great Plains Conference, and individual donors.