Gardening for the Mind, Body, and Soul
Planting a vegetable garden can reap so many rewards. Beyond the nutritional benefits of fresh produce and saving money by growing your own vegetables, studies show that gardening is good for your physical, mental, and emotional health.

Gardening boosts cognitive function in adults and seniors, even lowering the risk of dementia. For kids, gardening can improve perceptual, motor and physical development. For families who garden together, it can strengthen the familial bond. For neighbors who garden together, it builds neighborhood solidarity, strength, and health, and often lowers crime rates. Studies also show that acts of kindness, like sharing garden produce, increases the emotional well-being of the generous person.

Garden Produce Sharing
What if planting an extra row in your backyard garden, throwing some seeds or plants into a container on your porch, balcony, or patio, or even lining your windowsill with a few pots could help to alleviate hunger and improve health? By sharing your produce with a neighbor across the street, across the hall, or across the city, you can have a meaningful impact.

Resources - DIY Home Gardening Initiative
Whether you’re experienced or new to gardening, community advocates from across the city have come together to make it as easy as possible by identifying resources (below) that help and guide you with step-by-step information, including instructional videos and downloadable flyers, about how to plant and care for a yard or container/pot gardens, when to harvest and where to distribute your produce, as well as other useful information.

Plant the seeds of home gardening benefits

Getting Started

Backyard Farmer, Starting a Vegetable Garden - Deciding what to plant, finding the right space, video and step by step page
Omaha World Herald - Tips for Starting a Vegetable Garden
Tim’s Square Foot Gardening Page Planting Calendar - When to plant different vegetables
Nebraska Extension, Fall Planting video
Community Crops, Starting Your Home Garden - downloadable flyer
Community Crops, Mowing to Growing video series on converting yard space to garden space, including seed selection, and seed starting, planting depth, and using containers for growing vegetables.
Nebraska Extension - Seed Starting Indoors
Nebraska Extension - Tips for Buying Seeds
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum - Transplanting Nursery Plants to an Outdoor Garden, Container, or Pot
Backyard Farmer - Constructing a Raised Bed video

Seed Sources Exchange seeds or plant with others, find low cost or free seeds, plants, learn how to save seeds for future planting

Community Crops - Plant swap and plant sales
Omaha Public Library - Seed library
Free Heirloom Seeds
Sources for free and inexpensive seeds
Almanac - How to Save Vegetable Seeds

Tools

Gardening Tool Libraries - How to Build a Tool Library in Your Community
Backyard Farmer - Recommended Tools for Starting a Vegetable Garden

Grow a home garden for better family and community health

Education/Gardening classes

Community Crops – Urban Farmer series
Nebraska Extension, GRO Big Red: Starting a Vegetable Garden - video seminar covering site selection (including in-ground, raised beds, and containers), plant selection, preparation, planting, maintenance, and resources
Nebraska Extension - Master Gardener classes
The 3 Bags – free online course on growing vegetables
Find videos and information on everything gardening at BackYard Farmer.

Container/Pot Gardening

Community Crops container gardening – video series
Backyard Farmer container gardening - video series
Nebraska Extension container gardening – downloadable flyer
The Spruce - Growing Vegetables Indoors

Tending your garden

Preparing the soil

Adding nutrients

Almanac.com - How and When to Fertilize Your Vegetable Garden
City of Lincoln Earth Fuel - Composting
Nebraska Extension – Natural vs. Synthetic Fertilizers

Watering·

Nebraska Statewide Arboretum – Effective Watering
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum – Tips for Drought-Tolerant Landscapes
Nebraska Extension GRO Big Red - Using Rain Gardens
Almanac.com – Waterwise Gardening
UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources - Water Conservation in Vegetable Gardens

Weeding

Nebraska Statewide Arboretum - weeding
Clemson University Dept. of Agriculture – controlling weeds by cultivating and mulching
Iowa State University Extension - weed control in the vegetable garden
Community Crops - Common Weeds, downloadable flyer

Pest control

Nebraska Extension – Creating Balance in the Garden
Nebraska Extension – Handling Pesticide Safely
Nebraska Extension - Insect and Disease Control for Organic Vegetable Gardeners
Community Crops - Common Insect Pests, downloadable flyer

Harvesting

Nebraska Extension – When to Harvest
Nebraska Extension - Handling Produce Safely From the Garden
Iowa Extension – When to Plant, When to Harvest
Colorado Extension - Freshness, Safety Rules for Donating Your Harvest
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act - Outlines the protections for persons donating food to non-profit organizations in good faith

Growing Family Health

Alliance for a Healthier Generation – Health Benefits of Gardening
American Heart Association - Homegrown Foods From the Garden Make Family Meals Healthier
Garden Tech - Nutrition Benefits of Garden to Table vs Supermarkets

Healthy Recipes

Mayo Clinic – Heart Healthy Recipes
Bryan Health and April Sampson Cancer Center– Free wellness recipe book from Master Chef Nazim Khan and Registered Dietician Melanie Mitchell
USDA My Plate Kitchen - recipes for delicious healthy eating
Nebraska Extension/UNL Food - 13 Fun Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Nebraska Extension - Preserving Your Harvest, tips on canning, freezing, and drying

Share your bounty and fight hunger

Where to connect to donate your extra garden produce:

Nebraska Extension - Plant a Row for the Hungry
University of Nebraska – Husker Pantry
Ample Harvest.org is a nationwide nonprofit that is eliminating the waste of 11 billion lbs. of fresh garden produce per year. Through AmpleHarvest.org, gardeners connect with their local food pantry and donate their surplus harvests.

Growing to share:
How to start a Grow a Row for the Hungry campaign in your neighborhood
Feeding America - 5 Tips for Growing a Garden That Fights Hunger
Colorado Extension - Freshness, Safety Rules for Donating Your Harvest
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act - Outlines the protections for persons donating food to non-profit organizations in good faith
Fresh Food Connect - Harvesting for Donation
Save The Food – Tips and tools to prevent garden produce and other food from going to waste.

Build family, neighborhood and community connections around local food, home gardening

Our Community

City of Lincoln - Local Food Systems Plan website - Increasing Food Access, Investing in Local Production, Conserving Resources, Reducing Waste; City of Lincoln – Local Food Systems Plan video
City of Lincoln - FAQs on the Local Food Systems Plan
City of Lincoln - Food Access/Resource Map - where to find food distribution, free food pantries, farmers markets, composting locations, and more
Community Crops garden locations
Fights Food Waste - Free, adaptable resources and sermons for faith leaders and individuals to promote food donation and reduce food waste amongst their communities.

Our Neighborhoods

Guide to hosting a neighborhood plant swap
Garden Sharing: Tips for Gardening Together
Garden Partnering and Bartering
Starting a Plant a Row for the Hungry Campaign in your neighborhood to help alleviate hunger
Feeding America: 5 Tips For Growing a Garden That Fights Hunger

Neighborhood gardens in Lincoln

Hawley Hamlet - block bounded by 25th and 26th and 'T' and 'U' Streets in the Hawley Historic District 12 blocks from downtown Lincoln.
Prospect Street Gardens
Arapahoe Garden for the Indian Village Neighborhood - 3434 S 13th St

Our Families

Engaging kids in gardening