The New Garden Fund, which is housed at the Madison Community Foundation, provides financial assistance to new and expanding gardens, increasing access to more gardens throughout the city. Existing community gardens and individuals donate to this fund, which can provide grants of up to $2000 per garden.
A grant from the New Garden Fund can help pay for materials and services such as soil testing, land clearing, water systems, fencing, or tools. The application process for a grant is simple and application materials can be found on the CAC community gardens website, https://www.cacscw.org/garden_grants.php. Applications are due January 13, 2012. A panel of community gardeners will review the New Garden Fund grant applications and select the recipients.
To further support the success of community gardens in the Madison area, CAC has many resources available on the CAC community gardens website at https://cacscw.org/garden_handbook.php, including an organizer’s handbook for starting new community gardens. In addition, CAC staff members are available to meet with neighborhood groups interested in starting a new community garden to explain the process and provide resources. For more information, contact Chris Brockel at 246-4730 ext. 206 or chrisb@cacscw.org. If you can support this project financially, we welcome your donation to the New Garden Fund.