Seattle Giving Garden Network provides fresh produce to the food insecure

Vine ripened tomatoes. Just harvested basil. Vitamin rich greens. Beautiful beets. Seattle Giving Garden Network helps serve as a connector for hundreds of individuals and gardens dedicated to the growing and giving of organic fresh produce to Seattle food banks, street kitchens and other food pantries. 

SGGN is a volunteer organization that provides seeds, vegetable starts, network opportunities and small financial grants for individual gardens. Within Seattle’s P Patch Community Garden system, there are over 85 gardens that participate in a growing and giving program. 

SGGN has an annual seed giveaway event at which gardeners may select any seeds they want for their gardens. Seeds are donated by local companies and gathered by SGGN volunteers. Last year more than 8,000 seed packets were collected for the seed give away and distributed across the state with the help of Northwest Harvest.

Starting in February, teams of volunteers with Ballard Sprouts, a SGGN project, grow vegetable starts at three donated greenhouse spaces. Last year over 22,000 plant starts were distributed to giving gardeners, providing them a major head start on the growing season.

SGGN also has a small grant program through which funds are provided to individual gardens for tools, compost, raised bed repair and other small projects.

SGGN receives no direct funding from any government source. All funding is obtained through their annual fund raiser. SGGN operates under a fiscal sponsorship agreement with GROW NORTHWEST (formerly P-Patch Trust), which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

SGGN’s annual fund drive, the Seed Money Donation Campaign, is Nov. 15 through Dec. 15.  All donations are tax deductible.  For more about SGGN see https://www.sggn.org.  For more about their fiscal sponsor, see https://www.grownorthwest.org