In a collective garden, a group of people work the land as a community, growing crops together and sharing the harvest.
What is “collective gardening”?
A practice in resilience: empowering people to grow food for themselves and neighbors by helping to overcome the barriers to gardening like lack of land, start-up resources, tools, seeds, skill, confidence, or ample discretionary time. Collective gardens are communal growing spaces where gardeners share the work of planting, tending and harvesting in one large plot together, differentiated from the traditional individually-tended community garden “plots.”
“Collective gardening seems like the way we were meant to garden. Why do something individually when there’s so much to be gained from community knowledge, from the give and take of having many people to rely on, when you can share abundance and advice and inspiration more widely!” – Seedsong Collective Garden Member
What inspires VGN to promote collective gardening?
When the Covid pandemic lockdown began in spring of 2020, many food security initiatives came about to improve people’s access to nourishing food. We witnessed a boom in the home gardening world with many people newly interested in learning how to grow their own food. VGN was approached by Skinny Pancake to expand the shared gardening model we were exploring at the Tommy Thompson Community Garden in Burlington. Within a year, a handful of other collective gardens, then called “Grow Teams“, joined the movement. The Grow Team managed by VGN became known as the Co-op Victory Garden and was renamed Seedsong Collective Garden in 2022. Today Seedsong is a vibrant community of dedicated garden members, an exemplary demonstration garden where we host numerous workshops, and has truly brought to life our vision of what collective gardening can become.
In 2024, VGN piloted two new collective gardens in the Burlington area thanks to support from the Conservation Legacy Fund to transition individually-tended community garden plots into a shared gardening model. At the Starr Farm Community Garden in the New North End we welcomed 13 garden members who revived an abandoned plot where new garden beds were designed around existing perennials. The second pilot site was the Family Room Collective Garden where programming centered around growing culturally meaningful crops for the New American and migrant families who participate in Family Room activities.
In 2025, VGN continued to manage three collective gardens, Seedsong, Starr and the Family Room with continued support from the City of Burlington’s Conservation Legacy Fund. Starr collective underwent another expansion, transforming another 2,520sq feet into productive growing space for a total garden footprint of 4,470 sq ft. At Seedsong we enjoyed our fifth year of growing food in this location and joyfully harvested vegetables throughout a flood-less season. At the Family Room Collective, we collaborated with families and their children to grow culturally meaningful crops like bitter melon and Molokhia while encouraging weekly, hands-on interaction in the garden through activities like harvesting potatoes and dying fabric with plants.
How to get involved for the 2026 season!
VGN envisions a “hub and spoke” model to guide our collective gardening initiative. In this model, VGN acts as the “hub” providing essential guidance, resources, and community organizing to empower each spoke’s unique set of characteristics, challenges, and opportunities. Each year we manage multiple garden sites, engage with 40+ gardeners, grow thousands of pounds of fresh produce, and weave together a community of practice around collective gardening.
The SPOKES
Collective gardening can only be done in community with fellow gardeners and movement organizers. Below describes (in brief) the “spokes” of the model which defines how community members can get involved. Click on the title of each spoke to learn more about what it entails and how to register. Anyone can choose to be a part of one or multiple spokes.
Seedsong & Starr Collective Gardens – Registration for Seedsong and Starr Collectives is now open for the 2026 season! Read more and register at our Join A Collective Garden page.
- Who: Anyone interested in becoming a member of a collective garden in Burlington for the 2026 growing season.
- What: Two member-run collective gardens managed in partnership with VGN. These collectives will each have their own team of gardeners, but in times of abundance or crisis they will come together as one.
Community of Practice – read more – Save the date for our Winter Skillshare on March 12 – more details soon!
- Who: All past and present Seedsong & Starr collective garden members, anyone gardening in independent collectives, and anyone curious or interested in shared land access and growing food in community.
- What: Seasonal in-person or Zoom gatherings and ongoing mutual support to share resources, bulk materials, lessons learned and to glean new inspiration for sustaining a collective gardening movement.
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