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OFS Garden Collective

Growing Together for a Healthier Region

Through hands-on gardening, innovative growing methods, and community partnerships, Operation Food Search is supporting new ways for our programs and agency partners to access, grow and share fresh, healthy food.

We see this as a space for an exchange of ideas, information, and knowledge focusing on our agencies who have gardens or want gardens. It’s also a space for staff to reflect and rejuvenate as we do our often emotionally difficult work.

The OFS Garden Collective

Our mission is to grow and connect community through shared gardening knowledge, experience, and collaboration.

The OFS Garden Collective, in partnership with EarthDance Organic Farm School, is a network of Operation Food Search’s 170 agency food partners. Through this initiative, agency staff, and volunteers gain the knowledge and resources to grow their own fresh, healthy produce—helping expand access to nutritious food throughout the region.

The partnership with EarthDance, a leader in urban agriculture and community education, offers OFS partners access to practical, regularly scheduled classes—both in-person and virtual—on topics like composting, container growing, companion planting, and seed saving. Food grown at the garden is distributed through Operation Food Search’s Teaching Kitchen, MetroMarket, and other food access programs.

The OFS Garden

The garden features a diverse array of crops selected for both nutritional value and seasonal abundance, including a Nourishing Bed (inspired by OFS’s Nourishing Healthy Starts program) with foods specifically beneficial for pregnant people: red raspberries, ginger, collards, kale, okra and watermelon. zucchini, cauliflower, and peppers.

Fruiting plants and trees such as elderberry bushes, blackberries, grapes, peaches, Asian pears, and persimmons are also being planted, alongside pollinator-friendly perennials and native species that strengthen the garden’s ecosystem.

The OFS Garden

Program Components

The OFS Garden builds community, shares gardening knowledge, and helps partner pantries grow and distribute fresh, healthy food.

Hands-On Gardening Education: In-person and virtual classes on composting, pest control, companion planting, and food preservation, led by EarthDance experts

Garden Resources & Support: Access to seeds, compost, tools, and on-site consulting from a dedicated garden manager

Community Building: A collaborative space for food pantries to connect, learn, and grow together toward greater food access

Indoor Hydroponics

OFS’s indoor hydroponic system is an opportunity to explore an alternative growing method and provides another reliable source of fresh produce—helping our partners with an additional option to bring more healthy food to the communities they serve.

The indoor hydroponic system offers a year-round source of fresh produce that supplements both the outdoor garden and other food sources used by our programs and agency partners.

Want to learn more and get involved? Contact Garden@OperationFoodSearch.org

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