Thank you for your interest in and support of the Common Ground Community Garden and Year-Round Greenhouse!

Incorporated in 2011, Common Ground Community Development is a St. John’s-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to the support, promotion and implementation of environmentally and economically-sustainable community development initiatives in this region, with a current focus on local food, environmental restoration and green technology. Past projects have included the St. John's Safer Soil Project, which promotes safe gardening in areas affected by elevated soil lead levels, agricultural field trials, and dozens of workshops and garden tours on various gardening topics.

At our former urban demonstration garden at the Gathering Place, and at our current site in Pippy Park, we have promoted innovative and environmentally sustainable gardening practices to help to increase the availability and variety of fresh organic produce in our region, while providing donations of fresh organic produce to local shelters, free-meal programs, and food banks. These have included the Gathering Place, Choices for Youth, Iris Kirby House, Emmanuel House, Bridges to Hope, Tent City for Change and others.

Our garden includes 16 vegetable garden beds, many container gardens, and a new garden extension in 2025! It also features a liquid foam insulated (LFI) greenhouse that will use soap bubbles as an insulating layer to enable year-round food production in cold climates. The greenhouse will serve as a social enterprise and a demonstration site that will promote this technology with local farmers and gardeners. Recently, thanks to the help of our fabulous volunteers and supporters, we completed construction of the greenhouse interior frames and troughs. Next up is construction of the foam generators and plumbing system and putting up the interior plastic.

If you would like to help us to grow our garden and finish construction of our greenhouse, we accept donations big or small at any time on this GoFundMe page. If you are interested in volunteering with our greenhouse build or in our other gardening activities, all helping hands are welcome and no special skills are required. For more information on our work or to volunteer, reach out to us at our website at https://rootconnection.wixsite.com/common-ground or our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/Common-Ground-Community-Development-2061094343933951 !