Help Tender Heart Gardens buy their land!
Donation protected
Tender Heart Gardens is a queer and trans collective gardening space in Lansing’s Eastside. We are a non-hierarchical community group that values anti-racist, anti-capitalist resistance while caring for each other and the land we work on. We invite gardeners and community members of all ages to share their labor, skills, love, and support as we craft beautiful things, create nurturing medicine, grow delicious food, and enhance ecosystem biodiversity.
In 2022, our goal is to purchase the land we have been working on for the past two years. The land is currently owned by the Ingham County Land Bank, from whom we've leased all of our sites. We have had to move to new sites twice since our founding in 2017, and while our current location in the Urbandale floodplain gives us some protection from development, we want to have the security of knowing that we can stay here for good.
Purchasing our ⅓ acre lot from the Land Bank will cost Tender Heart Gardens $1,946. We are trying to raise $4,000 this year. Beyond the cost of the lot itself, we hope to use additional funds to pay for:
-rainwater harvesting system ($100 for additional water storage)
-a small solar array to provide on-site electricity ($400)
-canning supplies for our food preservation projects ($100 for jars, $150 for pressure canner)
-perennial plants that will enrich our edible and medicinal hedges and our pollinator garden.
-property taxes and filing fees
Once purchased, the land will be gifted to the Capital United Land Trust (CULT), permanently keeping the property in agricultural or ecological use. CULT holds land in collective ownership, and Tender Heart Gardens, as a member organization, will maintain stewardship of the space. While CULT does have its own funding for land purchases, as THG’s planning team is predominantly White, we have agreed that it would be inappropriate to request CULT funds, which are intended to secure land for marginalized growers in Lansing. CULT has not yet purchased any land with its funds, and has committed to making its first land purchase on behalf of a Black grower.
In 2022, our goal is to purchase the land we have been working on for the past two years. The land is currently owned by the Ingham County Land Bank, from whom we've leased all of our sites. We have had to move to new sites twice since our founding in 2017, and while our current location in the Urbandale floodplain gives us some protection from development, we want to have the security of knowing that we can stay here for good.
Purchasing our ⅓ acre lot from the Land Bank will cost Tender Heart Gardens $1,946. We are trying to raise $4,000 this year. Beyond the cost of the lot itself, we hope to use additional funds to pay for:
-rainwater harvesting system ($100 for additional water storage)
-a small solar array to provide on-site electricity ($400)
-canning supplies for our food preservation projects ($100 for jars, $150 for pressure canner)
-perennial plants that will enrich our edible and medicinal hedges and our pollinator garden.
-property taxes and filing fees
Once purchased, the land will be gifted to the Capital United Land Trust (CULT), permanently keeping the property in agricultural or ecological use. CULT holds land in collective ownership, and Tender Heart Gardens, as a member organization, will maintain stewardship of the space. While CULT does have its own funding for land purchases, as THG’s planning team is predominantly White, we have agreed that it would be inappropriate to request CULT funds, which are intended to secure land for marginalized growers in Lansing. CULT has not yet purchased any land with its funds, and has committed to making its first land purchase on behalf of a Black grower.
Organizer
Morgan Doherty
Organizer
Lansing, MI
