We turn overlooked city lots into thriving community gardens - giving neighbors the tools, land, and support to grow fresh food together.
Help plant the next acre →
There are more than 1,800 vacant lots in this city. Within a ten-minute walk of most of them live families who can't reliably buy fresh vegetables at a price that makes sense.
Those two facts sit next to each other in almost every neighborhood we work in. First Acre exists to put them together: we secure the land, build the beds, fund the first two seasons, and then hand the whole thing to the people who live on the block.
How we do it →About fourteen months from first knock on a door to first tomato.
Every garden starts with residents, never with us. A group of at least ten households on a block puts in a request, and that group becomes the garden's committee.
Lease negotiation, soil testing, remediation where needed, and a title arrangement that keeps the land in community hands permanently rather than for three years.
Two build weekends with paid crew and volunteers. Raised beds, water access, tool store, compost system, and a table with chairs - the table matters more than people expect.
Seeds, seedlings, a garden educator, and the running costs, fully funded for the first two years while the committee finds its feet.
We hand over and step back. Thirty-nine of our forty-two gardens are still running independently, which is the only number in this whole website that really matters.
March 2026
Vacant for nineteen years and used mostly as an unofficial dump. Forty-one households now grow there, and last summer they gave away 2,400 pounds of produce to the block.
January 2026
Six schools now run growing programs on First Acre plots. Nine hundred children a year plant something, watch it grow, and eat it - many of them for the first time.
November 2025
Twelve gardens now run winter meals from stored and preserved harvest. Started by one committee in Southside, copied everywhere within two years.
Of every dollar donated, 84¢ goes directly into land, materials, and growing programs. The rest keeps the lights on and the grants applied for.
Seeds and seedlings for one family bed for a whole season.
Builds and fills one raised bed, including soil and irrigation.
Funds a garden educator for a full season at one site.
Covers soil testing and remediation for an entire new lot.
Build weekends, seasonal planting, and a standing Saturday crew. No experience needed and tools are provided - most people arrive knowing nothing.
Find a shift →If you have ten households on your block who want one, we'll walk you through the whole process from application to first harvest.
Apply for a lot →Recurring gifts are what let us commit to two full seasons of support for a new garden before the money is in the door.
Become a sustainer →Six blocks have applied for a garden this year. We have funding for two of them.
Give today →