About Us
Our Vision, Mission & Values
Our Vision
Our vision is to create a stronger, healthier, more vibrant Tucson through our community gardens and partnerships.
Our Mission
Our mission is to build community gardens where Tucsonans grow food, work and learn together, and nurture well-being in our communities.

Always Learning
We share, learn, and grow with one another: this is the heart of community gardening.

Everyone is welcome
We commit to community gardening that is equitable, inclusive and accessible to all people regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status or ability. We are equally committed to doing everything we can to help eliminate bias, discrimination, and intolerance in our gardens.

Better Together
We create shared gardening experiences that bring enjoyment, friendships, and a greater sense of community.

Sustaining The Environment
We use natural methods that help protect and preserve our environment and benefit ecosystems through organic gardening practices, creating pollinator habitats, and conserving water.

Improve Food Resiliency
We enable Tucsonans and their families to increase healthy food access by growing and producing food together.

Generation To Generation
We create a space for sharing knowledge, cultures, and traditions between generations of gardeners.
Our History
In 1989, George Brookbank, a University of Arizona Cooperative Extension agent, created a program to teach gardening using hands-on experience. On a vacant lot near 1st Avenue and Limberlost donated by the Hand family, our first garden was created. The plots were rented by participating families for the cost of water.
In 1995 George Brookbank, with the help of dedicated master gardeners, formed the Community Gardens of Tucson as an independent, volunteer organization.
Thirty years later, CGT is a growing nonprofit. We currently have 20 gardens throughout the city being cared for by more than 300 gardeners. We support ourselves through plot fees (dependent on ability to pay) and donations from generous supporters.
Our goals for our 30th year are to continue to:
* Provide scholarships to refugees and those at an economic disadvantage through our George Brookbank Scholarship Fund.
* Expand our Kids in Gardens program which teaches elementary school students how they can grow their own food and understand their responsibility to the planet.
* Increase our funding base to broaden our programs
* Celebrate the role that we all can play in making Tucson an inclusive, sustainable and vibrant city.
If you’d like to help us reach our goals, please consider making a donation to the George Brookbank Scholarship Fund, the Kids in Gardens education project, or to our general fund to be used where it’s needed most. Thank You!
Our Team

Sasha Timpson

Melissa Mundt

Jessica Paul

Cara Ryan

George Brookbank

Bruce Plenk

Faith Edman

Parker Filer

Sarah Mann

Scott Feierabend

Kelly Liska

Didace Mugabonake

Natalie Shepp
Start a New Garden
Start a New Garden

Contact Us For More Information
Community Gardens of Tucson works in partnership with neighborhoods, churches, government agencies and private entities to develop new community gardens. CGT can provide technical assistance and guidance for the construction of new gardens. CGT will manage new gardens if they meet specific criteria:
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Land must be available for the garden, free of charge and for a period no less than 5 years.
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The property must be relatively flat with few trees and enough space to site a minimum of 16 (3’ x 20’) garden beds.
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There must be strong community support for the new garden evidenced by a list of people committed to gardening in the new garden.
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The neighborhood or community must raise a significant portion of the cost of the new garden and must provide willing and able volunteers to build the garden.
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The garden must be open to the public and not limited to a specific group or membership.
If your group or organization can meet these criteria, please contact us to discuss building a new community garden in your neighborhood.

Contact Us For More Information
Land Acknowledgement
Community Gardens of Tucson acknowledges that the lands on which we garden are the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Hohokam, the Tohono O’odham and the Pascua Yaqui peoples who have been living and farming on this land for thousands of years.
We are grateful to learn from the desert farming practices these Indigenous peoples have developed through the centuries.
We recognize the historical injustices perpetrated on Indigenous people and that colonialism is still an ongoing process and are mindful of our own participation.
We honor and celebrate the cultures and contributions of the Indigenous people of the Tucson Basin.
Corporate Documents

On December 18, 2009, the Community Gardens of Tucson was incorporated in the state of Arizona. The links below are the important corporate documents.