On Thursday, nearly 200 community members gathered in downtown Gloucester to celebrate the season’s bounty and the accomplishments of Backyard Growers at the 10th Annual GrowDown. A milestone for the nonprofit organization, the event featured a farm-fresh meal, live music, and an auction, raising $43,000 that will directly support and maintain Backyard Growers’ varying initiatives.
For the past 15 years, Backyard Growers has played an integral role in promoting food sovereignty by empowering people of all ages to grow their own food. Today, the organization offers six community gardens across the city, builds raised garden beds for low to moderate income residents at their homes, and facilitates Backyard Growcery, a weekly market at Burnham’s Field, among other programs.
Celebrating Local Food and Libations
The GrowDown took place at Oak to Ember, a contemporary restaurant overlooking scenic Harbor Cove in the heart of Gloucester. A casual affair, guests mingled indoors and out as a vibrant sun set, nibbling on a variety of small bites and sipping on libations sourced from Laneside Brewing, Privateer Rum Distillery, and Pigeon Cove Ferments before the evening’s program began.
Highlighting ingredients sourced from local businesses and farms, the dinner menu included dishes like whipped ricotta crostini, tomato mozzarella pesto skewers, sourdough focaccia pizza, grilled farm veggies, and brisket ragu. Foley Fish donated the raw bar – oysters and shrimp cocktail – and DownRiver Ice Cream supplied the dessert, a variety of ice cream cups.
The excitement peaked during the live fund-a-need auction. Attendees had the opportunity to fund programs at varying levels of contribution, from supporting a school garden for a year ($2500) to building a new garden at O’Maley Middle School ($750) to purchasing seeds for the community ($100). Even at the highest level, it didn’t take long for bid paddles to start popping up around the room.
“It’s a tight knit community here in Gloucester,” shared Katy Marques, the current Development Director who will be replacing Alison DiFiore as Executive Director in October. “There’s a lot of connections that we make over time, and a lot of these people show up, willing to support the community.”
Celebrating the Local Community
If one thing was clear throughout the evening, it was Backyard Growers dedication to ensuring that young people especially are active participants in their local food system.
“We want to build a world where growing our own food is just the water that Gloucester kids swim in,” said Courtney Allen, the Director of Communications and Outreach.
Each year, Backyard Growers engages more than 2,000 Gloucester public school students from Pre-K through the fifth grade, teaching them how to plant and harvest fresh produce in their school’s garden and facilitating Salad Days, Fall Harvest Days, and Taste Test programs where students can savor their bounty in their school’s cafeteria.
“I think it unlocks this skill set that a lot of people are starting to forget or might not have ever encountered before,” Allen said. “Kids in Gloucester, because of our community programs, they also have access to that with their families at home, so it’s a fundamental part of growing up in Gloucester.”
“The connection that kids can form to the garden is so pure and beautiful,” shared Gloucester farmer Tucker Smith, who started Cedar Rock Gardens with his wife Elise in 2014, “and it’s always there.”
Smith has partnered with Backyard Growers for ten years by growing all their seedlings, volunteering for the organization at schools, and even hosting field trips on the farm.
Gloucester resident Jon Laurie, a volunteer in attendance, first got involved with the organization in 2023, wanting to learn the ins-and-outs of gardening so he could contribute to his community garden and eventually pass the skill on to others.
“I think that gardening, especially for younger people, is so important because it teaches resilience and self-sufficiency,” he began, “but just showing up and being part of the community, getting as many people as possible together to do things that are good for the planet is so important.”
In DiFiore’s thank you speech – the final she gave in her role as executive director – she noted how communities become stronger through their connections over time, a message well-suited to the organization’s impact over the last 15 years.
“It’s the webs we weave,” she shared to the crowd, “a web is intricate, rarely perfect. Sometimes strands break, stretch, or meander, but when you step back, you see something remarkable.”
For more information about Backyard Growers and how to get involved, visit backyardgrowers.org