Welcome to Growing Together

A collaboration between Feed the Need in Durham and the Four Farms Market Garden Collective, with support from The Region of Durham, Growing Together brings together online learning, hands-on farm experiences, and practical tools on a community-based platform. The program is designed to help people better understand, access, and participate in their local food system.

Take part in a season-long, free program that follows the natural rhythm of the growing season. Join online webinars and on-farm experiences that connect learning with real-world practice. Meet the people who are growing, sourcing, and sharing your food, and explore how local farms and food programs work together. Over the season, you’ll move from access to understanding, from planning to growing, from harvesting to preservation, and toward meaningful community food system action. Along the way, you’ll build practical skills, personal connections, and a shared toolkit you can use to strengthen local self-reliance long after the season ends.

Growing Together is for anyone who wants to feel more connected to their local food system. Whether you are new to local food, growing for your community, supporting others through food programs, or simply curious about where your food comes from, this program is designed to meet you where you are and grow practical solutions — together.

You can register for the free program here and explore opportunities to participate throughout the season, both online and in person, as part of the Growing Together community.

Who This Program Is For

  • Community Members & Households

    For individuals and families who want better access to healthy, affordable food and a stronger connection to where their food comes from. This includes people navigating food insecurity or using food programs who want more confidence, skills, and choice within their local food system.

  • Growers, Educators & Local Food Advocates

    For people interested in growing food at home or in their community, as well as educators, facilitators, and advocates supporting local food, resilience, and food education. This program supports learning, skill-building, and practical pathways to take action at any scale.

  • Community Organizers, Supporters & Funders

    For organizers, volunteers, donors, funders, and community supporters working to strengthen local food access and food systems. Growing Together offers insight into farm-to-community collaboration and practical, community-based approaches to building long-term food resilience.

Why Grow Together?

Growing Together is designed to be flexible, accessible, and grounded in the real rhythm of the growing season.

Through the season, you can:

  • Join monthly live online webinars (February–May) exploring how local food systems work and how to navigate them and plan for the season.

  • Take part in seasonal on-farm experiences (June –September) across the Region.

  • Learn directly from farmers, and community partners through guided experiences and direct conversations.

  • Build a personal Community Food Toolkit as the season unfolds, with resources and solutions you can return to year after year.

  • Participate at your own pace. Access the sessions and experiences on our community platform and in the field to fit your life. 

Winter Webinars

Foundations for understanding local food systems and planning the season

The Winter Webinar series introduces participants to how local food systems work and helps them orient themselves within their local food landscape. These sessions focus on building shared understanding, clarifying personal and community goals, and laying the groundwork for informed action throughout the growing season.

February – May | Online
The series includes one live webinar per month. All sessions are live and hosted on the Horticulture Food and Farming Institute platform. Recordings and resources are available after each session.

Webinar Topics Will Include:

  • Meet Your Farmers – Learn who grows your food and how farms and food programs work together

  • The Life of Your Local Food – Follow food from field to plate and understand how it moves through the local system

  • Local Self-Reliance – Explore food security, food sovereignty, and practical community solutions

  • Planning the Season Like a Grower – Learn how farmers plan crops, timing, and access using professional tools


On-Farm Experiences

Seasonal learning through connection and shared experience

The On-Farm Experiences invites you onto the land to learn directly from farmers through guided tours, demonstrations, conversations, and shared meals. These experiences emphasize understanding how farms function through the season, how food is grown and handled, and how farms connect to community food systems.

June – September | In Person
The series includes one on-farm experience per month. Each experience is approximately four hours and hosted at a different farm location across the region. Transportation options and accessibility support will be available.

On-Farm Experience Themes Will Include:

  • Starting the Season – Farm tours, spring planting systems, nursery setups, and seasonal orientation

  • Managing the Market Garden – How farms approach soil health, weeds, pests, and season flow

  • Harvest Like a Pro – Observing harvest timing, post-harvest handling, storage, and quality care

  • Farm-to-Table Food Preparation & Preservation – Preparing, cooking, and preserving seasonal food together

  • From Garden to Community Food – Exploring how farms, food programs, and communities work together

Farm to Table Food Toolkit

Practical tools to navigate your local food system

  • Local Food Context & Decision Making Framework

    Clarify what matters to you and your community when it comes to food. These tools help you reflect on your goals, understand your options, and make choices that align with your needs and values.

  • Seasonal Food Pathways & System Mapping

    Map when and where food is available locally throughout the year and how it moves through different access pathways—home growing, community growing, farm-direct, markets, food programs, and shared resources.

  • Food Production Skills & Community Connections

    Build practical knowledge around growing, harvesting, storage, preparation, and preservation, while strengthening connections with local farms, food programs, and community resources.

What You Walk Away With

By the end of the Growing Together season, people are more connected—to their food, to their community, and to the systems that support them—building the foundation for local self-reliance. Along the way, they develop practical knowledge, meaningful relationships, and tools they can continue to use long after the program ends.

  • A clear understanding of how local food systems work from farm to table

  • Practical skills for accessing, growing, preparing, and preserving food

  • Increased confidence navigating local farms, markets, food programs, and seasonal food options

  • Meaningful connections with farmers, food organizations, and community members working toward shared goals

  • A Community Food Toolkit that supports long-term local self-reliance and informed food choices

Partners and Support


Growing Together is a collaborative, community-based initiative made possible through partnerships between local farms, food organizations, and public supporters working to strengthen the region’s local food system.

This program is supported by the Durham Region Sustainable Food Security Fund, which invests in practical, community-driven solutions that improve food access, build local capacity, and strengthen long-term resilience.

Feed the Need in Durham brings a community-centered approach rooted in dignity, inclusion, and real-world impact—helping ensure the program remains accessible, relevant, and responsive to local needs.

The Four Farms Network—a collective of local market gardens—grounds the program in hands-on growing experience, farmer knowledge, and place-based learning that connects people directly to how food is produced and shared.

Together, they support a practical, collaborative, and focused approach with lasting outcomes for participants, communities, and the local food system as a whole.

If you’re interested in supporting Growing Together, exploring partnerships, or learning more about the program, please contact us @ [email protected]