It all started with Justin and Jessica Munroe’s backyard vegetable garden. As they planted seeds one early spring day, the couple considered how important the garden was to them for their physical health, their mental health, for the food they could provide for their family.

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Living in Nashua, they knew that many people in the city didn’t have the luxury of land to garden on. “We were thinking, maybe we could give a plot of land to one of our neighbors who might be in need,” Justin says. They were especially concerned about people Justin calls “new Americans,” refugees and immigrants from other countries.

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Their own yard was too small, so they reached out to St. Joseph Hospital, which had a large plot of land available, large enough for a community vegetable garden. They then reached out to people who might want to take part. “In our first season, we had 20 different families from 12 different countries gardening in that space,” Justin says. “That was a lot of fun. We learned from that, and we have been growing ever since.”

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That first season was seven years ago. Now, what became Grow Nashua has seven community gardens throughout the city and 150 families taking part. The raised-bed gardens are placed in “food deserts,” areas where people don’t have access to fresh produce within walking distance. “Ninety-five percent of our families are low-income families who struggle with access to nutritious food,” Justin says. “There are a lot of corner stores, but often they don’t have much to offer besides sugary drinks and chips.”

The seven community gardens are on land provided free of charge by the City of Nashua and the Nashua School District. The gardening expertise, also free, is provided by the Grow Nashua Team and host of "Garden Tender" volunteers.  "We help with everything," Justin says.  "We're coaching them about what to plant and when to plant." To build a gardener's knowledge, each month Grow Nashua offers virtual agricultural training programs.