Community Garden in Austin, TX
Sunshine Gardens celebrates 50 years of community gardening in Austin!
Sunshine Community Gardens (SCG) has been in existence since 1974 with over 200 plots on about 3 acres of land in north central Austin, Texas. Full, half, and quarter sized plots are offered, as well as wheelchair accessible gardens, plots for the visually impaired, and micro plots for children. The land is leased from Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) and they are our generous partners in providing the Sunshine and greater community with an urban oasis for growing and enjoying organic food and flowers.
Sunshine, through its 501(c)(3) nonprofit parent organization, Community Garden Initiative of Central Texas (CGICT), offers charitable and educational opportunities with garden tours, school donations of seeds and plants, funding, and meeting space for other nonrofits. SCG is a Certified Natural Wildlife Habitat, provides space for a Chicken Cooperative, and has a variety of specialty gardens, such as a contemplative garden, tomato testing garden, and MICAH 6 garden that grows fresh produce for the Micah 6 of Austin Food Pantry.
SCG is an all-volunteer organization. With the assistance of Gabriel Valley Farms and Squeaky Frog Farms, both local growers, each spring on the 1st Saturday of March, our Annual Plant Sale and Benefit provides the Austin area spring transplants for their gardens. Heirloom tomatoes, sweet & hot peppers, eggplant, herbs and more are sold to benefit SCG. Funds help pay for maintenance of our facilities, tools, tractor, and support SCG’s charitable and educational activities in our greater Austin community. .
Coming Events
View CalendarFebruary Board Meeting
Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 6:00pmBoard meetings are open to members. Please contact the President or Secretary for the link for these meetings. Below is the link to our December Board meeting if you would like to attend.
Our monthly Board meetings include the following Agenda items:
- Treasurer Report of Financials
- Plot Reports
- Ratification of previous meeting minutes by Board
- Plant Sale Reports
- Updates on New Website (coming soon)
- Updates on data consolidation and MS365/OneDrive
- Community Engagement Updates on coming events etc.
- Matters of Business: This includes any outstanding items and can vary based on the projects that need completion or upcoming needs.
Annual Plant Sale & Benefit
Saturday March 1, 2025, 9:00am - 2:00pmMark your calendars for the next Annual Plant Sale and Benefit, Saturday March 1, 2025, from 9:00-2:00 at 4814 Sunshine Drive!
Learn from knowledgeable gardeners while you choose from 87 varieties of tomatoes, 72 varieties of peppers (40 hot, 32 sweet), 19 varieties of eggplant, 6 varieties of tomatillos, and 7,000 herbs.
In addition to the over 24,000 vegetable and herb plants for sale, there will be native flowers, pass along plants, succulents, organic compost, and silent auction items. You can also explore booths of local vendors, walk through our gardens, and listen to some local music.
We will be posting listings of the tomato and pepper varieties available at the sale. Stay tuned!
If you’d like to volunteer, please sign-up here.
Micah 6 Food Bank Delivery - Sock Drive through February
Saturdays, 8:30amDelivery to the Micah 6 Food Bank is once a week at this time of year.
Please consider donating excess harvest, purchased produce, and non-perishable food items to the Micah 6 Food Pantry.
Click here for additional information on our Micah 6 activities, including how to donate fresh produce or non-perishable food items.
Socks Donations:
Through February our Micah 6 delivery team will deliver socks donated by Sunshine gardeners to the Micah 6 Food Pantry. If you would like to help, please place unused new socks in the cool room.We will have a marked box for the sock donations. We will add new socks to our Saturday morning deliveries of fresh produce and nonperishable dry goods. A suggestion is to buy a multipack of 6-8 pairs for men and/or women, which are available at Target, Walmart, Goodwill, and Dollar stores. It is a gift that is so appreciated especially by folks who do a lot of walking in the winter. This is a great time for extra giving to the Micah 6 Food pantry.
Beautification Committee Work Day
Sundays, 9:00am - 12:00pmWant to volunteer beautifying your community or need Sunshine service hours? There is always a workday every Sunday (9:00-12:00pm) in the flower beds around the trailer. Hosted by Matthew Johnston.