Friendship Gardens of Cape Cod is a project that local Quakers started in 2023 to directly address food insecurity on Cape Cod. Our three goals have been to grow food for those in need, to help individuals learn to grow their own food, and to build community within our volunteers and with the people we serve.
Each year, we grow fresh, organic vegetables to give to those in need. The food is typically grown with regenerative gardening techniques, harvested weekly during the growing season, and given to the Falmouth Service Center (a local food pantry) and other local groups or individuals.
In addition, to meet our second objective, Friendship Gardens also partners with the Service Center to help their clients learn to grow their own food. We provide taste tests of lettuce and gazpacho, give away lots of plants, pots, seeds, and composting materials to the clients, and encourage them in their efforts to grow vegetables.
Our project began with a 300-sq. ft. garden in the space behind the West Falmouth Quaker meetinghouse. In 2026, we expanded by adding a new 800 sq. ft. growing space within the Berry Patch Community Garden on the Tony Andrews Farm in E. Falmouth. We use this space to grow additional food for the Service Center, as well as continue our programs from the 2 previous years.
This project has been a joy. We worked together and built a small community of gardeners committed to improving food security. In addition, we developed a strong connection to those at the Service Center and the others that we serve.
What can you do?
There are multiple opportunities for you to make a difference:
— In East Sandwich, the project leaders are Trish Garland and Alan Burt. You can talk to them to find out what is planned for this year. Similarly, Steve Gates leads the project in West Falmouth and the new Berry Patch garden.
— We welcome help at every stage of this project, including planning the garden, preparing the beds, growing the seeds, working in the garden, delivering food to the Wampanoag shelter, and fund-raising.
— We are always interested in new ideas about how we can better address the issues of food insecurity on Cape Cod.
We welcome everyone, including those with no previous gardening experience.
So please join us!
Contacts: Steve Gates and Alan Burt
Friendship Gardens is a project of The Peace Abbey. If you would like to support this project, please write your check to The Peace Abbey with “Friendship Gardens” in the memo line.