IREJN Garden Project
If you would like to know more about establishing a community garden at your house of worship, please contact us for information. IREJN can provide guidance and access to Master Gardeners to help you install a sustainable, organic garden. We can help you plant several different types of gardens – a community vegetable garden, a flower garden, or a pollinator garden.
How to Plant a Community Garden
For additional information, please read a PDF created by Board member Letty Naigles and Advisory Board member Charmaine Craig.Gardens: Creating Community in CT
A write-up about community gardens throughout Connecticut
Lynn Johnson Memorial Garden Fund
IREJN is proud to announce the Lynn Johnson Memorial Garden Fund, which will provide financial support for vegetable and pollinator gardens in Connecticut. Applicants should fill out the grant application form, along with a description of the project and a budget. Priority will be given to houses of worship serving low-income areas or environmental justice communities. New or existing gardens are eligible.
Requirements: Fill out the grant application with detailed description and budget. If a veggie garden, provide a grant report that includes the total amount (in pounds) of donate produce. For both gardens, recognition in the form of a small sign (provided by IREJN) that acknowledges the support.
Maximum grant for vegetable gardens: $1,000
Maximum grant for pollinator gardens: $250
Grant Recipients
2025
Pollinator Garden Grants
St. Anthony of Padua, Fairfield
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, East Haddam
Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association, Hartford
Congregation of North Stonington
Vegetable Garden Grants
St. Anthony of Padua, Fairfield
Sterling Street Sanctuary, Hartford
Congregation Mishkan Israel, Hamden
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Ridgefield
Congregation of the Good Shepherd, Shelton
2024
Pollinator Garden Grants
Grace and St. Johns Episcopal Church, Hamden
North United Methodist Church, Hartford
First Congregational Church of Clinton
First Church of Christ, Simsbury
Vegetable Garden Grants
Bridgeport Rescue Mission
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Coventry
St. Joseph the Worker, New Haven
2023
Pollinator Garden Grants
Litchfield Land Trust
Vegetable Garden Grants
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, New Haven
St. James Episcopal Church, West Hartford
Grace and St. John’s Episcopal Church, Hamden