Community Gardens
Community gardens play a vital role in building sustainable local food systems, providing access to fresh, healthy and nutritious food, and creating resilient community spaces.
Our Community Gardens Program is a partnership between Ecosource and the City of Mississauga, a collaboration that began in 2006 with the opening of the first community garden in a public park in Mississauga. Each year staff from Ecosource and the City’s Parks, Forestry and Environment Division work closely together to manage the City’s growing community garden network. The program connects residents in Mississauga neighbourhoods with gardening spaces that encourage active, healthy living and help green the city in support of Mississauga’s Climate Change Action Plan.
In 2020, the City of Mississauga’s Corporate Award for Community Partnership was awarded to Ecosource and the City of Mississauga’s Community Gardens team (including staff from Parks, Forestry and Environment and Legal Services). This award recognizes a joint project or event with an external organization, association, service group or level of government where the outcome has demonstrated mutual benefits.
Our Community Gardens Program is generously supported by the City of Mississauga and Ecosource is a proud member of the City of Mississauga’s Community Group Registry Program.
SIGN UP FOR A GARDEN PLOT
Please click here to sign up for the community gardens waitlist.
Please note that all community gardens are currently full with a wait of at least 3 years until a plot becomes available.
Click on the map below to see the locations of our community gardens.
Before signing up, please read our Frequently Asked Questions document to learn more about becoming a member gardener at one of our community gardens.
ACCESSIBLE GARDEN PLOTS
If you have accessibility considerations, you can sign up for an accessible plot here.
Click the thumbnails below to learn more about each garden.
Through a partnership with the City of Mississauga and Evergreen, Ecosource worked to establish the first community garden on city parkland in Mississauga in 2006 – the Garden of the Valley.
Since then, it has flourished with support from many collaborative partnerships in the community and Walmart-Evergreen Green Grants. Located next to the Mississauga Valley Community Centre, this garden creates an oasis in the heart of the city. Due to its popularity, the garden has grown tremendously since it began, more than doubling in size from just 20 plots in 2006 to 46 plots today! The garden contains 5 community plots where Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre hosts an EarlyON program for children and families and grow food collectively to share amongst participants. Many gardeners return to their plot year after year and showcase great space-saving and intensive growing techniques. The success of this pilot project led to the growing interest in establishing more community gardens throughout the city on public parkland. For more information about the Garden of the Valley or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca. You can also check out upcoming events at the garden.
Garden of the Valley
1275 Mississauga Valley Blvd.
Mississauga, ON L5A 3R8
Breaking ground in July 2009, the Hillside Park community garden in Clarkson was created with the support of the Walmart Evergreen Green Grants Program. In May 2015, the garden was expanded and renovated, with support from PCL Construction and the City of Mississauga .
This garden has been a great place for building networks and encouraging community involvement. Hillside’s garden members have greatly benefited from the engagement of the Mississauga Master Gardeners, who have contributed valuable expertise over the years as well as innumerable hours maintaining the community spaces. Students from Elmcrest Public School, Archbishop Romero Catholic School and Hillside Senior Public School have been a great help in getting the garden up and started.
In May 2015, with support from PCL Construction and the City of Mississauga, Ecosource expanded the Hillside Community Garden to accommodate growing interest in garden space in the neighbourhood. Volunteers from PCL donated lumber and time to constructing brand new raised beds and a garden shed, and a group of dedicated volunteers helped install the garden. Former Ecosource staff, now Executive Director, Britt McKee, and City of Mississauga artist Anna Ferguson designed a beautiful shed mural and our dedicated Hillside gardeners helped us open the expanded garden in June 2015. There are currently 31 individual plots, one raised accessible bed, a pollinator garden and five community plots where the Compass Food Bank volunteers grow food to donate to the food bank at Hillside.
For more information about the Hillside Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca. You can also check out upcoming events at the garden.
Hillside Garden
1311 Kelly Road
Mississauga, ON L5J 3V1
The Malton Community Garden was created with support from Sobeys and the Earth Day Canada Community Environment Fund, and had its grand opening in June 2010.
Located adjacent to the Malton Community Centre, in Elmcreek Park, this garden encourages Malton residents to literally put roots down in growing their community and provides a welcoming space to share food, cultures, and build friendships. In 2021, a new Malton Community Garden was created through the generous support of the City of Mississauga. This garden now incorporates multi-level beds and a mural painting on the garden shed that was led by an artist and supported by young people and community members.
The garden contains 22 resident plots, 1 raised accessible bed and 10 community plots where food is being grown by volunteers to donate to local food banks and to share amongst the community. The Malton Neighbourhood Services (MNS) hosts weekly sessions in the garden for their EarlyON program where children and families learn how to grow food collectively to share amongst participants and engage in nature connection.
For more information about the Malton Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca. You can also check out upcoming events at the garden.
Malton Garden
7320 Darcel Avenue
Mississauga, ON L4T 4G5
The Parkway Green Generation Garden officially opened in May 2011, in partnership with the City of Mississauga and the MIAG Centre for Diverse Women & Families.
The focus of the Generation Garden is the sharing of gardening skills and knowledge between local youth and the wider community. The garden contains 46 individual and family plots that can be adopted to grow food, 1 raised accessible bed as well as 9 community plots that are stewarded by The Indigenous Network’s Wasa Nabin youth program. Students from Ecole Renee Lamoureux also steward a plot where they learn food growing skills and can spend time outside connecting with nature. The Generation Garden was established with support from the Evergreen Home Depot Rebuilding Nature Program.
Parkway Green is also home to Mississauga’s first Community Orchard, a laneway of apple and pear trees planted by students participating in the Human Experiential Leadership Program (HELP), a program of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. These students have supported all of our community gardens with their helping hands and exciting new ideas.
For more information about the Parkway Green Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca. You can also check out upcoming events at the garden.
Parkway Green Garden
4215 Central Parkway East
Mississauga, ON L4Z 1M7
In partnership with the City of Mississauga, this public community garden opened in October 2015.
Located in Forest Glen Park between Glenforest Secondary School and Forest Glen Public school, the garden received great community support and a warm welcome in it’s inaugural year. The garden received generous materials support from PCL Construction and local volunteers, and students from Applewood Heights Secondary School helped to build the raised beds. The garden started with 10 Member Plots and six Community Plots. In 2021, Ecosource received funding from the Canadian Healthy Communities Initiative to renovate and expand the garden. The Forest Glen Connection (FGP) Project brought together local partners and residents to build an inclusive and vibrant green space through infrastructural improvements and collaborative programming that meets local needs. By the end of 2024, the fence line was expanded 3.5 times the original size enabling Ecosource to increase the number of resident beds to 50 beds, the number of raised accessible beds to 3 and the number of community plots to 15. With the generous support of the City of Mississauga, we were able to install accessible features like seating and shade into the garden. Project partners included: Kandy Kennedy Indigenous Consulting, Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre, The Indigenous Network and the Glenforest Secondary School Eco Club.
For more information about Forest Glen Community Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca.
Forest Glen Community Garden
3545 Fieldgate Dr.
Mississauga, ON L4X 2J6
Hancock Woodlands is one of Mississauga’s newest parks. The site features trails through the woodlot, a natural play site and the community garden. This garden features 26 resident plots, 3 raised accessible bed and 1 community plot where gardeners grow food to donate to local food banks. The site also features a mix of remnant native trees such as White Pine, American Beech, Red Oak as well as an understory of horticultural species such as Rhododendrons and Azaleas.
For more information about Hancock Community Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca.
Hancock Woodlands
2171 Camilla Road
Mississauga, ON L5A 2K1
The Churchill Meadows Community Garden was established in collaboration with the City of Mississauga in 2017 and in collaboration with the former, Erin Mills Farmers Market, the garden expanded in 2020. Erin Mills Farmers Market (EMFM) nd Ecosource worked collaboratively to relocate their community gardeners from a former site, enabling EMFM gardeners to continue growing fresh, local food and friendly community. Their relocation to the Churchill Meadows Community Garden, allowed for a garden expansion that incorporated accessibility features identified through community consultations.
Located within the Churchill Meadows Community Common, this garden currently contains 39 resident plots, 2 raised accessible plots, 5 community plots which produce food for local food banks, and a native plant pollinator garden. Neighbourhood groups, including Community Living Mississuaga and Applewood Acres School, come together to steward the garden over the growing season.
The Churchill Meadows Community Garden has also been a leading site for integrating accessible garden features and programs, and currently includes two raised accessible beds and improved water access. It has become an important space for welcoming community members with physical or intellectual disabilities through our partnerships with Community Living Mississuaga and Applewood Acres School.
For more information about Churchill Meadows Community Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca.
Churchill Meadows Community Garden
3715 Thomas St., Mississauga Ontario
Mississauga, ON L5A 2K1
The Small Arms Community Garden is located beside the former Small Arms Inspection Building, now a multidisciplinary creative hub space called Creative Hub 1352.
This unique community garden project is part of a larger redevelopment of the Small Arms Inspection Building. It features 26 resident plots, one raised accessible bed and six community plots. The Small Arms Community Garden officially opened on June 23rd, 2019. Neighbourhood groups, including Indigenous Consulting Kandy Kennedy and Eagle Spirits of the Great Waters, steward some of the community plots and take care of the garden over the growing season.
Over the last several years, Ecosource and Creative Hub 1352 have been committed to transplanting asters and other native pollinator attracting plants to increase the biodiversity on the site.
For more information about Small Arms Community Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca. Click here for more information about the Small Arms Building.
Small Arms Community Garden
1352 Lakeshore Rd. East,
Mississauga, ON L5E 1E9
Made possible through funding provided by the City of Mississauga and the Government of Canada, the new community garden will join nine existing community gardens located in City of Mississauga parks and will be managed by the City’s Environment Section and Ecosource.
The garden contains 21 resident plots, four raised accessible bed and four community plots where food is being grown by volunteers to donate to local food banks and to share amongst the community. Collaborative partners involved in the garden include Heart Comonos and The Dam where Cooksville community members can learn how to grow food collectively and engage in nature connection.
For more information about Cooksville Community Garden or any of our other community gardens, please email communitygardens@ecosource.ca.
Cooksville Community Garden
106 King St. E
Mississauga, ON, M5C 1G6