Pictured above: A view of the small cooperative garden my husband and I hosted in Montana

For a long time, I’ve been thinking about how we relate to food, to land, and to each other. So much of modern life pushes us toward independence in a way that can feel isolating—like we’re each responsible for building and maintaining our own little worlds. "Normal" community gardens reflect that with their individual plots, individual work, and individual harvests. Instead, I'm following a cooperative garden model.

At the heart of it is a simple idea: food security through community.

I want to create a space where local families can come together to grow food, collectively. A space where we’re not each responsible for our own small piece, but instead share responsibility for the whole. Where the work is lighter because it’s shared, and the harvest is richer because it belongs to everyone.

Instead of dividing the land, we will come together around it. We'll plan together, we'll plant together. We will weed, water, and tend the crops together. And we will share the harvest as a collective.

My hope is that this approach will make the work more manageable. There is room in this cooperative garden for all kinds of contributions: some will give more of their time, others more of their expertise, others more financially. All contributions are welcome and appreciated equally.

By now, you might be getting the sense that this cooperative garden is about more than vegetables... And you'd be right. It’s about creating a small, tangible system of support right here, in our local community. It’s about knowing that together, we can grow not just food, but resilience, connection, and trust.

Food security doesn’t have to come from doing more on our own. It can come from doing things differently—together. As neighbors helping neighbors, where the collective becomes an entity of its own.

Here's to the future we create together!