Our Roots
ABOUT GROW
Started in 2015, Grow:Johnson County is a program of Iowa Valley RC&D. Grow is a five acre vegetable farm located on the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm in Iowa City, Iowa. The program was created to fill the need for access to fresh and local fruits and vegetables, particularly in food pantries where much of the food readily provided is non perishable.
We train growers through hands-on farming experiences for all ages and backgrounds. All the produce grown on the farm is distributed to local food pantries. Each year we produce over 30,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for our food partners. Since the program began, Grow has donated over 270,000 pounds of fresh produce to food pantries throughout Johnson County.
Learn more about our impact in our 2025 Annual Report.
THE TEAM
Our dedicated team is made up of staff, fellows, volunteers, and seasonal apprentices . These are the folks that do the planting, weeding, growing, and harvesting.
OUR PARTNERS
We partner with 12 food access partners across the county to ensure fresh produce from the farm moves from the field to the community within hours. Working closely with each partner, we identify food and nutritional gaps and intentionally grow crops to help fill those needs by growing over 30 different varieties. We partner with Table to Table for delivery to local food access partners. Together we work to increase access to high-quality produce across Johnson County.
OUR SPONSORS
Grow has the generous support from local government, businesses, foundations, and individual donors. Their support has been the driving-force of all the work done on the farm.