GrowFest

Always the First Saturday in May!

Our community has spoken: We need camaraderie and conversations, accessible learning opportunities and access to hard-to-find materials. So we created GrowFest!

Join us on Saturday, May 4 from 9am to 3pm for a day-long festival featuring vegetables, herbs, pollinator-friendly perennials and native plants as well as plenty of people, products and information sessions to help you feel like part of a community that’s growing together. Our Hauck Botanic Garden home will be clad in its spring finest, and we’ll have the fun stuff that makes for a good festival, too.

Whether you’ve never tended a plant before or you’ve been growing for decades…whether you have a backyard plot or a bed in a community garden or some pots on your balcony…we’re here to help you find success on your terms.

We can help you find the best materials. We know which plants grow each and every month of the year in our region. We know where to find the best plants and seeds that thrive in our climate. And we can help you set up your garden for success, no matter where you live and garden—even if, like us, you’re in the middle of the city! More than anything, we’re here to help keep you from quitting. The benefits of gardening are bountiful, and no one should be excluded from experiencing them.

Because at the CGC, no one grows alone!

Plants

We’re sourcing and growing favorite and hard-to-find plants to set you up for a rewarding and successful growing season, including:

Classic warm weather crops
CGC-grown heirloom vegetables
A wide variety of herbs
Pollinator-friendly perennials native to North America
Native plants appropriate for spring planting, including many shade-loving species

There will NOT be an online sale this year, so plan to come see us on May 4 between 9am and 3pm for the in-person festivities! Come early for the best selection, then stay for the rest of the day’s activities.

Educational Sessions & Demos

Throughout the day, we’ll have free educational speakers, panels and demonstrations around all kinds of topics related to urban agriculture and growing food. Here’s the lineup:

A community garden can be a place to gather and an exhibit of cultural identity through food. Join Community Garden Coordinators Gary Dangel, Alexis Marsh, Betty Waite, Michelle Merrett, Carol Berning and Carole Browne as they discuss their approaches to cultivating relationships around the common goal of growing food on a community level.
Grow your own herbs, no matter your space! David White will share some helpful tips on planting containers for a homegrown harvest from a balcony, windowsill or small yard.
Do you sharpen your gardening hand tools? Learn how to do it right using a file and stone! Aaron Habig, Program Specialist at Hamilton County Conservation District, will demonstrate tips and tricks to give your tools a sharp edge, perfect for pruning, digging and other tasks around your garden.
Successful urban farmers understand the importance of healthy soils, clean water and ecological sustainability. Join CGC Ecology Education Manager Mary Dudley and CGC Conservation Program Manager Sam Settlemyre to learn how you can improve the resiliency of our local ecosystems by incorporating native plants into your landscape.
Growing vertically is a great option for small spaces or to increase production in your garden. In this demonstration, CGC Urban Agriculture Coordinator Kymisha Montgomery will show techniques on how to manage sprawling plants to expand your garden space.
What does your food eat as food? There’s an incredible world beneath our feet where microbes, minerals, water, and roots interact to extract nutrients from the earth and transform them into flowers and fruit. Learn about soil structure, the nutrient cycling system, and what you can do to keep your garden healthy from the ground up with CGC Horticulturist Julie Dennewitz.
Our local foodshed is unique in its flavors, economics, and commitment to food equity. Join Gary Dangel from the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, Celeste Treece from The Heights Movement, Siri from Triiibe Foundation, Kimberly Jacobs from the East Walnut Hills Farmers Market and Abby Lundrigan from Turner Farm as they talk about how their unique efforts can make a big difference and what we can do to keep them growing!
Grow your own veggies, no matter your space! Get helpful tips on planting containers for a homegrown harvest from a balcony, windowsill or small yard from CincyStartender’s Gabby Allen.
Do you sharpen your gardening hand tools? Learn how to do it right using a file and stone! Aaron Habig, Program Specialist at Hamilton County Conservation District, will demonstrate tips and tricks to give your tools a sharp edge, perfect for pruning, digging and other tasks around your garden.
Knowing how to capture and store rainwater gives gardeners vital access to a resource necessary for thriving plants. Join CGC Program Associate Kaela Khan to learn how to capture and store rainwater for future use and the basics of building rain barrels and rain chains.

Green Flea

The Green Flea is a booth at GrowFest that turns donated used tools and garden treasures into funds for the CGC. Whether you donate an item, shop the booth or both, you’re directly supporting our work. Learn more about the Green Flea and how you can help!

Kids’ Activities

We’re excited to welcome Great Parks to GrowFest to facilitate activities for our younger community members. We’ll be making seed bombs with native plants! We’ll mix clay and soil together by hand, then place seeds inside. Afterward, participants can rinse their hands with water provided.

Music

We’re excited to feature several local Cincinnati-area musicians during the festival. Here’s the schedule:

10am: Patrick Raneses
11am: Matthew Wallenhorst
12pm: Night Owl
1pm: Deej Goosey

Food, Drinks & Fun

We’ll have food trucks, a beer garden area, our beloved bake sale, raffle prizes, vendors and kids’ activities, so there’s something for the whole family to enjoy. We’re looking forward to having Mahope Cambodian with us again as well as Kabobske and Fibonacci’s Chestnut Hypothesis Blonde Ale on tap!

Plant Sitters

We want you to be able to attend an educational session, grab a bite to eat or enjoy the grounds unencumbered! You can drop your purchases off at our Plant Sitters booth, located in the Green Learning Station parking lot, then pick them up on your way home.

Item Pickup

Don’t want to carry your purchases to your car? No problem! We will have friendly volunteers available to help load your car. Just pull up to the reserved spots on Oak Street (facing Reading Road) near our driveway.

Location & Parking

GrowFest will take place at the Civic Garden Center: 2715 Reading Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45206.

Parking will NOT be available on our grounds or in our Green Learning Station parking lot due to festival events. Thanks to the generosity of Children’s Hospital, we’re happy to offer parking options within easy walking distance to our grounds:

538 Oak Street (no parking in the last two rows along Linton) — handicap accessible parking will be available in this lot (across the street from our grounds)
400 Oak Street
2806 Reading Road
624 Oak Street