Since 2020, TVCGCoop has been working to grow strength in the Treasure Valley community through gardens.
Inspired by the Victory Garden era and driven by the challenges of the COVID pandemic, we built a network of over 40 gardens in just two years.
Our mission has been twofold
To increase food security and cultivate community connections.
By empowering individuals and neighborhoods to grow their own food, we promote sustainability and create a stronger sense of togetherness.
Our Work & Related Things 👀
What to Plant in October
Transplanting this late in the season is definitely worth a try if you want to enjoy a few more harvests and set your garden up for an earlier start next spring.
Season Extension tools are essential for protecting plants a household may be transplanting now. This involves 1-2 layers of protection from the elements and ways to generate a bit of heat. These include low-temp row cover, and greenhouse plastic.
Direct seeding the following crops is best done by early October, however, many of these crops that can be started very early next season. Arugula, chervil, cilantro, miners lettuce (claytonia), cress, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce for cut-and-come-again harvests, mache, mustard greens, orach, pac choi, radishes, sorrel, spinach, tatsoi, and turnips.
Garlic (mid-October through mid-November) is the big one this month. Be sure to grab seed garlic soon from your favorite nursery or seed company—these often sell out fast, but check in!
Cool-season herbs like cilantro, chervil, parsley, dill, and fennel can also go in, along with perennial herbs such as thyme, oregano, sage, chives, and wormwood if you have starts or divisions to tuck in.
Are you practicing overwintering methods and season extension?
Let’s cooperatively pool knowledge so we can adapt right now, together.
Check out our Fall Gardening & Prep Zine — 🍁 Don’t Wait for All the Tips!
There’s still time to plant — and plenty you can start growing right now in the Treasure Valley. 🥬
Our Fall Gardening & Prep Zine is packed with practical, local guidance to help you extend your season:
🌱 What to plant this month
🧄 Soil-building methods like lasagna layering
🥕 Overwintering and cold-frame ideas
🪴 Companion planting tips that actually work here
Pick up a copy at the Halloween Vegan Market (Oct 25) at Common Ground Coffee & Market — but you can start sooner!
🌿 Printed locally — every purchase helps support the TVCGCoop community garden network.
🍄 Spent Mushroom Substrate for Your Garden
Improve your soil health this fall with locally sourced Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) from Ferg’s Fabulous Fungi—a nutrient-rich mix of organic matter and beneficial fungi that helps plants thrive.
Improves soil texture & water-holding capacity
Provides a slow, steady release of nutrients
Supports beneficial fungi & soil life
Works beautifully in compost piles, hugel rows, or right in your beds
Scheduling now for mid-October through mid-November. Deliveries coordinated through the Treasure Valley Community Gardens Cooperative.
Your participation supports local soil health, community learning, and cooperative garden efforts across the valley. 🌱
Launch Collection: Seasonal Guides & Limited-Run Prints
We’re excited to share the launch of a small collection made with care, rooted in the seasons and in community. Each piece reflects the spirit of local collaboration—whether through hand-pulled prints on vintage presses or the practical guidance of our Fall Gardening & Prep Zine.
This collection includes:
Fall Gardening & Prep Zine — a guide to seasonal preparation and resilience for the garden.
Many Hands Make Light Work — a limited-run letterpress print celebrating the power of working together.
Gifts From Our Garden — hand-crafted prints combining letterpress and screenprinting, each with its own character.
Every purchase supports the Treasure Valley Community Gardens Cooperative and its efforts we hope to scale sustainably each season.
Click this image for a detailed list of gardens seeking gardeners in 2025!
Our food system is deeply interconnected.
For at least a few generations, most of us in the Treasure Valley have been able to count on full shelves and fresh produce at local stores. But the people and processes that make that possible — especially in farm and food-processing work — are under increasing strain.
Idaho Familias Assistance Fund
A fund dedicated to supporting Idaho families who have been separated from loved ones due to the recent immigration-related situation in Wilder, ID and are facing financial hardship (rent, utilities, medical bills, gas, etc).
Organized by Idaho Organization of Resource Councils. 501(c)(3) Public Charity · EIN 46-5310102
admin@iorcinfo.org
The “Labor & Food Systems” link leads to a Guardian article from June 2025 that illustrates how recent raids, labor shortages, and policy shifts are rippling through the food system. These events reveal not only how far-reaching the impacts are — touching families, small growers, and consumers alike — but also how our communities have long functioned on unseen and often undervalued labor.
This moment calls us to pay closer attention, to ask how our communities might adapt with greater fairness and care, and to engage with curiosity rather than fear. We’re sharing this to plant seeds of understanding — and to encourage compassion as we learn and respond together.
We’re honored to share that TVCGCoop was featured on KTVB Channel 7
The segment highlights the spirit of community growing across the valley. Thanks to everyone helping cultivate opportunities to connect, share, and find affinity as community gardeners!
Gardens Can Provide the Following:
Food and Nutrition security, from fresh, nutrient-dense food
Green spaces in the city!
Places to connect with others and find solace!
Feelings of empowerment from growing some of our own food!
Reconnecting with nature and developing an understanding of what all goes into growing good food!
Compassion for who grows the majority of our food!
A place for sharing good ideas, struggles to overcome together, and hopes!
Music-making has also been known to happen in garden spaces!