In 2018, Mountain Rose Herbs launched its first grant program, Grants 4 Plants. Each year since then, a $4,000 grant has been awarded to five recipients who are doing their part to take care of people, plants, and planet. In 2020, we received 888 applications of change-makers that are supporting their communities. Because of the number of incredible applications received, we decided to contact our wonderful friends at Strictly Medicinal Seed Company to collaborate on an additional offering. Together, we are awarding seven "Seeds 4 Good" recipients the Essential Medicinal Herb Seed Set and a $100 gift certificate from Mountain Rose Herbs to help bring their garden projects to life.

Join us in congratulating these seven inspiring organizations!

Holistic Divine:

Holistic Divine will be creating the city's first ever self-sustainable community garden in Ridgecrest, California from the ground up. They will be building a minimum of 30 raised beds and a greenhouse to show innovative ways of growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Their goal is to teach self-sustainability, herbal education, and to provide free produce to the community.

Meditation Garden at Knockout Farm:

Knockout Farm, in Maywood, Illinois, is building a meditation garden for teens and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The garden will serve as a restorative space where participants can practice mindfulness and develop relaxation techniques to use throughout their day. The garden will employ principles of Attention Restoration Theory and Fascination Criteria, which uses natural environments and pleasing elements of nature to restore attention and executive functioning skills that become depleted in urban environments.

Somali Bantu

Most immigrants and refugees in Western New York suffer poor health as the result of resettlement in an urban city, in food insecure neighborhoods, with little access to affordable, fresh, culturally relevant produce. The Somali Bantu Community Farm is committed to helping New Americans improve their health outcomes by sharing farmland, tools, equipment, and their experience in growing traditional foods that are healing for both the minds and bodies of community members.

The Wander School

The Wander School in Burnsville, North Carolina is working towards a project to build and host a virtual database that will connect underserved communities (such as Indigenous, Black, Queer, and Appalachian) across the nation in need of herbs with foragers, growers, and herbalists who are willing to donate herbs and herbal remedies. The goal of this pilot program is to connect communities in need to medicinal herbs.

Regrow: The Learning Garden

For over 18 years, The Learning Garden in Los Angeles, California has served as a model in the community for horticultural education and environmental sustainability. It has brought families, disadvantaged groups, and students together in fellowship, healing, and learning with a slate of programs including regenerative agriculture, holistic medicine, seed saving, pollinator habitats, fiber arts, culinary arts, and self healing arts such as yoga and qigong. They seek to continue this legacy with diverse curriculum, community events, outreach, and training to encourage understanding of the wonder and vulnerability of the natural world.

Rise Up Wellness

Rise Up Wellness' program, Nourish,  creates a space for students to share their own healing foods and herbal traditions while learning to use herbs and food as medicine. Taught by a licensed health care provider and certified herbal educator, Nourish brings community members together to provide the opportunity to grow and make their own herbal medicines in this 18 week free program. As Rise Up Wellness serves vulnerable communities on the west and southwest side of Chicago, the program is completely scholarship based; there are no fees for students accepted into the program.

Ojai Valley Green Coalition

The beliefs of this organization in Ojai, California are that the children of the planet are the future, that we are all equal, and that the wisdom of indigenous peoples offers solutions and a healthy connection to the land. Their focus remains on positive solutions through empowering the most vulnerable and youngest members of their community.

Their Classroom Without Walls series is being created to reconnect to ancient ways and wisdom, and to weave that knowledge into environmental, economic, and social solutions.

Thank you to each and every applicant who applied. We commend your efforts and hope you know that your work is so valuable to the betterment of the world we are creating. Here is a list of all of the inspiring projects we had the honor of reviewing. 

Inspiring Projects of 2020 

Want to learn about the 2020  Grants 4 Plants winners?

See Their Projects in Action!

Meet the Past Grants 4 Plants Winners:

• 2019 Winners
• 2018 Winners