Seed Grant Program

Seed Grant Program is sponsored by Herbalists Without Borders. This program provides seed-kit grants to support community gardens that focus on community empowerment, support, education, or health justice, with an emphasis on medicinal herb conservation and food justice.

Growing Wellness & Justice: Announcing the 2026 HWB U.S. Seed Grant Launch – Herbalists Without Borders Hit enter to search or ESC to close By Sheri Kurdakul No Comments DEERFIELD, WI – At Herbalists Without Borders, we believe that food is medicine — and food justice is health justice. That belief calls us not only to the plants we gather, but to the soil and seeds that sustain them. It calls us to grow, give, share, and teach.

It calls us to build community through gardens. That’s why we’re happy to announce that the 2026 US Seed Grant Program will launch again in March 2026 — and we will be hosting a webinar in February to introduce the program, share our garden models, offer inspiration, and explain how we support grantees with planning, eGuides, planting, and garden education resources for all ages. What is the HWB U.S. Seed Grant Program?

Our Seed Grant program offers small or large seed-kit grants each year to eligible HWB U.S. Coordinators and members for community gardens. These gardens may grow food, herbs, flowers, culturally relevant plants — edible and/or medicinal — depending on community needs and garden goals.

Gardens supported by seed grants have served in many capacities: free clinics, community classes and events, supportive outreach to marginalized or underserved communities, food pantry contributions, plant walks, youth or elder gardens, hospice gardens, youth programs, community initiatives, unhoused shelters, and more.

HWB Gardens focus in some way on community empowerment, support, education, or health justice through community initiatives for underserved communities. Through centralizing seed donations (from seed companies and generous donors) and redistributing via seed-kit grants, HWB helps create and maintain a seed reservoir.

This reservoir is especially vital for disaster-relief response — if a region’s gardens are destroyed by fires, hurricanes, floods or other crises, seeds can be mobilized quickly so communities can rebuild healthy gardens. Why We Do This — Our Goals & Vision Herbal access + food justice. For HWB, healthy nutrition and wellness herbs go hand-in-hand.

Without access to fresh food, herbal support is only part of the equation. By enabling communities to grow their own food and herbs, we aim to promote holistic health, resilience, and self-reliance. Community building.

Whether in a city lot, a small donated plot, a backyard raised bed, or a farm, gardens can be inclusive and adapt to many scales and contexts. HWB has seen many successful garden models: from urban balcony “salsa kits” to farm plots to healing gardens curated by tribal elders. Seed saving and biodiversity — especially medicinal plant conservation.

While many seed-saving initiatives focus on food plants, HWB emphasizes the inclusion of medicinal herbs, aiming to preserve native medicinal plants and support long-term community access to plant-based health. Justice, accessibility, resilience. Priority for seed grants is given to projects that serve underrepresented or marginalized communities, especially those facing barriers to healthy food or herbal access.

Gardens supported by HWB are tools of health justice, community care, and mutual aid. What We Offer — Support beyond Seeds When you apply for an HWB Seed Grant, you’re not just getting a packet of seeds. You get: Technical support & guidance — We offer eGuides, growing resources, and access to our member portal’s garden-education materials.

Garden design support — From small herb spirals and raised beds (3×6, 4×8) to 10×10 or 20×20 plots, or customized spaces; we also offer themed garden ideas (tea gardens, dye gardens, bee/butterfly gardens) depending on project vision. Education & community engagement tools — Materials for classes, plant walks, plant-based wellness education, seed-saving workshops, and more — for all ages.

A network of support & collaboration — HWB connects growers, herbalists, educators, permaculture designers, and advocates across the U.S. and globally so that no one gardens alone. This year we also have a forum in our members area for discussion and support.

What to Know — Who Can Apply & When The program is open once a year to HWB U.S. Coordinators — individuals in charge of a Chapter, Clinic, or Project – and HWB Members serving their communities. The size of the grant (seed-kit) depends on the level of seed donations that year. We generally have a small seed grant of 25+ seed packets, and a large seed grant of 50+ seed packets.

We will send an email to all Coordinators to announce the launch when the grant opens, and after the first round of shipping to Coordinators, we open the grants to members.

Mark Your Calendars: 2026 Timeline & Webinar Announcement February 2026 — We will host a webinar to introduce the Seed Grant Program: explain how it works, how to apply, how HWB supports you with technical assistance, garden design, and educational resources — and share inspiring stories and models from past gardens.

Herbalists Without Borders vision is a global community where all people have access to affordable natural and botanical health and wellness. To bring that vision into reality, we work with community-based chapters to create educational, advocacy and grassroots model projects to fill the gaps in health justice internationally.

We’re very social and encourage you to follow us @HerbalistsWithoutBorders – Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn Herbalists Without Borders – Take a stand for health justice. SOURCE: Herbalists Without Borders Related Links: https://hwbglobal.

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