100 Gardens

Our Mission: Provide exciting and engaged learning opportunities by implementing aquaponics programs in schools, institutions and in communities of need.

Started as a rebuilding strategy for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 100 Gardens has evolved into a multifaceted educational program focused on aquaponics as a platform for experiential learning and a sustainable means of food production for the future.

To hear the full story of 100 Gardens listen to this informative interview on NPR's Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. For the most up to date news please follow our Facebook Page!

We are proud to be a part of the SEED20 Class of 2018!

Each year, over the course of two months, a class of twenty nonprofit participants receives training, coaching, feedback, and mentoring on how to succinctly and powerfully tell their story – who they are and why they matter. These efforts culminate in SEED20 OnStage, a high-energy event where ten members of the class compete to win cash awards by making three-minute pitches to a panel of judges and a community audience. SEED20 OnStage includes a celebration before and after the pitches where the audience can interact and connect with all twenty nonprofits to learn more about their mission and opportunities for support and engagement.

Learn more and purchase tickets here!

100 Gardens Featured On TEDxCharlotte (Dec 2017)

Sam Fleming, President of 100 Gardens describes the power of aquaponics as a tool for changing the way we think about learning, food and the environment at the 2017 TEDxCharlotte event.

We have the tools to transform a generation of people into smarter, healthier, and more compassionate people...and this is a necessary step to ensure the sustainability of the human species and the planet as we know it...we ask you to share this video if it resonates with you...thanks.

4,000 Gallon Aquaponics System at Webb St. School

Webb St. School Expands into 4,000 Gallon Aquaponics System (January 2018)

In 2016, Webb St. School partnered with 100 gardens to establish a small aquaponics system in their greenhouse. After successfully running the system for a year, they were awarded a grant to build a full-scale aquaponics system in their greenhouse. Now, the system offers job-skill training to the special needs students at Webb St. School while producing 168 heads of premium lettuce each week.

Students planting seedlings into the aquaponics system.

Garden #11 Complete: Oakhurst STEAM Academy

Oakhurst STEAM Academy is the latest school to introduce aquaponics as a platform for hands-on learning in science, math, nutrition and more. Located on the front lobby, the students are raising fish and vegetables by managing the aquaponics ecosystem. To learn more about Oakhurst STEAM Academy visit their website here.

Tomato Tasting. Photo Credit: Drea Photo Artistry

The Homegrown Tomato Festival Was A Huge Success!

The Homegrown Tomato Festival: An all-day tomato themed event where tomato lovers can try dozens of different backyard tomatoes, crown the region’s best tomato grower, drink tomato themed cocktails, enjoy live music and more!

Big thanks to the 600+ people who attended and/or helped organize and promote the 1st Annual Homegrown Tomato Festival! The turnout blew away our expectations! See you next year!

Hickory Grove Christian School Launches Its Aquaponics Program. (July 2017)

We are proud to partner with Hickory Grove Christian School for the development of their aquaponics lab! HGCS will be using aquaponics as a platform for hands-on learning and will also explore the possibility of integrating aquaponics into their global mission projects. For more information visit the school's website here.

Birdsong Brewing partners with 100 Gardens (March 2017)

“We grow edible freshwater fish like tilapia and catfish and then we send the water from those tanks into hydroponic systems that grow plants without soil,” Fleming said. “So the fish are fertilizing plants, and then the plants filter out the water and return clean water back to the fish. So you’re growing vegetables and fish and it doesn’t require any soil.”

What does this have to do with beer? Fleming and Sassman began to discuss having 100 Gardens grow the thyme used in Doin’ Thyme. It seemed a perfect partnership, since the brewery had wanted to start using locally-grown thyme in the beer.

Webb Street School students are learning to grow lettuce with the help of freshwater fish with the school’s new aquaponics system! (Feb 2017)

Webb St. School, a special needs school in Gastonia, NC has partnered with 100 Gardens to expand their highly productive in-ground gardens to a new aquaponics greenhouse! Read the full story here.

Sam Fleming of 100 Gardens (left) and Juli Metcalf of Pure Pizza (right)

Pure Pizza has teamed up with 100 Gardens to educate students on the art of sustainable living (September 2016)

“The kids are growing with a purpose,” Juli Metcalf said in a press release. “They are able to create economic value and it gives them the opportunity to know what they are learning is real and that it can be applied in a real way.” Read more...

Ron Morgan

Ron Morgan, Founder of 100 Gardens Has Passed (May 2016)

“He was a really inspiring guy, sort of Steve Jobs-like in his obsession with his work,” said Sam Fleming, vice-president of 100 Gardens. But unlike Jobs, Fleming said Morgan didn’t have sharp edges. “He really pushed people to take a step further than they knew they had in them, and he did it in the nicest way possible.”

Read entire article here

Charitable contributions can be sent to:
101 Gardens
200 E 36th Street
Charlotte, NC 28206

101 Gardens is an exempt organization as described in Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; EIN 81-0707631.
All or part of your gift may be tax deductible as a charitable
contribution. Please check with your tax advisor

Rows of collard greens and kale to be used by the cafeteria at Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center

How an Amazing Cafeteria Manager Won The USDA Practices Award For Child Nutrition working with At-Risk Youth in North Carolina (April 2016)

When Janice Wood began working as part of the culinary team at Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center in Concord, NC this past year, she figured her days would be spent prepping meals for the 100 students. In fact, she never would have guessed that in just a short year, she would earn USDA Best Practice Award for Child Nutrition, nor did she predict that the one acre vegetable garden and aquaponics system implemented by 100 Gardens would play such a significant role in her kitchen. Read more...

100 Gardens in the News - PBS (March 2016)

Thank you PBS Charlotte for spotlighting students having a great time learning using aquaponics at South Iredell High School in Troutman, NC!