The Organic Gardener

What The Organic Gardener does

The Organic Gardener Ltd. (TOG) is a privately held, founder-led organic edible gardening services company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, operating across the Midwest region (Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana) with primary concentration in Chicagoland and the North Shore suburbs. Founded in 2005 by Jeanne Nolan following her return to Chicago after 17 years on organic communal farms, the company designs, installs, and maintains custom organic edible gardens for four primary customer segments: residential homeowners, businesses and corporate campuses (including country clubs, LEED-certified apartment complexes, and corporate HQs), schools (K-12 and universities with curriculum-integrated edible education programming), and non-profit organizations (community gardens, supportive housing programs, and therapeutic settings).

TOG delivers a full end-to-end service — initial on-site consultation, custom design proposal, installation of raised beds and in-ground gardens with irrigation and critter-proof fencing, and seasonal maintenance (April through November, with year-round options via greenhouse/coldframe). The company propagates plants in its own on-site greenhouse using non-GMO and heirloom seeds and maintains a crop list of over 90 varieties selected for Midwestern climate performance. Recurring revenue is generated through multi-year maintenance contracts and hands-on educational programming delivered by trained garden educators.

The business model is professional services: quote-based custom pricing (not publicly disclosed), with a consultation-led sales motion, supplemented by speaking engagements, workshops, and content marketing through founder media appearances on WTTW's Chicago Tonight and the 2013 Random House book 'From the Ground Up.' TOG's flagship institutional asset is The Edible Gardens, a 5,000 square-foot educational children's garden at Lincoln Park Zoo's Farm-in-the-Zoo, maintained in partnership with Green City Market since the company's founding and welcoming over 25,000 visitors annually. The company operates without disclosed external funding, maintaining family ownership under Jeanne Nolan (Founder/President) and Verdant Nolan (President/Co-Owner), with a peak-season team of approximately 30 employees including gardeners, designers, and educators.

Name

The Organic Gardener

Legal name

The Organic Gardener Ltd.

Website

https://theorganicgardener.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Organic Gardener Ltd. is a privately held Northbrook, Illinois-based company that designs, installs, and maintains custom organic edible gardens for residential, corporate, school, and non-profit clients across the Midwest, anchored by its flagship educational garden at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Landscape Services

NAICS

Landscaping Services (561730), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Vegetable & Herb Garden Installation and Maintenance (HSAIAFAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Garden Bed Installation & Planting (Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs) (HSAIAFAB), Raised Garden Beds & Planter Box Installation (HSAIAFAK), Garden Bed Design, Layout & Planting Plans (HSAIAFAA), Organic Greenhouse & Protected Crop Farming (High Tunnels, Greenhouses) (AFAGAKAD)

Keywords

• Organic garden services
• Edible landscape design
• Garden installation maintenance
• School garden programs
• Rooftop garden construction

Headquarters

HQ city

Northbrook

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Garden Design and Installation Services: Custom design and installation of organic edible gardens including consultation, design development phase, and full installation with raised beds, irrigation, composting, and fencing elements.
2. Garden Maintenance Services: Regular garden maintenance visits with options for hands-on teaching with trained garden educators, or clients can simply enjoy harvest delivered to their door. Season runs April through November with year-round options via greenhouse/coldframe.
3. Educational Programming: Interactive garden education programming for schools, corporations, and non-profits. Includes garden tours, workshops, demos, and curriculum-connected edible education.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Organic Gardener Ltd. designs, installs, and maintains organic edible gardens for residential, business, school, and non-profit clients across the Midwest. Services span on-site consultation, custom garden design, raised bed and rooftop construction, greenhouse propagation of non-GMO and heirloom seedlings, seasonal maintenance, harvest delivery, and curriculum-integrated edible education programming.

Product overview

The Organic Gardener Ltd. is a service-based company offering organic edible garden design, installation, and maintenance. The company operates as a single integrated service with distinct practice areas: Residential Gardens (for homeowners), Business Garden Programs (for corporations, country clubs, and commercial spaces), School Gardens (with edible education programming), Non-Profit Garden Programs, and Rooftop Gardens. Their flagship project is The Edible Gardens at Lincoln Park Zoo, a 5,000 square-foot educational garden maintained in partnership with Green City Market. Additional offerings include speaking engagements by founder Jeanne Nolan, educational how-to videos, and Jeanne's book 'From the Ground Up' published by Random House in 2013. The company also maintains a media partnership with WTTW Chicago PBS for the Homegrown garden project featuring regular television segments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Gardens Custom organic edible garden design, installation, and maintenance for individual homeowners, including in-ground gardens, raised beds, rooftops, decks, and patios. Targets families in suburban North Shore suburbs and urban Chicago spaces.
• Business Garden Programs Edible garden programs for corporate campuses, shopping malls, country clubs, and LEED-certified apartment complexes, including custom crop selection, amenity gardens, and interactive programming tied to wellness, sustainability, and tenant experience.
• School Gardens Edible education programming for Pre-K through university schools that integrates vegetable gardens into curriculum for math, science, art, environmental stewardship, and healthy eating habits.
• Non-Profit Garden Programs Sustainable garden programs for non-profit organizations that connect communities around food growing, including community gardens, supportive housing gardens, youth programming, and educational gardens.
• Rooftop Gardens Organic edible gardens designed and built for rooftop spaces in urban environments, including heated greenhouses for year-round growing.
• Garden Maintenance Services Regular garden maintenance visits including hands-on teaching with trained garden educators, harvest delivery, and seasonal growing assistance from March through December, with year-round options via greenhouse/coldframe.
• Speaking and Educational Presentations Bookable speaking engagements and educational presentations delivered by founder Jeanne Nolan covering topics including organic gardening success, edible education, entrepreneurship, and spiritual ecology.
• From the Ground Up (Book) Jeanne Nolan's book published by Random House in 2013, part memoir and part how-to guide for growing organic food. Sold via the company's 'Buy the Book' page.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 organic food gardens built since 2005
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor, major and core.

• Indian Trail Garden Learning Center (NSSD112, Scott Byron & Co., Thomas Shafer Architects)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Collaboration for Indian Trail Garden Learning Center project with North Shore School District 112, landscape company Scott Byron & Co., and architect firm Thomas Shafer Architects.
• WTTW/PBS ChicagomajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2014Media partnership with Chicago's PBS station. Jeanne Nolan appears regularly on Chicago Tonight program. TOG designed and maintains two raised beds at WTTW studios as teaching model for garden segments.
• Seeds of ChangeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Partnership for 'Sowing Millions, Growing Minds' seed-to-school donation program in 2012. Created how-to videos filmed in The Edible Gardens.
• Glencoe Union ChurchminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Partnership to design and build courtyard raised bed vegetable garden for La Casa Norte's Solid Ground Supportive Housing Program.
• Edible Schoolyard Network (Alice Waters)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008TOG's flagship Edible Gardens project was inspired by Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, CA. TOG is a proud part of the Edible Schoolyard Network. Three of TOG's garden educators attended ESY Academy in Berkeley in 2015.
• Green City MarketcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Long-term partnership with Chicago's largest year-round all-local farmers market. TOG maintains The Edible Gardens as Green City Market's primary educational outreach program. Jeanne Nolan worked as assistant to GCM founder Abby Mandel before founding TOG.
• Lincoln Park ZoocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Partnership to maintain The Edible Gardens at Farm-in-the-Zoo. Gardens welcome over 25,000 visitors annually and host school groups, field trips, and adult workshops.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Love & Carrots: Edible garden design, installation, and maintenance company founded in 2011 serving the DC/Maryland/Virginia region - the closest comparable for-profit residential and commercial edible gardening service model in another major metro.
• Farmscape: California's largest urban farming company providing edible garden design, installation, and maintenance for residential and commercial clients - functionally identical service offering to TOG in a different climate/region.
• Rooted Garden: Houston-area organic edible garden installation, maintenance, and education company serving homeowners, schools, and businesses - directly comparable boutique organic gardening service in a different Midwestern/Southern market.
• My Edible Landscape: California-based edible landscaping company designing and installing vegetable gardens, orchards, and edible perennials for residential clients - comparable service model emphasizing food-producing landscapes.
• Edible Gardens: Online heirloom seed and edible plant retailer with accompanying gardening guidance, providing a hybrid product/service model that overlaps TOG's plant propagation and consumer education positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Scott Byron & Co. Established Chicago-area landscape design and build firm that has partnered with TOG on the Indian Trail Garden Learning Center project - a larger incumbent with the capacity to vertically extend into edible landscaping organically.

Emerging players

• Big Green: Non-profit organization building edible school gardens and food literacy programs nationwide - overlaps with TOG's school and education programming segment while operating at significantly broader scale via donor funding.
• Out Teach: Non-profit bringing outdoor experiential learning to schools, including garden-based programming - adjacent to TOG's edible education work and a potential partner or competitor for school garden contracts.

Others

• Edible Schoolyard Project: Alice Waters' national network for edible education of which TOG is a proud member; serves as a thought-leadership umbrella, training pipeline (TOG educators attended ESY Academy), and category definer rather than a direct competitor.
• Green City Market: Chicago's year-round local farmers market and TOG's long-standing partner; enables The Edible Gardens as GCM's primary educational outreach arm and provides peer credibility in the local food ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TOGgardens
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Glencoe-IL/The-Organic-Gardener-Ltd/110673694338?ref=ts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1501968?trk=tyah&trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2Cidx%3A1-1-1%2CtarId%3A1430152357401%2Ctas%3Athe%20organic%20gardener%20ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/theorganicgardenerltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Organic Gardener