This article was written by Victory Neighborhood Association
Joanne Goddard considers making things grow her superpower. An avid gardener since she was eight years old— last year she transitioned her superpower into her super-business.
Joanne is the proprietress of Goddard’s Gardens, a pop-up garden center soon opening its second season at 44th and Penn. Goddard’s Gardens’ mission is to provide high quality plant material to Northsiders at a reasonable cost. The garden center carries the plants you would find at a traditional retailer, and starting May 1, neighbors can buy Goddard’s Gardens’ flowers, herbs, vegetables and shrubs out of the parking lot of the Goddess of Glass at 4400 Osseo Road.
Joanne worked at Malmborg’s Garden Center in Brooklyn Center for many years, exploring her passion of playing in the dirt and connecting with other gardeners. Little by little, Joanne learned the business aspects of operating a garden center, and now partners with Malmborg’s to source many of the plants sold at Goddard’s Gardens. Seeing a need in our Camden Community, she took the plunge into entrepreneurship after realizing that failure was the worst thing that could happen. One year into the endeavor, she now considers business ownership terrifying and fun all at the same time.
A resident of the McKinley Neighborhood, Joanne volunteers her time and skills to support other Northside gardening initiatives. She works with Appetite for Change to support new and existing community gardens throughout the area. One of Joanne’s goals for this season is to teach community members and customers how to grow food in containers. She believes that growing and cooking healthy food is one of the best things people can do for themselves, and by teaching container gardening, growing healthy food can be accessible to almost anyone.
The number one factor that sets Goddard’s Gardens apart from other garden centers is Joanne herself. Since her business is small, she has the time to give each plant and each customer the attention they deserve. She will gladly share her gardening knowledge and ideas with anyone who needs it. And she considers every plant her baby until it gets ‘adopted’ by another household, so customers are assured that their purchases have been well cared for.
Goddard’s Gardens is open daily from May 1 to July 4; after the holiday it is open weekends through the growing season. Stop by 4400 Osseo Road to get your plants and search “Goddard’s Gardens” on Facebook for the most up-to-date info. Joanne can also make special orders by request, with products arriving in 1-2 weeks.