Winnipegger creates interactive map to connect gardeners around the city

An interactive map of Winnipeg showing what people are growing in their gardens in each community in the city. March 27, 2026. (Sean Philips/Grown Next Door)

A Winnipeg man is hoping to build a stronger sense of community through a new interactive gardening map he created, which is designed to help Winnipeggers share their excess crops with others in their neighbourhood.

Sean Philips designed the map called Grown Next Door. He said the idea came after years of trading vegetables with his neighbour.

“My neighbour grows fantastic tomatoes and I am a terrible gardener. So every fall, he gives me a couple of Ziploc bags full of tomatoes and I give him the remnants of what the rabbits didn’t get of my peppers,” Philips said.

He then realized several neighbours on his street also had significant vegetable gardens and wanted to find a way to have everyone meet and trade what they have.

“Not only is that good because it’s not wasteful, but also, it’s a really good way to build a community. It’s an excuse for us to go have a conversation and meet each other.”

Philips just finished the map on Sunday and said there has already been so much positive reaction to it.

“Within 20 minutes, there were already 10 people signed up, and the little plots of land on the map were already going green. It was pretty amazing.”

The map is completely free, and the way it works is you click on your neighbourhood, enter your first name only, and then select all of the veggies you are growing. There is also a button where you can list any extra produce you have and specify if you want to sell, give away or trade it.

Once it has been filled out, the neighbourhood turns green, which indicates there are other gardeners in the area to communicate with.

As of Friday afternoon, nine communities on the map have turned green with dozens of submissions by Winnipeggers.

Seeing success already has been humbling for Philips.

“It’s great to know that people still really care about being part of a community and watching the little neighbourhoods go green every time someone puts something in another one, it’s really satisfying. I’m actually making a good change in the world. That makes me very happy.”

As a short-term goal, Philips would love to see 1,000 people marking their plants on the site by the time they go into the ground over the next couple of months.

Other features he plans on adding in the near future include an ability to add pictures to show real-time progress of people’s gardens and a comment section that would allow for feedback.

“It’s one of those things where the more people use it, the better it gets. So I want as many people to sign up as possible. There’s really no barrier.”

People can learn more about the map here.