Each month Community Shares of Wisconsin presents the Backyard Hero Award to organizations and people making change happen in our community.
Deirdre Garton
This month’s hero is Deirdre Garton, a board member for Rooted since 2014. Deirdre has decades of experience protecting youth and families in Dane County. In her career, Deirdre served as Deputy District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney in the Dane County Juvenile Division, where she helped to develop a victim compensation program and led a work group to explore the development of a child advocacy center in Dane County to reduce the trauma of child abuse investigations on children and their families.
Deirdre’s passion for the welfare of youth and families continues through her work with Rooted, an organization that works to grow community together, serving youth and families by providing access to urban agriculture education, community spaces, and land to grow food. Deirdre recently held a fundraiser dinner that was a wonderful farm-to-table experience featuring food from Rooted’s Troy Farm and Badger Rock Urban Farm. Rooted is grateful for the wisdom and guidance Deirdre provides and the joyful encouragement that she shares freely. Thank you, Deirdre!
Deirdre also serves the community on other boards, including the Wilson Foundation and Ten Chimneys Foundation. She has been involved with capital campaigns for RISE Wisconsin and the Overture Center. She is the co-owner of Quivey’s Grove, a local restaurant serving the community for over 45 years. In 2025, both Rooted and Quivey’s Grove were recipients of the City of Fitchburg Mayoral Award.
Rooted’s mission is to grow community-led, sustainable food systems through food production, land access, and urban agriculture education. Rooted partners with 12 Madison schools to provide hands-on agriculture education to youth, distributes thousands of pounds of food to local neighborhood centers and food pantries, supports community gardens and collaborative farm gardens throughout Dane County, and hosts in-person and virtual community events free of charge throughout the Madison area. Rooted operates Troy Farm, Badger Rock Neighborhood Center, and the Community Gardens Network of Dane County, in addition to a year-round youth employment program.
The Backyard Hero Awards are sponsored by 105.5 Triple M, Isthmus, and Budget Signs.
