Grow Pittsburgh was formed in 2005  by the owner operators of two urban farms:  Mildreds' Daughters Urban Farm and Garden Dreams.

Mildreds' Daughters Urban Farm has a 100+ year history and is the last remaining farm within Pittsburgh's city limits. Randa Shannon and Barb Kline purchased the Stanton Heights site in 1999 and developed a five-acre USDA certified organic farm that currently markets organic vegetables, fruits, herbs and heirloom seedling sales through farmers markets and restaurants. Mildreds' Daughters Urban Farm also operates a working-member CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

Garden Dreams is a small-scale, intensive market garden situated on what was once a vacant lot in the nearby Borough of Wilkinsburg. Its owner, Mindy Schwartz, specializes in producing heirloom tomatoes and other seedlings.

In response to strong community interest in urban agriculture, Grow Pittsburgh began offering educational workshops and tours for area residents at the two demonstration farms. It also created a 12-week Adult Intern Program and 10-week Summer Youth Intern Program. In 2005 the programs trained five adults and employed six youth and a youth coordinator. The following year Grow Pittsburgh repeated the Summer Youth Program (receiving over 100 applications for six positions!) and expanded its Adult Intern Program by awarding stipends for two seasonal positions and hiring two and a half full time farm employees.

In 2006 Grow Pittsburgh hired Executive Director Miriam Manion to take over the helm and for the next 2 1/2 years we shared office space with the Penn State Cooperative Extension. In November 2008 the organization moved to our new office space on Penn Avenue. The original founders have turned their attentions back to the business of farming but continue to stay interested in our programs, and Randa Shannon serves as a Grow Pittsburgh board member.