The Garden Club of Buzzards Bay is now accepting applications for its grants program.

A release from the club states organizations can apply that are seeking “funding for small or medium size projects that will benefit the environment, conservation or horticulture in their communities.”

“The four areas that we look for are civic beautification, agriculture, conservation and there’s also a scholarship program,” said Ruth Furman, the chair of the grants committee.

In the past, grants have ranged anywhere from $250 to $3,000 as have the number of recipients in a given year. Past recipients have included the Dartmouth YMCA in support of the organization’s Sharing the Harvest Community Farm. The club has also awarded grant money to help the Helfand Community Garden buy a rototiller for its green thumbs.

“Friends Academy has also had an ongoing program where they raise vegetables and produce that is then distributed to communities in need,” said Furman. “It’s far-reaching. There’s a variety of programs out there without immediate funding, but there are needs.”

Furman said the Garden Club has raised money for various groups in the past, but the grants program was formalized in 2003. Funds for the grants stem from the club’s annual plant sale held at St. Mary’s Church.

From September through early May, the club works in a greenhouse located in New Bedford to prepare for the plant sale.

“We meet every Tuesday morning in the greenhouse to either do some propagation, seed sewing, tending to the plants, cutting them back or making them look beautiful so that, by the time May comes around, everything we have to sell will look good,” said Furman.

Not all club members, however, are required to spend time in the soil.

“We meet on a monthly basis because not every member wants to be part of the greenhouse,” she said. “We have a speaker come in, and that speaker can be in the area of conservation or gardening. Sometimes it’s more current issues like climate change. We try to get a broad range of speakers in on a monthly basis.”

The deadline for applications is Feb. 8. Selection will begin soon after, and the organizations that are chosen for a grant will be informed by the end of April.

For details about submitting an application for a proposed project, go to the club’s website at www.gardenclubbuzzardsbay.org and click on “Grants” in the banner at the top of the page.

Once completed, applications can be mailed to P.O. Box 80235, South Dartmouth, MA 02748.