Build It Up Blog

The Build It Up Blog includes entries from our gardners discussing their gardening journey and guides from our program staff regarding when to start your seeds, when to put transplants in the ground, when to fertilize, and more!

Gardener Story: Lisa Scholz

Gardener Story: Lisa Scholz

This is the second year that we have had a garden here in Tennessee. We are transplants from New York and had a very teeny tiny garden up there for the last few years before we moved. We were always more or less just experimenting to see if we could grow food. Our...

Gardener Story: Smith Family

Gardener Story: Smith Family

  The adventure of growing food for our family has been a passion of ours for a lot of years now. Every year it seems that we have new motivations and new goals to expand in various ways. This year, along with growing our usual staple crops, we have incorporated some...

Gardener Story: Pietrowski Family

Gardener Story: Pietrowski Family

During my childhood, my parents always tried to have a very small garden, but we never seemed to have the time or the ability to expand beyond tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers. Once or twice, they ventured into melons and pumpkins, but we weren’t very...

Gardener Story: Ashley Chambers

Gardener Story: Ashley Chambers

It is May 2023 and I am in my third year of serious gardening (where I make an ACTUAL effort to not kill the plant instead of claiming I can't keep even a cactus alive). The first serious year, 2020, I planted in 2 boxes, a 10x12 area of corn, and some pots. I...

Worm Tubes: In Bed Composting

Worm Tubes: In Bed Composting

As a busy gardener with both kids and dog, a dedicated compost pile is not an option for us. We have tried many options in the past including directly throwing food scraps into the beds and a rolling composter. Neither of these options worked well in keeping the...

Gardener Story: 3 Forks Farm

Gardener Story: 3 Forks Farm

Mark and I met in church around 11 years ago. He could tell you exactly how long ago. I mention this as an introduction to the careful note taker, researcher and planner that Mark is. And to underline the contrast that I am. I am the willy-nilly part of this journey. ...

Gardener Story: Carolyn Andrews

Gardener Story: Carolyn Andrews

So far, so good in my second year of gardening with Build It Up. Participation in Build It Up the first year taught me the importance of a garden plan and crop rotation, and everything I have planted so far this year seems to be thriving in its location. The program...