Help us grow, connect, preserve, & foster in Northeast Tennessee.
Your support keeps us running. Our work depends on the generous donations we receive from community members, partners, and sponsors. Make a tax-deductible contribution to the Appalachian RC&D Council today, and you will be an integral part of our drive to support local agriculture, ensure access to nutritious food for all our local communities, and protect the natural beauty of Appalachia. You may choose to have your contribution applied to a specific program, or to wherever our greatest need is currently. Thank you for your support!
Newsroom
Erin Jasenak: A Gardener’s Story
A great thing about this program is that another family in our neighborhood is doing it too. We talk about our gardens and share our experiences. It helps to know someone else is going through the same challenges, especially with stubborn grass and daily maintenance.
Lucinda Bowman: Gardener’s Story
Through the Build it up program I have been given a gift to learn the things about gardening that I didn’t when I was growing up. I chose to garden in raised beds for my first year. I built 4-4×8 raised beds out of rough sawn lumber and a herb spiral out of bricks.
Ante Ursic: A Gardener’s Story
My five-year-old helped set up the garden, putting the seeds and seedlings into the earth, giving him an appreciation of the food we eat and excitement to see the things grow and develop.
McKenzie Templeton: Gardener’s Story
We love learning about ways we can be more self-sufficient, eat cleaner, and look forward to instilling these same beliefs in our children one day. I didn’t realize how easy it was to grow things without using any unnecessary chemicals or pesticides. I didn’t realize how little space I needed – or how little knowledge I needed to get started.
Xinyi Chen Lin: A Gardener’s Story
We’re now focusing on more pest-resilient crops like peppers, okra, tomatoes, onions, leeks, and plenty of culinary and medicinal herbs. We also planted eggplants, though flea beetles have already taken a toll—hopefully, the organic pesticide from the program helps them bounce back. Eggplants are especially valuable in our keto diet as excellent fat sponges.
