We look around at this beautiful home and land we have stewarded and are in awe of this path we have chosen. Last summer we embarked on our journey with Build It Up and learned so much during our first year of becoming more self-sufficient. We even managed to grow...

What a blessing the Build it Up Garden Program has been. I moved to Tennessee last October and by January I knew that I would be hosting a family from Ukraine who were arriving in the United States with just a couple of suitcases. More recently a student from Kenya...

This is our first year in the Build It Up program.  Our past gardens have never panned out very well.  The kids loved playing in the wild chaos, but we never managed a useful harvest.  After discovering a food allergy that restricts ALL commercial preservatives, I was...

Our family of 4 moved to East TN last summer with the dream of having our own garden to start feeding our family with. Without much gardening experience under my belt, I struggled with where and how to get started, what resources to use for research, and felt stuck at...

This was our first year gardening, not just in Tennessee, but in general. Back when we were living in California, I asked my husband to pull the hedges in front of our condo so I could plant some edible plants for the kids. It was very small scale and most things...

My great joy in my garden, this year, has been the involvement of my youngest kiddo. Gardening with my three-year-old daughter amidst the challenges of deer nibbling and imperfect planting conditions has provided a valuable and enriching experience for her development...