Gardener Story: Edith Johnson
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...
Gardener Story: Carden Family
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...
Gardener Story: Katie Ohlin
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...
Gardener Story: Joanna Arceo
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...
Gardener Story: Grace Edwards
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...
Gardener Story: Lucas Family
When we set out on this journey, our goal was to grow as much of our own food as we could and preserve it to use during the winter months. We’ve had successes and failures alike. We are still relatively new to Tennessee and it’s climate. We come from a hot dry...