The BEST Program to Help You Grow Your Own Food!
Do you want to have your own garden, but are unsure of where to start? Have you attempted to grow your own food, but were not satisfied with the results? Are you worried about food security and ready to do something about it? If you answered “Yes!” to any of these questions, then you are a perfect candidate for the Build It Up Program!
How Build It Up Helped Us Grow Our Own Food
In our first year with Build It Up we were able to harvest over 500 pounds of food! We went from sporadic productivity with failed plantings to successful gardeners in a year. If growing 500 pounds of produce sounds overwhelming – don’t worry. Through the Build It Up program, you can grow the types of plants you want in the quantity you want. We chose to use this opportunity to grow a wide variety of produce in a variety of gardening styles (no till, raised beds, and edible landscaping) to learn what works best for us. Most recently, Build It Up has helped us explore fall gardening by providing us with seeds, plants, and row covers. To see our log of harvested produce, scroll to the bottom. Everything pictured in this post was grown through the help of Build It Up.
What is Build It Up?
Build It Up has a free Backyard Gardening Program through the Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council (ARCD). Through monthly classes, it teaches all of the steps of organic gardening, from preparing the soil to harvest. Furthermore, Build It Up provides participants with seeds, seedlings, fertilizer, pesticide, fungicide and tools. To learn more, visit their website at arcd.org/build-it-up.
Who is Eligible?
There is an application and selection process for this program. Priority is given to Tennessee residents within 25 miles of Johnson City. Additionally, all participants are required to attend monthly class, write one blog post, and record harvest quantities. If you reside outside of the target area, you can check out their sister programs at https://growappalachia.berea.edu/.
Ready to Grow Your Own Food?
If you are ready to apply, go to https://arcd.org/build-it-up/backyard-gardener-program/. Applications are accepted every year in January. Applicants are notified in February regarding their acceptance.
Holmes Harvested Produce 2021
As part of our participation in Build It Up, we kept a record of our harvest. This log was also very informative for us. We can see what months we harvested which crops and will be able to compare future years.