...even if there are still troubles, I have my gardens to sustain me, fill my soul with peace, and my kitchen with nutritious food.

—Marian Megehan

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The GRuB Garden Project builds free backyard gardens for and with families with low incomes and provides gardeners with ongoing support and resources needed to be successful. GRuB's garden programs are a gift! So far this year, GRuB has installed over 70 gardens for families in Thurston, Lewis, Pierce, and Mason counties and participated in community garden projects all the way up to King County! GRuB gardeners grow more than healthy food, as they nourish their spirits, their neighborhoods, and their communities.

Enjoy the stories of two 2020 gardeners, Marian Mehegan and Rose Oram!

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This was such a positive experience for me since it gave me a lot of joy to tend to the garden everyday and I enjoyed seeing everything grow and flourish. Now I find myself wishing I would have had more room to plant additional beds! I’ve share a lot of my produce with friends without gardens and also family members. It brings many positive responses and also has made others more aware of the important work of GRUB. I am so impressed with your organization and the folks with whom I’ve met and worked with this summer. Thank you for everything you are doing to reach out to those who don’t have the means to obtain and enjoy healthy food. I am so happy to have connected with you.

—Marian Megehan

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My name is Rose Oram. I'm 66 years old, living on a fixed retirement income in the small town of Tenino, WA. I first applied to receive GRuB gardens when the application came out in January in 2020. I was so excited to learn I had been picked to receive 3 raised gardens to be built in April of 2020, in the full sun in my backyard. Beau and Jennah came out with a large truck, dirt, supplies and starter plants and seeds. These lovely people created my gardens while listening and responding to my many, many questions. In short order they finished the garden beds, and now I was anxiously awaiting planting time in May after the last frosts.

I plotted, planned and researched gardening tips to my heart's content with the booklets Jennah and Beau gave me, because I was MADE for gardening as a retired person living in the Covid atmosphere. I couldn't visit family, was stuck at home and yet I could go out to my gardens every day, rain or shine, sit on a stool, pulling weeds, digging in the dirt and picking a salad for lunch, something for dinner and a lovely bouquet for the table. 

These gardens got me through some very difficult times. There is nothing more peaceful and meditative than working in my gardens.

I have been so blessed to provide myself in my little house with fresh food, grown by my own hand in my own yard. I don't have to go out to the stores and risk exposure to the virus.

I've learned so much too! As a new gardener, next year I will plant a different variety of peas, add some bush beans, and french string beans, delicata squash and try some other new things too. I find myself sitting around with a silly grin on my face, with the pleasure of these gardens filling me with such joy. This winter, I will order the free seed and plant catalogs just to plan and plot the gardens for 2021. 

Hopefully a better year for everyone, but even if there are still troubles, I have my gardens to sustain me, fill my soul with peace, and my kitchen with nutritious food. Thank you so much for my gardens.  

—Rose Oram

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Learn more about GRuB Homegrown Food in this video!