Grow With Us
Organic gardening education from seed to harvest. Learn how to grow, eat, and preserve food from your own backyard!
Our Programs
Since 2012, Build It Up has offered gardening education and installed over 100 new gardens in East TN. We offer support to backyard gardeners, market gardeners, and school and community gardens. Learn more about what we do by clicking below!
Backyard Gardeners Program
We take 30-40 families through a year of organic gardening education and support. Families recieve plants, seeds, tools, fertilizer and more to help grow healthy, fresh food right in their own backyards!
Market Gardeners Program
We encourage entreprenuership through agriculture and support market gardeners up to a half acre in size. We have a growers coop that sells to restaurants and a multi-farm CSA.
Consulting
Our gardening experts would love to help you design a backyard, community or school garden! We also do food forests, perennial fruit & nut trees, and native edible plants.
Over 150 Families Served
Wish your kids knew where their food comes from? Gardening provides so many opportunities for kids (and adults!) to learn about food, nature, and the joys of dirt under your fingernails! Learn more about our Backyard Gardens Program:
Grow Organic
We teach how to grow organically and in harmony with our ecosystem. Our workshops focus on gardening in ways that prevent pest and disease issues naturally without relying on chemical fertilizers and sprays.
Pounds of Food Grown
%
Organic
Families
Our Partners
Appalachian RC&D
BIU is a fiscally sponsored project of Appalachian RC&D. Learn more about their other great programs in the region!
Grow Appalachia
We are one of 21 Grow Appalachia partner sites. Click to learn more about GA and our sister programs.
Latest from the Blog
We try to feature blogs from each of our families 2-3 times a month. Read all about their gardening adventures this season:
Gardener Story: Justin Clark
Gardener Story: Justin ClarkIntroducing new gardeners: Justin and Anne Marie Clark! This is our second year of attempting a garden - and our first year at our current home. We knew we wanted some staples that we have grown to love before (bush beans, cucumbers,...
Gardener Story: Alexis Siegler
Gardener Story: Alexis Siegler Our garden has progressed nicely. We got our plants in a little bit later than some people due to having some lovely damp soil! That being said, it has been wonderful to be able to start with quality plants from Build It Up. We...
Gardener Story: Eddy Hogan
Gardener Story: Eddy Hogan We are currently putting up an electric fence to protect our garden from deer and three groundhogs (Mom and two babies). My wife, Norma, and I have gardened on a small scale for years, but we have learned a tremendous amount from...