People Helping People: GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty)
By J.J. Hudson
A mother and her young son look a bit lost as they walk through the front door of an unassuming Olympia home with one huge backyard.
"We came to pick out seeds," she says to a tall man sitting at a table in what should be a living room.
"That room right there is seeds galore!" The man, Blue Peetz, smiles and points to a room off a hallway to the rear.
A few minutes later, the two leave with a box full of seed packets and dreams of growing good grub for their own table. This is just a typical scene at the GRuB Farm, also known as the Sister Holly Garden. GRuB is Garden-Raised Bounty, a nonprofit organization dedicated to nourishing community by empowering people to grow good food. The GRuB family not only grows their own organic food but empowers low-income neighbors to grow healthy food in their own gardens.
"We grow pretty much everything on this farm - all your standard vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, carrots, et cetera. We have a number of fruit trees and perennial berries like raspberries and strawberries," Peetz, co-director of GRuB, explained.
The garden has graduated to farmhood. Expectations are to double and even triple production this year. After harvesting, GRuB donates produce to the Thurston County Food Bank. Additionally, a fair amount of production goes to members of GRuB’s Cultivating Youth program.
"All of our youth and their families get a share of the farm," said Peetz. "We do about 18 low-income family shares a year that the youth are a part of, growing that food, harvesting that food and taking it home."
The farm puts at-risk youth to work. GRuB approaches every school district in Thurston County, taking on 15 low-income students annually for a two-year program. Peetz reported that students who work at GRuB experience an 82 percent graduation rate.
"This is a vehicle for these young people to turn their lives around. If you want to end hunger, a big issue is looking at the roots of why people are hungry in the first place," he noted.
Farm Manager Emily Dietzman articulated how best the GRuB Farm has become something special for the community: "It’s the people we grow out here that are really special. It’s the youth that really make our farm outstanding."
Published March 16, 2006 in The News Tribune
