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Local garden branches out

Nonprofit farming group expands with new building

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published January 12, 2009

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OLYMPIA – After several years of fundraisers and a year of "green" construction, Garden-Raised Bounty's new farmhouse has opened in west Olympia.

The farmhouse allows all of the nonprofit group's programs to operate under one roof; they previously had been operated out of space leased from Community Youth Services to the west Olympia farm, said farm manager Justin Umholtz. The downstairs kitchen and front room also are large enough for classes, including nutrition classes that are part of the group's offerings.

"It allows us to be lean and mean and make good use of the nonprofit's money," he said.

The public can get a look at the new farmhouse, at Division Street and Elliott Avenue Northwest, during an open house next month.

Garden-Raised Bounty, known as GRuB, has been around for more than a decade and has provided thousands of pounds of fresh produce a year to the Thurston County Food Bank and to low-income families, organizers say. The group also helps low-income families and seniors establish their gardens, and teaches gardening to children whose families make less than 130 percent of poverty level, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The farmhouse is the result of a $725,000 fundraising campaign. That money was used to pay off a loan on its 2-acre farm in west Olympia and construct the new farmhouse.

The group reached the goals with the help of local donors, an anonymous donation of $30,000 and a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, organizers say.

The contractors of the farmhouse employed green techniques, such as using a product that contains recycled wood products and using reclaimed wood flooring for the upstairs offices.

On Sunday, about 20 gardeners filled the new front room to learn the basics about saving seeds for future gardens. A few attendees sat at the large kitchen counter to listen to the presentation by a new local advocacy and education group, the Olympia Seed Exchange.

Cathleen Doctor of Olympia said GRuB has saved her money by helping her with her own vegetable garden. She started with three boxes five years ago and now has a 50- by 30-foot vegetable garden, which she plans to expand.

"Their old building was kind of bare-bones," she said. "It's wonderful to have them grow and expand into the community."

Loretta Murphy, a member of the South Sound Fruit Society, came to the workshop to learn more about gardening and to see the new space.

"I'm happy to see this now open. This space is wonderful for classes," she said. "And with the economy the way it is, this organization is such an asset to the community."

Venice Buhain is a reporter for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.