FROM THE GROUND UP

Gardener Ashlie Thomas believes that everyone deserves access to fresh, nourishing food.

- ASHLEY ABRAMSON

Ashlie has been planting and growing vegetables at her North Carolina home since 2019.

Ashlie Thomas grew up in the rural South and knows firsthand what it's like to live in a food desert. She also knows that food insecurity can be a problem even in communities with plenty of restaurants and grocery stores. “When we think of food insecurity, we usually think about food deserts, but many people live in food swamps, where there's an oversaturation of fast food,” she says. “I've experienced both ends of the spectrum.”

Ashlie, now 33, developed an interest in nutrition when she started taking care of her sick grandfather in 2015 and learned how hard it could be to keep her grandparents' kitchen stocked with the nourishing produce they needed to stay healthy.

Turns out, the answer to her community's problem was right in front of her, in the lush North Carolina soil. “I was so motivated and encouraged by the land,” she says, "and how it could be used to grow nutritious foods."

In 2019, Ashlie and her husband, Tyler, bought a home on an acre of land in Graham, North Carolina. Shortly after moving in, she and Tyler, who both also work full-time jobs outside the home, built several octagonal raised beds on their property. Three years later, they have 2,500 square feet of organic gardens where they now grow up to 70 types of fruits, vegetables and herbs per season.