Sometimes the hardest part of anything is getting started.

Ashley Honbarrier eliminates that barrier to growing your own food with her nonprofit Happy Roots—providing therapeutic horticulture to communities of all ages, from 2 to 102 and beyond.

In this episode, we talk about what happens when access meets intention… and how something as simple as a garden box can shift not just what we eat, but how we feel.

Ashley shares ​about Earth Day Jam and how it led to the creation of Happy Roots—a nonprofit now serving schools, families, and communities through hands-on, nature-based education.

We get into:

• how Happy Roots began and why removing barriers matters
• “dirt therapy” and the real mental health benefits of getting outside
• the power of school gardens (and why kids will try what they grow)
• simple, approachable ways to start gardening—especially if you feel overwhelmed
• what it looks like to garden with kids, communities, and across generations
• how growing something can build patience, confidence, and connection

This conversation is a reminder that you don’t have to do it perfectly. You don’t need all the answers. And you definitely don’t need a green thumb.

You just have to start.

About Ashley:

Ashley Honbarrier is the Founder and Executive Director of Happy Roots, a North Carolina–based nonprofit focused on school gardens, sustainable agriculture, and therapeutic horticulture. She also serves on the North Carolina School Garden Network Advisory Board and is the founder of Earth Day Jam.

For nearly a decade, she has helped communities connect to their food, support mental health, and build stronger local systems through hands-on education and gardening access.

​Links:

• Happy Roots: https://www.happyrootsnc.org/
• Earth Day Jam: https://earthdayjamnc.com/
• ​Samantha Fox @mothersfinesturbanfarm
• ​Link to garden kit form

Recorded in the Such-N-Such Media Studios at Liberty Plaza in downtown Winston-Salem, we are produced by Tim Beeman for Such-N-Such Media. Theme music is by Doug Davis.

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