About GrowJourney 

Since 2014, GrowJourney has been on a mission to make organic no-till gardening simple and accessible to anyone. While we started as a USDA certified organic seed company, we’re now focused exclusively on providing the highest quality organic gardening educational resources on the web — specifically focused on no-till organic gardening.

As part of our mission to be “accessible to anyone,” all of our educational resources are free. Thus, our website is 100% funded by advertisers and affiliate commissions earned through the curated gardening products we recommend.

With GrowJourney, you can learn how to:

  1. Start your own organic, no-till garden or market garden/micro-farm.
  2. Build rich, healthy, biologically active soil to reduce or eliminate the need for chemical or mineral fertilizers.
  3. Grow your own plants from seed and learn how to save your own seeds.
  4. Grow food year round via our helpful seasonal gardening tutorials.
  5. Take your organic gardening game to the next level with edible landscaping ideas that can turn your whole yard into an attractive, food-rich oasis.
  6. Reimagine what your home landscape can look and function like… Instead of a sterile grass lawn sprayed with dangerous synthetic chemicals, why not create an abundant foodscape that’s safe for you, your family, your pets, and pollinators/wildlife?

About the founders

Aaron and Susan von Frank, GrowJourney cofounders

Aaron & Susan von Frank

Susan and Aaron are the wife and husband cofounders of GrowJourney. Avid organic gardeners, garden writers, and gardening teachers, their fully edible organic yard has been featured in LearnVest, Forbes, USA Today, and other publications. As their garden grew beyond its initial backyard footprint, it became known as “Tyrant Farms.” (Susan’s nickname is “The Tyrant” since she can be a little bossy at times—but she claims to be a benevolent dictator.)

The von Franks want to help you learn to grow organic food using regenerative, no-till growing methods. The growing approaches advocated on GrowJourney build healthy soil, produce clean air & water, grow nutrient-dense hyperlocal food, and help people and their communities become healthier and more resilient

Susan is a graduate of College of Charleston (BS Biology) in Charleston, SC, and Aaron is a graduate of Furman University (BA Political Science) in Greenville, SC.

Eliza A. Holcomb

appalachian feet - eliza

Born in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Eliza A. Holcomb’s roots in this area go back for generations. She’s a SC Master Gardener (2001) and Upstate SC Master Naturalist (2007). She founded Green Drinks Greenville and the SC Upstate Permaculture Society.

For years, her downtown Greenville urban farm was a highlight of the Greenville Urban Farm Tour with its lawn-free edible landscaping, chickens, mushrooms, and bees. In addition to consulting, teaching classes, and writing for various publications, Eliza also has a helpful permaculture “how-to” blog called Appalachian Feet (that’s long overdue for an update!).

Eliza is in the process of starting a garden from scratch at her new home in Laurens, SC. She’s been part of GrowJourney since it first got started in 2014.