Ruth’s Roots

WE NEED YOUR HELP.  We run an amazing community garden in Bay St. Louis called Ruth’s Roots.  We are a garden, but so much more.  Thousands of people enjoy Ruth’s Roots every year, bringing their children, grandkids and families.  

Ruth’s Roots started as a place for troubled youth to engage in pro-social activities and has turned into so much more.  We have vegetables, fruit and herbs that are free to the public.  We have bunnies and hens and we donate the eggs to a local non-profit.  We have a beautiful deck, fish pond with a waterfall, a greenhouse, a backyard butterfly education center, two worm beds, and two honey bee hives from which we cultivate delicious honey.  We have beautiful displays of public art, a street piano and a zen garden.  We have a free little library stocked with books.  We have a blessings box which the community keeps filled with food, toiletries and pet food.   You can check out our Facebook page “Ruth’s Roots” to see our amazing reviews and pictures.   We have been featured in numerous newspaper articles, in the Mississippi State Extension magazine, in the National Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges publication, and will be featured in Mississippi Magazine in their March/April issue.

The garden is run by volunteers and on a shoestring budget.  We do it as a service to our amazing community.  However, we have just recently began having problems with vandals and unfortunately need to install cameras to protect our garden.  In addition we are putting up a wooden fence on the side of the property which will be a place of public art and inspirational messages. 

Your donations will will go to the Hancock Community Development Foundation, which manages our non-profit, Ruth’s Roots.  Please consider making a donation to help us keep this community treasure going strong.  Thank you!