A Year of Bounty at Beyers’ Bulldog Garden
By Elizabeth Gray
So much has been going on at the Beyers’ Bulldog Garden since it started in March of 2025 that it’s hard to know where to start!
As a quick historical recap, the Beyers’ Bulldog Garden (BBG) was a gift to GROW from long-time gardeners Margi and Bill Beyers by will in late 2024. It is a 5,700-square-foot parcel at 4807 54th Ave SW, south of Alki Beach, and came with a tool shed, a degraded watering system, a greenhouse (which GROW Board members assembled for Margi in what was to be her last year of gardening), a big raspberry patch, a loganberry patch, an enormous fig tree, some espaliered fruit trees, a deteriorating fence, lots of blackberries, tasty cardoons, strawberries, dahlias, and great soil.
Building on a legacy of West Seattle generosity, GROW was awarded a $5,000 grant from the West Seattle Garden Tour in 2025, which allowed the garden to get off the ground at a gallop with soil, compost, and mulch. Arborist Derek Fowler was hired to assess the health of the trees and make recommendations, and almost half the grant needed to be spent to repair the irrigation system before the water could be turned on, making it possible to grow vegetables for the community, the West Seattle Food Bank, and other food pantries.
In its first year, BBG donated over 300 pounds of food and 500 tomato starts for other gardens in the Seattle Giving Gardens Network (SGGN) – an achievement of more than 30 families, GROW, and SGGN are very proud. We also received dozens of interesting varieties of berries from West Seattle Nursery, which made a huge difference in refreshing our patch, and dozens more that BBG distributed to other giving gardens for WSN.
So much bounty in the first season!
Gratitude and Hard Work
BBG gardeners also applied for and were awarded a Department of Neighborhoods’ Small Sparks award of $5,000. With those funds came the requirement of matching funds, or volunteer labor for the project, which the group of 32 families gave in spades. Volunteer hours applicable for the project were recorded by one volunteer and far exceeded the required number, clocking in at over 1200 hours!
One of the first actions for this project was hiring and completing a landscape design plan for the accessible path. Karen Kiest, Landscape Architect, was hired. With a preliminary plan in hand, they presented their plan in two community input meetings in the garden in spring of 2026. The approved plan then determined other aspects of the project, including the location of a future gathering space, the placement of the accessible beds and garden entrances, the permanent home of the compost bins, and bed/crop planning.
Recommendations were made to remove infected trees, as well as the west fence, which became unsafe and ineffective. Then, with lumber and a lot of volunteer labor, the west fence was to be completed by the time of publication and good progress including pouring footings and a concrete pad at the entrance, show the skill and tenacity of the key fence-builder Zach Trent, who lives across from the garden. Since there is no electricity in the BBG, Zach uses his own power tools and electricity, generously donating many hours after a long day of work, on weekends, and between projects on his own renovations at home.
The work was largely completed during bi-weekly 2-hour work parties, with additional labor by retired volunteers and others available at times during the work week for aspects of the project they could complete on their own.
The new accessible path largely follows the path of the initial mulch path but was altered/ adjusted toward the NW corner (which necessitates moving the gate to the corner also to make access/slope easier for wheelchair access and E-bikes which several gardeners use to access the garden regularly).
New fundraising initiatives include an application for KCD funds of $2,330 for new compost bins, soil/compost for new/refreshed beds; new berry bushes to be put along south fence and other plants. A successful garage sale on the West Seattle Garage Sale Saturday (May 9th) raised almost $3,000. There was great garden community involvement in organizing, donating, and selling items that day including some plants grown in the garden.
Join BBG for their 2nd Annual Garden Party on Sunday, September 13 from 11am - 1pm.
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