At BUG, we we are committed to being timely and offering exceptional quality. We hold a growth mindset, always striving to learn and improve. We are enthusiastic about doing what’s right for the Earth and our community. We look forward to growing food with you!
Ashley Joyce, Founder, Lead Gardener and Vegetable Enthusiast
Ashley moved to Bend when she was eleven years old. Later, as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in rural Finland, she milked cows and saw vegetables growing in the gardens of her host families. She never grew a vegetable in her life, though, until after graduating from Brandeis University with degrees in Anthropology and International and Global Studies. She then served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, helping her neighbors gain greater access to nutritious food.
These experiences led her to apprentice on organic vegetable farms in Oregon and California, and earn a Certificate in Ecological Horticulture from the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. In 2009, after completing the program, she moved home to Bend and spent nearly nine years teaching nutrition, cooking, and gardening, as an educator with the OSU Extension Service SNAP-ED Program in Deschutes County, proudly wearing a cape on a daily basis in her role as a Food Hero.
A 2014 graduate of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at OSU Cascades, she is a licensed early childhood and elementary teacher with an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) endorsement.
Bend Urban Gardens combines Ashley’s contagious enthusiasm for growing vegetables as well as her strong teaching skills and strategies to provide helpful and engaging edible garden inspiration and mentorship. When she isn’t gardening, she can be found walking, running or paddle boarding with BUG’s mini Goldendoodle spokes dog, Toby.
Ashley is looking forward to her 15th growing season in Central Oregon. She and her husband grow their own CSA share in their front and back yards, enjoying both annual veggies and perennial fruits. Their space was featured on the 2015 High Desert Garden Tour and their year-round solar greenhouse won the People’s Choice Award on the Environmental Center’s 2022 Green Tour.
As a lifelong learner and collaborator, she is a member of the Central Oregon chapter of the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association and board member of The Foodscaper Conference, an annual online educational gathering for edible ecological landscaping professionals. In October 2023, she earned a permaculture design certificate alongside fellow foodscapers through Midwest Permaculture’s design course.
Andrea Boger, Garden Build Lead & Designer
Ambitious, determined, and enthusiastic, working through new challenges feeds Andrea’s daily sense of accomplishment.
She lives for putting her BFA in Fine Art to use, applying her design and building skills to making dreams come true for people in their living spaces. With over six years of professional experience in the construction interior design industry, she is comfortable wearing many hats in designing, building, and managing projects, whether she’s retrofitting custom mini hoophouses to top existing raised garden beds, or maximizing a sloped site for new enclosed raised garden bed construction.
Working with BUG feels more like play than work to Andrea. She truly brings so much energy and joy to our team and garden clients, as sharing her passion for growing food is the life-work balance she has dreamed of!
As full-time mom through COVID and part-time business partner with her husband in Finishline Home Services, she’s thrilled to be back in the workforce, deepening her connections with our community and sharing (and always learning more) about edible gardening in Central Oregon.
She’s looking forward to leading a unique team as BUG grows, making a meaningful difference in the lives and health of local gardeners.
When she’s not building gardens for other people, she’s spending time in her greenhouse, caring for her chickens, and expanding her own home garden (rabbits coming soon!), among the many other constant projects that come with home ownership. She treasures quality time with her family and loves going on camping adventures.