Rooted in Giving
A veteran-founded giving farm growing heirloom and heritage crops on 10 acres of Central Oregon high desert — and donating every harvest to the people who deserve it most.
Commercial agriculture replaced 2,000 years of nutrient-dense heritage crops with processed food full of shortcuts. We're growing them back — lovage, skirret, Good King Henry, orach — real food with real history, grown with intention on high desert land in Central Oregon.
Every basket we give away is an act of resistance. Every heirloom seed we plant is a small rebellion against a food system that forgot us. Yu&Me Outpost Oasis exists because food should be grown with love, given freely, and received with dignity.
Gift baskets of fresh heirloom produce and living herb toppers delivered to veteran service centers in Bend and Central Oregon. From one vet to many.
Fresh vegetables and herb kits donated to school programs. We want kids to know what real food looks, smells, and tastes like — before they forget.
Seasonal gift baskets for the people who show up every day. A small thank you from our hands to theirs.
Curated giving farm baskets for nonprofit fundraisers and community events. The Yu&Me name on a basket means something.
Anyone doing good in Bend and Central Oregon. If you're giving back to this community, we want to give back to you.
A public-facing stand on Bacchus Lane where community members can pick up seasonal produce, herb kits, and farm goods — free or by donation.
We grow the vegetables that commercial agriculture abandoned — not because they were inferior, but because they couldn't be industrialized. Each one has a story spanning centuries. We're putting them back on the table.
The herb that defined Western cooking for 1,500 years before commercial celery replaced it. More nutritious, more flavorful, and plant it once — it returns for 20 years. Roman emperors demanded it. We're bringing it back.
The sugar root of medieval Europe — sweet, starchy, and so delicious that Emperor Tiberius demanded it as tribute from the Germans. Disappeared when the potato arrived. A perennial that returns richer every year.
Poor man's spinach. Grown in every monastery garden in medieval Europe, harvested like greens all season long. Hardy to Zone 3, comes back every spring without replanting. Real food that asked for nothing in return.
Mountain spinach. A medieval staple that handles heat where spinach bolts, comes in deep red and vibrant green, and has fed people since antiquity. More nutritious than anything in a modern grocery store's salad section.
Land prep, fence building, planting days, harvest days. We need hands on the ground in Bend. No experience necessary — just show up.
Found a deal on a tractor? Have tools you're not using? Seeds, pots, lumber, fencing, garden supplies — we'll put anything to work. Let us know what you've got.
We're working on our 501c3 nonprofit status. In the meantime, every dollar goes directly into seeds, soil, infrastructure, and getting food to the people who deserve it.
Yu&Me High Desert Oasis started with a simple anger. Commercial food systems took our real food and gave us processed replacements. They replaced lovage — a plant that fed the Roman Empire for 1,500 years — with celery. They replaced skirret with potatoes. They gave us boxes full of nutrition labels instead of vegetables with stories.
Andre Jensen is a disabled veteran with scoliosis, replaced joints, and radiculopathy that limits his physical capacity. What it hasn't limited is his vision. Yu&Me was named for his partner Yumiko — a name his buddy in service shortened to "You and Me" — and everything about this farm is built for the two of them, and for everyone else.
On 10 acres of Central Oregon juniper scrubland on Bacchus Lane, we're building something that didn't exist before: a giving farm rooted in heirloom heritage, run by a vet who can't do it alone, and dedicated entirely to giving back. The harvest doesn't get sold. It gets given.
Whether you want to volunteer, donate goods, make a financial contribution, or nominate someone to receive a gift basket — we want to hear from you.
We need hands on the ground. Planting, building, harvesting. Show up and we'll put you to work.
Tools, seeds, lumber, equipment, soil. If you have it and don't need it, we'll give it a purpose.
Know a nurse, a veteran, a teacher, or someone doing good? Nominate them for a Yu&Me gift basket.