We are an NCI-funded trial and we want to recruit 426 cancer survivors who have completed their primary cancer treatment. Potential participants should be 65 years of age or older, and must live in one of the counties represented on the map. Because our goal is to see if vegetable gardening improves physical function, physical activity, and diet, we are looking for participants who currently exercise less than 150 minutes per week and eat less than 2.5 servings (5 cups) of fruits and vegetables per day. If you would like to participate, please email us at
Participants will be paired with a Master Gardener volunteer and receive a 1 year mentorship with once monthly home visits. Participants are randomized to either an intervention arm or a waitlist control arm, gardening either year 1 or year 2. The UAB study team will visit participants 3 times over a 2 year period (baseline, 12 months, and 24 months) to collect data (activity monitor, toenail sample, stool sample, blood sample, and questionnaire). The study team also collects follow up questionnaires between home visits at 6 months and 18 months. Self-reported data will be validated with accelerometry for physical activity, α-carotene for fruit and vegetable intake, and performance testing for physical function. We also collect biomarkers of successful aging, namely IL-6 and telomerase, which have been shown to be responsive to diet and physical activity and related to functional status and successful aging.
The UAB study team works closely with our Master Gardener team at Auburn to assure that participants and their Master Gardeners are meeting each month and growing successful gardens. We have received very positive feedback quotes from past participants, some of which are available on the Testimonials page.
The types of cancers and stages we are able to accept include:
Bladder (in situ and localized)
Breast (female only; localized and regional, stages 0-IIIa)
Colon/rectum (localized and regional (stages I/II)
Gastric cardia (localized)
Gynecologic cancers
Uterine cervix (localized, stage I/II)
Uterine corpus (localized and regional, stage I/II)
Fallopian tubes (localized and regional)
Ovary (localized and regional)
Hodgkin Lymphoma (localized and distant, all stages) & Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (localized, regional, and distant, all stages)
Kidney/renal/pelvis (localized and regional, stages I/II)
Larynx (localized)
Leukemia (all stages- acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML))
Melanoma (localized and regional, stageI/II)
Multiple myeloma (localized, early stages)
Oral cavity/pharynx (localized and regional, stages I/II)
Prostate (localized and regional, stage I-III)
Soft tissue sarcoma (localized and regional)
Squamous and basal cell carcinoma (localized and regional)
Testis (all stages)
Thyroid (localized and regional, stages I-III)