G3 Homegrown

It doesn’t get much more down home than G3 Homegrown, a local store with a far reach and generations of knowledge to draw from.

The store is located at 4601 S. 14th St., but G3, as it’s known, also has a store in Tuscola, sells products in The Shop in Albany, has a store adjacent to Coleman County Processing and takes orders, including subscription boxes. The Gruns started G3 in 2020 and opened the Abilene store on Dec. 15, 2023, in a building that previously housed a drug store.

The “G3” comes from the cattle brand established by Russell Grun, the grandfather of Dusty Grun, one of the owners of G3. Russell Grun chose the name for himself and his two sons. Farm and ranchland in south Taylor County has been in the Grun family since 1907, and that’s where the meat and eggs sold at G3 come from.

“It’s about as local and as fresh as you could possibly get,” said Jodee Grun, Dusty’s wife.

In fact, the whole operation, start to finish, is homegrown. “Farm to Fork” is a slogan the store uses, and it’s literally true. The Grun families raise cattle and pigs on their land and have more than 300 chickens to provide farm fresh eggs. The Gruns own Coleman County Processing, where all their meat is processed and packaged. They also process meat for people who provide their own.

The meat that G3 sells comes from animals that were born and weaned on the Grun ranch. When they get older, the cattle eat grass, supplemented by G3 Homegrown’s own feed. The animals never get hormones, antibiotics, vaccinations or other additives in their diet. And, the animals are processed fairly young, 30 months or less for cattle and six months for pigs. All that adds up to a first-rate meal.

“It’s the way meat really should taste,” Jodee said.

The Abilene store also is stocked with organic applesauce, local honey, preserves, syrups, Volleman’s milk from Gustine in Comanche County, baked goods from Salty Roan Bakehouse in Abilene and other specialty products.

The Grun family operation is truly a family affair, all the way down to Jodee and Dusty’s four children–Brazos, 16, Tuff, 15,Riggin, 11 and Haze, 8. The kids work the cattle, assist in the processing plant, gather eggs and perform other chores.

“They all are out there doing something,” said their grandmother, Judy Grun.

Another slogan of G3 Homegrown is “we feed people spiritually and physically.” That’s because Dusty and his father, Marcy Grun, are both ministers. Dusty is associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Merkel and Marcy has his own church, Bluff Creek Cowboy Church in the Runnels County community of Drasco.

A ministry included in the G3 Homegrown operation is called “Meat the Need,” an agricultural project in conjunction with the government of Ghana in West Africa. Land is being leased there to be reclaimed from past illegal mining operations, Dusty said. Eventually, when the land is back to its natural state, it will be used for an agricultural program, with training provided on the Grun ranch and in the processing plant in Coleman. G3 also partners with Love & Care Ministries in Abilene and Hunters for the Hungry, which provides fresh meat through food banks statewide, to feed people closer to home.

“We want it to be in Ghana but also our own community,” Dusty said.

Dusty went on a mission trip to Togo, a Ghana neighbor, in 2020 and developed an affinity for Africa. In 2022, a friend asked Dusty if some visitors from Ghana could tour the Coleman County Processing operation. Dusty was happy to oblige.

During the tour, the visitors were fascinated with barrels filled with bones that had little meat left on them for later disposal. When the Ghana visitors saw them, they speculated on how many people those bones would feed back home. A week later, Dusty and Jodee were supposed to go to Colorado to celebrate their anniversary, but Dusty had another plan.

“I went to Africa without her,” he said.

The marriage survived that impromptu trip, and now the Grun family, G3 Homegrown and Meat the Need ministry are all going strong. A statement on the G3 website explains:

“Faith, family and feeding others, both spiritually and physically, is a calling that we have and take very seriously.”

4601 S. 14th St., Abilene, TX • 325-704-1607 • g3homegrown.com • info@g3homegrown.com
Open 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Monday – Friday • 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday • Closed Sunday

By Loretta Fulton