In an effort to help its clients enjoy a healthier lifestyle, The Baxter Insurance Group has planted a garden this year and plans to offer produce they raise behind the Hayes office to its clients.

Steve Eudy, a financial advisor for the company, said the concept is simple: Staff members donate their time to tend to the garden—and clients reap the benefits that many types of vegetables and some fruit bushes will provide in the months ahead.

"We want them (clients) to be healthy and eat healthy," Eudy said, and to offer an alternative to produce they might buy at a grocery that has been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides—neither of which are used in the Baxter garden.

Company president John Baxter said he gives all credit for the garden project to his staff, saying they have done most of the work, although he did a bit of hoeing one day recently. Gary Booker of Gloucester, one of Baxter’s clients, tilled the soil so the staff could begin ...