Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
“You'll make mistakes (not just in your first year, but every year) and believe it or not, that's part
of the fun.”
“Nature will be your best friend … and your worst enemy.”
“Getting in sync with the rhythms of nature is a potent antidote to the stress of our busy,
technology-centered world.”
“Food you grow yourself is the most delicious and satisfying thing ever, and worth the effort—if
you can even call such pleasurable time 'effort.' ”
A GARDEN FRAME OF MIND
Before any instruction begins, it is important to realize that gardening isn't so much about technique
but philosophy. We are a perfection-driven society; we think that if things aren't picture-perfect, we're
failures. If we don't measure up to our neighbors, we're failures. If we're ten pounds overweight, we're
failures. Gardening will either drive people with this mindset insane, or cure them of it. In fact, when
I'm teaching gardeners, I focus on my failures most of all. If I can fail, so can they. That seems to make
everything okay and allows us all to be human, fallible, and to laugh at ourselves. Then the fun can
really begin.
Keep the Communication Flowing
At the Peterson Garden Project, we use our Facebook page and blog (
wecangrowit.org
)
to provide fre-
quent, relevant, real-time information that supports our gardeners. We also have a newsletter that we
send out every two weeks in the winter; weekly in the spring, summer, and fall. We know what inform-
ation to share on the blog and in the newsletter, as it's based on feedback we receive from the gardeners
via our Facebook page, where gardeners post photos and ask questions or send e-mails. And, of course,
we're always in the gardens, talking with folks and understanding what their current challenges are.
For gardeners who are not comfortable with computers or don't have access, we print important in-
formation on regular, letter-sized paper, slide the pages into plastic sheet protectors, and post them at
the communication stations which have been set up at each garden.
One of the most important truths I've learned about community gardening is that it is a real-time,
ongoing endeavor. For a program to have the biggest impact possible, you have to provide learning op-
portunities in a variety of ways. You can't just do a workshop at the beginning, wash the soil off your
hands, and be done with teaching until next year.
Finding and Cultivating Teachers
There will be veteran gardeners and volunteers who want to lend their talents to help teach. Find these
people and enlist them as resources for new gardeners. We've gone as far as placing a “green thumb”
sign in expert gardeners' plots to identify them. This recognition makes the advanced gardeners proud
and the new gardeners aware of fellow participants they can rely on for tried-and-true advice.
As has been mentioned, most areas also have Master Gardeners available through the local exten-
sion service. Master Gardeners are tested and certified as knowledgeable on a wide variety of garden
