Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Designing the garden in this exercise isn't about reality—you want to get to rough concepts here; ren-
derings of how the garden space might make community members feel. Encourage people to use words
that represent the attributes they may be drawing. Words like
play, safe, joy, bountiful,
and
healthy
are
words that may pop up. And let people know this isn't about their drawing skills or ability. Think of it
like a child's drawing—evocative of feelings but not based on things like bed dimensions or the actual
garden space. We'll get to practical issues in the next part of the exercise; this first part is about dreams.
PART 1: DREAM GARDENS—VISIONING
Have attendees break into small groups. As always, group sizes depend on the number of attendees; six to
eight people per group, generally. Give the groups 20 to 30 minutes to complete this exercise.
Participants will need 11-by-17-inch sheets of paper and lots of colored markers. Allow 10 to 15 minutes
for each participant to draw her or his dream garden. After that, allow 10 to 15 minutes for everyone to share
their dream gardens within the small group. Have one person in each group take notes or write on a big flip
chart the words or themes that emerge from this exercise (these will be reported back to the larger group). If
your space allows, put all the drawings on the wall and allow time for the larger group to review all the draw-
ings.
This exercise serves multiple purposes. It gets the participants thinking creatively and it reinforces that
everyone's ideas are valuable. It also reinforces that gardens are more than the mechanics of the number of
beds or where the water is located; it emphasizes that gardens are places where people are connected emo-
tionally. Finally, it visually reminds all participants that everyone thinks differently and has different hopes
and dreams for the garden. You've heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This exercise
cuts through all the discussion and gets to the heart of what people are trying to describe when they talk
about the garden. That's why it is important to post and share everyone's dream garden and allow time for re-
view if possible. It isn't that one or two gardens might be the basis for the next step (although they might be);
it is to illustrate that there are many ways of thinking and many visions of what the garden can mean to
people once it is constructed. This exercise will provide a lot of meaningful “ah-ha” moments.
PART 2: GARDEN GIVENS—THE LAYOUT
At this time in your community process, you will likely have made some critical observations: the size of the
garden; how it is oriented; where and when the sun hits; where there are existing trees, buildings, or other
features that will impact layout; where the water is coming from; entrances; whether or not a fence exists.
In the second step of this exercise, you'll use a rough drawing showing the basic space with the givens
indicated. Now the groups will begin translating their dream gardens into a communal space.
Prior to the meeting, someone needs to produce a rough framework drawing of the space, with the garden
givens, that can be photocopied onto 11-by-17-inch paper. Don't stress about accuracy too much, but try to
make the framework drawing relatively true in terms of space. Using graph paper can help. Indicate the
givens on the drawing, but keep things as conceptual as possible so attendees don't think that someone else
has done all the designing. Hand these basic drawings out at the meeting.
Have attendees return to their small groups. Ask each participant to spend 10 minutes drawing a rough
translation of their dream garden on top of the foundation template. Have members take into account the
garden mission, the designated givens, as well as other design considerations. Then, provide extra blank
foundation garden drawings and ask participants to combine all of the group's visions into one final drawing,
using pencils or colored markers. Give each group 30 to 45 minutes to complete this exercise.
Reconvene into a large group and allow 10 minutes for everyone to share the dream gardens within the
small group.
