Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Teaching Gardening 101

I have two friends (well, probably more than two..., but two) who have both been working on community garden projects in our area for a while. One, Dr. D, tilled up a bit of a field next to his practice last year and launched a community garden. He had 12 people show up, and 6 finished the season. He was a bit discouraged but though he would give it one more try this year. The other, Mr. S, has been working on family strengthening projects with Head Start for a number of years. Last year he tried to get a garden project going for those families, but it fell apart. He didn't have the space or the time to do the prep work. A few months ago I put the two of them together. They are combining their efforts and resources and hope to have a great community garden this year. Because I put them together I feel a bit tied to the program, so I told them I'd help if they needed it. Today I got my chance. The head start group, 14 families so far, wanted a basic gardening class. I got the call to put my teacher hat back on and teach Gardening 101. I had an hour. I was supposed to cover everything a beginner needed to know to have a successful vegetable garden. I think it's going to be a series of classes because it's too much to cover in one hour.

Full lecture mode (not a good place)

Captivated (or captive?)

Mr. S. watches the performance

Passing on knowledge

Obligatory cuteness (Mr. S. had some of his babies at school, and we got to play with them.)

2 comments:

Sheila said...

It sounds like a worthy and ambitious project, good luck!

Barbee' said...

Who knows, if even one lifetime dedicated gardener spawns from the class I think it was time and energy well spent. But, I bet there will be more. Good for you!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis