This year was the American Community Gardening Association’s (ACGA) 34th Annual Conference, and it was titled,
Cultivating Community, Harvesting Health:
Community Gardens to Urban Farms.
The timing & location of this year’s Community Gardening Conference worked in my favor for me (& my husband) to attend. Prior to registering, I knew I shouldn’t pass up on such an opportunity; an entire conference dedicated to Community Gardening!?! My role with A Rocha is supporting the development of Community Gardening as way to care for God’s Creation, and working as the coordinator of a fledgling Network of Community Gardens there has been lots to do to and facing challenges.
With workshop presenters who have done what I have been aspiring to do as Coordinator of A Rocha’s Community Garden Network, I was re-inspired to face my challenges and equipped with new ideas to work around them. Meeting so many people doing similar work of supporting the development of Community Gardens, there was so much to learn from each project. Exactly what a great conference is meant to do!
What was real encouraging for me was how the Conference Theme of ‘Cultivating Community, & Harvesting Health’ affirmed gardening as a means of enriching people’s lives in an urban context. Where the community garden, when woven into an urban landscape, is the quiet hero in bringing people otherwise isolated together, and improving human health in ways that are beyond the physical realms. Urban gardens play a large role in the greater restoration work that we are set to do in our cities, and it is always inspiring when reminded of it. Restoring our connection to the land, appreciation of the ordinary and our relationships with each other.
Being around people who have made it their life’s work to make cities better, I couldn’t help but think of what the prophet Jeremiah had commanded the Israelites during the time of exile in Babylon.
5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29: 5 & 7
A highlight of a few organizations & people that I got to learn from. Each one was based in a different American city, but the projects and scenarios were similar, applicable to my context.
The Big Garden shared about how they run a successful network of 70 gardens- from helping to start gardens to building their capacity them to ‘graduate’ and function on their own.
Farmer Frog: Zsofia Pasztor is the main force behind Farmer Frog, she showcased creative ideas coordinating School Gardens and how to run them successfully! One tactic was to have kids sign up as Garden Warriors over the summer – to fight for the garden to survive!
From Readers to Eaters: Food Literacy from the Ground Up. Promoting conversations around the growing, cooking and eating of food. A Great Children’s Storybook Publishing Company. Going to order a few of their books for working with children!
Seattle Tilth: Great demonstration of Adult Learning Activities – useful for workshops and even a booth table demo on compost and drainage.
Oregon Food Bank’s Seed to Supper Mobile Curriculum. Their Seed to Supper Gardening Course Program is taught by a volunteer group of master gardeners – teaching at the places where the beginner gardeners are.
Non-Workshop Activities:
Community Orchards of Seattle: Old & New. Bus Tour – See the photo collage posted here.
Symphony of the Soil Documentary – amazing photography and film that was not only beautiful to watch but so informative.
Personal highlights:
Some lovely perks that made the whole experience more meaningful – attending the conference with my husband, bringing our bicycles stowed underneath our bus seats, getting to know the neighborhoods and HILLS of Seattle on our bikes, the amazing food at conference – well coordinated – like a sustainable wedding feast. Plus a lovely reunion with good friend Siena Ezekiel in her hometown, and we got to stay with her in the Central District.