Those of us who have grown up in urban environments may never have gardened. We may be accustomed to buying produce in large supermarkets and may not think about how food is grown or what biological or chemical supplements helped it grow and survive. We may think of gardening as getting our hands and fingernails full of dirt and grit, even encountering spiders and other bugs that are unwelcome travelers.

 

A gardening project would start with a discussion about just this -  how we all feel about gardens and why, and how we all feel about the food we cook and put on the table for our families to eat. A gardening project could start with a poem, a few words, a sentence, or a photograph.

 

Many people do not give much thought to the food they eat and may not have an understanding of food’s nutritional value.

​

The Center will create a space where participants can have their own gardens and decide what they want to grow. It could be vegetables, flowers or trees. 

 

Gardening provides a unique opportunity to decompress and connect to something larger than oneself and, because it is done in nature, it opens the mind, body and spirit to the natural cycle of life. Gardening requires mindfulness, patience, nurturing, responsibility, kindness and hope. It is meditative and calming, and creates a sense of purpose. There is satisfaction and pride in watching the development of plants as they grow and flourish.