Submit Assignment 3.1: Network with an Existing Garden Program
Networking with a group that has already established a successful school or community garden program is an invaluable way to gather information that will help your planning process. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel! You can learn a lot from others' successes and challenges.
For this assignment, you will need to find a school or community garden in your local town, city or region. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office, school district or town/city website to locate any near you. If you can find contact information for garden organizer(s), explain that you are developing a new garden project and ask if you can arrange a short meeting with them at the garden to learn more. In my experience, most garden organizers are happy to share information with others.
School gardens may not be publicized because they are not open to the public, so check local school districts for information. Your state and local government websites may have details on community gardens near you. For example, here is a map of Community Gardens for the Department of Health in New York State https://compost.css.cornell.edu/communitygardenmap.html.
Be respectful of their time by coming prepared with some questions and a way to record information, either by taking notes or recording them with their permission. Focus on any aspects of your garden project that you may be struggling with, and ask what challenges the organizers faced and how they resolved them.
Ideally you will be able find a similar project to yours within a reasonable distance, as it's always better to see a project in person, but you may interview someone remotely (eg. by phone, Zoom or email) if necessary.
This assignment may take time to complete, as it is the growing season and gardeners might be on vacation. Start this process early in this block of assignments to give others time to respond to your request.
For this assignment, reflect on your meeting with a local organizer of a similar garden project to yours (school or community garden) and answer the following:
- Did you gain any insights as a result of your interview? Is there anything you will do differently in your program now?
- How will you continue to network with and learn from other gardening programs in your area?
- Feel free to share any aspect of your conversation that seems relevant to your own program planning.