Assignment 4: Upload a Picture
Assignment Instructions:
Community gardens are renowned for their ability to
provide several benefits including ecological, environmental, social and food
access. However, each community gardener develops a unique approach to
gardening in response to their lived experience, local community and available
resources.
For this assignment, please upload an image that represents your philosophy around community gardening and provide a brief description of both your photo and your philosophy. This image can be abstract, figurative or literal.
Sample Submission:
My name is Makela Elvy and I am representing Cornell Cooperative Extension - Harvest NY. The image that I am uploading is an image of me leading a strawberry planting during Greenthumb’s Grow Together conference in 2022 at Rivers Run community garden in Bronx, NY, where I am a member. The goal for the workshop was to gather information about which berries urban growers were most interested in producing and offer educational resources to community gardeners, but in retrospect I learned more from the community gardeners than they learned from me that day. By generously sharing their production goals, asking specific questions related to their unique challenges, access to resources and micro-climates, Cornell was able to collaborate on the Urban Strawberry Project and supply over 7 community gardens with 50-100 strawberry plants.
My philosophy on community gardening, which is depicted in this image, is based on the proverb “each one, teach one” that originated with the Black community. To me this proverb closely aligns with the principle Ujima, meaning collective work and responsibility and highlights that every community member contributes to collective knowing and we must respect practical experience as expertise. I believe we are obligated to support one another as we learn, contribute so that tasks do not become burdensome for any individual person or organization, and share our wisdom, talents, and skills so that everyone can benefit.