"My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made
while learning to see things from the plant's point of view."
while learning to see things from the plant's point of view."
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Growing Together- Gardening as Community Building
Building community is never easy. It takes commitment and work. Given our new habits of social networking, and our practice of ‘cocooning’ (coming home from work and driving into the garage and not to be seen again until the garage door opens the next morning and we drive away), and the distances that separate us, is it any wonder that fashioning a community is hard to do? But that is exactly what we are trying to do at the Bethel Community—not just growing vegetables, but also growing community.
We Bethel Community gardeners come from a number of communities (Bethel, the Hispanic church across the road, the mobile home park, etc.) already. We, your mentors, come from north of Battle Ground, Venersborg, and Salmon Creek.
But our Bethel Community Garden is all about building relationships…and building community. And that—in many ways—that is counter-cultural. While societal drift is toward increasing isolation and generational separation, we are trying to reverse the trend by bring people together around food and enhancement of the environment.
This year, we are talking about regular evening gathering around the sharing of food (and recipes)...and sharing our lives together. I hope that the first gathering will be in mid-July. Also, we are thinking about seasonal celebrations the mark the turning of the seasons (we had a Vernal Equinox observance in March). We are looking for more ways (including our new blog) of connecting members of our gardening community…and building a community that will strengthen and inspire us all. – Joe
We Bethel Community gardeners come from a number of communities (Bethel, the Hispanic church across the road, the mobile home park, etc.) already. We, your mentors, come from north of Battle Ground, Venersborg, and Salmon Creek.
But our Bethel Community Garden is all about building relationships…and building community. And that—in many ways—that is counter-cultural. While societal drift is toward increasing isolation and generational separation, we are trying to reverse the trend by bring people together around food and enhancement of the environment.
This year, we are talking about regular evening gathering around the sharing of food (and recipes)...and sharing our lives together. I hope that the first gathering will be in mid-July. Also, we are thinking about seasonal celebrations the mark the turning of the seasons (we had a Vernal Equinox observance in March). We are looking for more ways (including our new blog) of connecting members of our gardening community…and building a community that will strengthen and inspire us all. – Joe
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