By Kristin Brennan
Gardening the Community Coordinator
One might say that Mount Holyoke College
has a special relationship to the NOFA/
Mass Gardening the Community Youth
Agriculture Program in Springfield. Betsy
Corner, the NOFA/Mass Board Member who
initiated and led the first youth garden on
Central Street, and who may be more known
for her admirable activism and action than
for her educational resume, was a graduate
of Mount Holyoke College. Ruby Maddox,
Springfield resident who was recruited seven
years ago to work side by side with Betsy and
then directed the program for four years, is
now the Program Coordinator for the Center
for the Environment at the College. Thus,
twice a year, when Ruby brings a group of
passionate and hard-working women from
Mount Holyoke to till and plant and mulch
our Gardening the Community land, it somehow
seems like a family event.
This fall, on a sunny Saturday in late
October, Ruby and the crew arrived at our
Hancock Street lot with local apples and cider
(and of course, cider donuts). We greeted
them—youth, some neighborhood kids that
just showed up, and staff—with glee. Work
groups, led by GTC’s Junior Staff crew,
cleared beds and spread straw for winter
mulch. We harvested the last of the coriander
plants for seed and spice. We planted a donated
blueberry bush and turned the compost
pile. All the while, we shared GTC’s mission
and vision and heard about the garden established
at Mount Holyoke in 2007 as well as
the activities of two student organizations,
Environmental Action Coalition and the
Food Justice Society. The day was sponsored
by the Center for the Environment.
Closer to home, Springfield College
has sent a class to work on our land three
times throughout the course of this fall. The
students are participating in a class called
“Humanics in Action” in which they are exposed
to concepts of leadership, service, and
positive social change. In the course of the
semester, the class engages in volunteer work
and leadership activities that promote deeper
engagement in the community. Gardening
the Community was one of four sites chosen
by the college. The hope is that one or two
of the students within such a seminar might
take a special interest in the work we do and
become more consistently involved with the
program, since change really happens in conditions
of steady exposure.
These two college groups are not alone
in their volunteer service to Gardening the
Community. We love gardening our land
independently, most of the time just with
youth of the neighborhood. But, once in a
while, it is such a gift to have energy from
the outside—people come to appreciate,
participate and widen our circle of connection
and knowledge. So for those of you
who have come: Karma Krew, MegaFoods,
Rotary Club, the local Waldorf School,
MacDuffie Academy: THANK YOU! For
those of you who haven’t—come join us this
spring! Contact Gardening the Community at
gtc@nofamass.org or 413-538-5822.
Back to the January-February, 2009 NOFA/Mass News
This page was last modified on July 27, 2009 at 10:38:19 AM.
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