Watch It Grow

Kinship, Insight, Safe, Kindness, Astonished , Deep, Engaging, Everyone. Yes, if you’re wondering, I have created an acronym to describe my observations, lessons and feelings arond Kiskadee Garden. First off, shout out to everyone who has been a part of the Garden. I am not going to name drop but also shout out to the infamous angel who blessed me with some bountiful Swiss Chard.

When reflecting on my Community Garden experience, the choice of words flowed quite easily.

1. Kinship: Each person who captured a bed/planter became part of a unit. Each person showing up to help one another and facilitate learning on our gardening journey.

2. Insight: The intelligence and wisdom transferred between fellow gardeners made this more than an exercise in digging holes and tossing seeds. Also, don’t forget, turn off outside water spouts and detach outside hoses from these spouts.

3. Safe: Organizers and participants both contribute to creating a safe spot where one can be free to enjoy the outdoors and sink into moments of peace and relaxation while watering the plants and celebrating the progress. Safe also applies to the crops - grown naturally, with no chemical enhancements ensured that our produce was safe for consumption.

4. Kindness: Throughout the gardening season we each had the opportunity to tend to another’s bed whenever they weren’t around. This type of comraderie goes a long way in our community.

5. Astonished: I was astonished by the boost of confidence I discovered while growing my own vegetables. There is something about tapping into self-sustainability even on a small scale that organically improves morale.

6. Deep: In a raised gardening bed you can only go so deep. Deciding on what you want to grow will either make or break your gardening experience. The same applies to our personal lives- we have to scan our environment to determine how deep we can go. Put differently, we must determine how well our environments can support our growth.

7. Engaging: Observing a few gardeners who were intially hesitant and not too keen on managing a seeded bed become fully committed to this process speaks to the level of engagement.

8. Everyone: Our Garden is inclusive which made it that much more enjoyable. Growth on all levels is celebrated.

What I have appreciated the most is the simple lessons in our Kiskadee Garden that can be applied to everyday life: plant a seed, water it, nurture it and watch it grow.