Garden Mosaics Project
Educators seeking innovative ways to prompt
farmers, ranchers, and other groups to adopt
more sustainable production approaches might
consider the participatory model, tested
to great effect by CSREES Sustainable Agricultural
Research and Education (SARE)-funded Cornell
researchers who worked with groups of gardeners
in six Northeast communities. Their Garden
Mosaics project engaged both adult gardeners
and neighborhood youths, who worked together
on extension-led projects with a truly local
focus.
Under the guidance of Cornell-trained extension
educators, kids in Baltimore, MD; Allentown,
and Philadelphia, PA; and New York City,
Rochester, and Buffalo, NY, paired with adult
gardeners to document the history, makeup,
planting practices, and soil quality of gardens
in their communities. They tested research
techniques, but children born and raised
in cities also learned more about gardening.
And, in documenting garden histories and
unusual plants, they picked up successful
interviewing and communication skills along
with their green thumbs. Many of the youths—aged
9 to 16—blossomed themselves. There
were some disinterested kids who didn't choose
the project and, at the beginning, wouldn't
look anyone in the eye. By the end, they
acted like an expert at the county fair.
Cornell
University-Garden Mosaics project targets
the South Bronx and builds on successful
pilot implementation in Morrisania, the
Bronx, and Harlem, Manhattan. The goal
of Garden Mosaics is to create an informal
science educational program in community
gardens, through which youth, educators,
and adult gardeners conduct investigations
of food-growing practices drawn from a
diversity of cultures and explore the science
principles underlying these practices.
In inner-city communities where space is
limited, community gardens make important
contributions to urban agriculture.
Back to Urban Programs Home Page |
