The 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. This model
was funded by CSREES Sustainable
Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) and
tested to great effect by 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
6 to 9 —blossomed themselves. Some
uninterested kids didn't choose the project
and, at the beginning, wouldn't look anyone
in the eye. By the end, they acted like the
experts at the county fair. (Project ENE99-049)
Cornell University-Garden Mosaics Program
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 scientific principles underlying
these practices. In inner-city communities
where space is limited, community gardens
make important contributions to urban agriculture.
For additional information, see the Garden
Mosaics on the Cornell
University Web site.
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