Community Gardening News: Never Too Young to Start Gardening

We are excited to have a guest blogger this week, Flynn, writing for us this week. She’s our wonderful and dedicated AmeriCorps Member, and helps Linda maintain Garden City Harvest’s 7 community gardens.

I was recently introduced to one of our youngest community gardeners, 12-year-old Kennedy Williamson, who has a plot in the Meadow Hill Community Garden and a newfound zest for vegetable growing.

Kennedy’s enthusiasm for growing food started when she participated in a Flagship gardening program last year.  This spring she decided to take the skills she had learned through Flagship to start her own garden.  As a new gardener, Kennedy has been learning some valuable lessons.  Her first batch of beans were swallowed by weeds, and she’s discovering that a successful garden requires lots of patience.

When she showed me her plot last week, it was beautiful – full of lettuce greens, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, summer squash, cucumbers, and yes … even beans!  I asked Kennedy if she had advice for other new gardeners.  She said the most important things are to ask lots of questions and know what you’re getting into.

“It’s a lot more work than I thought,” she says, “but the more you work, the more veggies you get.  It’s more fun to pick food than buy it at the grocery store!”

Her mother, Kim, says that talking with the other gardeners has been a valuable resource.  There is a wealth of local knowledge and experience all around you in a community garden.  Kennedy and Kim agree that it would have been a lot more intimidating to start gardening if they didn’t have the support of their fellow community gardeners at Meadow Hill.  Whether it’s advice from her neighbors or a natural green thumb, Kennedy is a gifted gardener.  I don’t think it will be long before she’s the one helping out others!