What can you do?

Your expertise and experience is so valuable as more and more people become interested in starting gardens.

• Find out about school and community gardens beginning or currently active in your area.
• You can start gardens in neighborhoods, churches, schools, senior centers, hospitals, or anywhere there is interest.
• There are so many types of gardens that not only feed people but teach, uplift and heal, through the power and beauty of nature. For inspiration see: "The Earth is Our Garden."

Involving children in gardens is a powerful way to teach about and connect with nature. Gardens build strong relationships as children work with each other and with adults in creating a living laboratory for growing and expressing themselves.

Gardens for Humanity assists schools and youth groups with planning gardens and with curricula that incorporate State and National Standards across the curriculum. For more information see:

• Making a Garden
• A Garden Curriculum
• What We Have Learned

Community gardens become focal points for gathering and celebration. As artists become involved in the planning and development of gardens, the gardens become places to celebrate traditions and imagination, places to display art that involves the community and children. The nature of a garden is to create a space of beauty, joy and contemplation — a special place apart from daily routines. For some examples how artists and Gardens for Humanity incorporates art into gardens see:

• Some of our Gardens for Humanity Gardens
• Lily Yeh — Artist, Painter, Community Entrepreneur
• Explore Barefoot Artists Projects

Cooks are an essential link in the garden to table food chain! Cooks can contribute to the success of school and community gardens, farmers markets, food banks, and CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture). Whether a professional or skilled home cook, you can teach people of all ages how to prepare delicious, inviting, and new or traditional foods with the locally grown bounty. Some pioneers in this movement are:

• Alice Waters — Chez Panisse Foundation
• Gary Nabhan — Renewing America's Food Traditions Alliance
• Explore "Slow Food USA"

Our 2009 Visionaries Didi Emmons and Lisa Rayner have both initiated cooking programs to explore local foods and healthy eating.

Any time you take a walk or a hike, especially with children, you have the opportunity to share your wisdom and discovery of the Earth as our sacred garden. Gardens for Humanity grew out of the awareness that nature is our first garden and teacher, and we therefore have to exercise our responsibility to care for it. You can play a role in conveying this message and helping people reconnect to nature.

• Earth as Our Sacred Garden
• View Slide Shows of "World Natural Gardens"

“The garden is a metaphor for healing self and community, for a state of being. It is an exploration of the symbolic sacred garden, the original Paradise of everyone’s dream, that place of lost myth, of poetry, which each of us needs today." ~Adele Seronde, Founder of Gardens for Humanity

In addition to restoring a sense of harmony and relationship, gardens can also be a place to cultivate medicinal and healing herbs. Also, those knowedgable about the healing properties of wild and cultivated plants, can organize nature walks and educate people.

• Do you want to learn more about Gardening?
• Do you want to help benefit and beautify the community?
• Do you want to be a mentor for children and youth?
• Do you want to contribute to food security and a healthy planet?

The best way to learn about gardening is to work with experienced gardeners and to get hands-on experience. Our current and future projects afford a variety of opportunities to meet like-minded people, have fun, and develop skills making gardens. If you are an experienced gardener, benefit from mentoring and sharing you skills with children, youth, and adults.

Some of our projects include:

• Crescent Moon Ranch demonstration garden
• School Gardens
• Hopi Garden Project
• Spring Planting Festival

Join Our Email List to keep informed of our projects, workshops and volunteer opportunities.

Donate
Your tax deductible donation will help our projects go forward and provide opportunities to educate, beautify, and build a strong sense of community.

Click here to donate to Gardens for Humanity

Membership
Join Gardens for Humanity now and become an active participant in our projects, workshops, community workdays, and our gatherings. Your membership donation will show your commitment to our vision of a more sustainable, empowering and healing environment. Click here.

2010 Spring Planting Festival Calendar: March 14-21 Click here.

Click here for info on Backyard Garden Expo on March 20.

For projects before 2009, please click here.