From Victory Gardens to cheerful flower borders, gardening has sustained and satisfied Americans throughout our history. Today, however, many city kids are missing this connection and even see gardens as a foreign place.
That can change. Roughly 17,000 community gardens—many within residential neighborhoods—are waiting to be discovered. The American Community Gardening Association [1] hopes to introduce kids to these special places and spark a lifelong interest in getting dirty, growing food or flowers and enjoying nature’s vibrancy.
“Project Ecopolis” hopes to empower kids and teens to create unique gardens of their own. They will work alongside adult community gardeners in community plots across 11 cities. Cornell University staff, experienced in using community gardens to learn about science, will help launch the effort.
Each Project Ecopolis garden will celebrate the community’s personality and history. In Massachusetts, for instance, kids will connect with their Cambodian heritage by helping neighbors grow traditional, foot-long beans. In New Orleans, children will craft garden sculptures from hurricane-generated rubble, turning past misfortune into fresh perspective. And in Pennsylvania, mothers and children will tend plants as a kind of new beginning, using an apartment courtyard as a safe outdoor haven.
For their efforts, kids will get garden supplies and awards. Adult mentors receive a Project Ecopolis primer, complete with online tutorial and certification course. For whole communities, the reward of a successful program would be broad and lasting—a new connection with nature that strengthens neighborhoods, roots kids in the landscape and redefines the way we experience nature.
