I’m excited that “Grow,” our year-long gardening program held here at the farm starting October 24, is
half-full with a great mix of people of all ages and backgrounds. A few others
have expressed interest, but are concerned that they won’t have the time or the
funds. This is my advice based on years of focusing on creating a
lifestyle that deeply fulfills me:
If Grow is something you really wish to do, then go for it.
You may feel like you don’t have time at the moment, but if you set your
priorities, then events and logistics rearrange so that what you truly want
slides into your life.
If you’re worried about the cost (a total of $600 for 36
sessions), consider that you are essentially paying up-front for your produce
for a full year. I can’t guarantee the weekly basket of veggies, herbs and/or
flowers will supply all your needs, but certainly much will be met during the
key growing months. And all with high quality organically grown foods that you
helped grow.
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| M R Gardens |
If we factor in the investment it takes for a program like
this to get started—the established gardens, greenhouses, equipment, tools,
land, not to mention what the teacher (that’s me) brings—16 years of
experience, education, and lessons learned through trial-and-error—the value of
this program is immense. But I’ve kept the program at a cost similar to a CSA
share because I really want people to give this model a try. I understand your
life is packed, and I am very appreciative when you can prioritize being a part
of growing your own food.
When determining if your budget can handle something you
love, it’s often best to ask—“Is it feeding my soul?” If it is, then usually no
monetary value can adequately illustrate the amount of joy, health, education
and motivation it brings into your life. Proactive, positive energy carries
over to other parts of your life, providing fuel that you didn’t have before.
What is Grow?
M R Gardens is offering a new opportunity for clients to be
involved with the growing of their own food at our two-acre farm in the Oakley
community. Called “Grow,” the program meets for a full year on a nearly weekly
basis, starting October 24 with building the soil for the following spring.
Grow participants learn how to cultivate food in diversified, ecologically
sound gardens, and then take home the bounty, dividing up the harvest of
vegetables, fruit, flowers and/or herbs.
M R Gardens is now interviewing potential students. To
confirm that the program is the right fit, applicants go through a simple
application process. Candidates can contact me (Megan) at 828.333.4151 to set
up a meeting at the farm. The main requirements are an interest in a unique ecological
way of landscaping, excitement about the work of gardening, the ability to help
create a conducive learning environment for all in the group, and acceptance to
others of different backgrounds and belief systems. Applicants should express
interest as soon as possible, and the first payment is due October 20.
Grow offers education not only in the specifics of growing
each particular vegetable and fruit, but also in creating a healthy system to
support the crops. That includes beneficial microbes that convert the nutrients
in the soil into a form that plants can uptake; beneficial flowers that attract
pollinators as well as predators of garden pests; and native plants that are
key elements of the food web. Participants also learn about naturalized landscaping,
ground covers in place of grass, medicinal herbs, and seed starting in M R
Gardens’ passive solar greenhouse, which is climate controlled by design with
no additional heating or cooling.
The goal is to create ease and fun in growing food. When
farming is concentrated in the hands of a few, it can become drudgery. On the
other side of the coin, home gardening can be frustrating if the knowledge and
the group structure isn’t in place.
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| Early September harvest |
The Grow program is an exceptionally sustainable model of
growing food. While there are a lot of promising advancements in all scales of
organic and sustainable agriculture ventures, I gravitate to a farm size in
which I can create the healthiest soil ecosystem possible. For me that means
limited mechanization and more hands helping in the garden. I also give
attention to the diversity of plants, insects and microbes—to all that surround
the vegetables to help them grow—rather than solely concentrating on food
crops.
Similar to a Community Supported Agriculture model, Grow
offers residents an opportunity to essentially pay up-front for their produce
for the coming year, therefore sharing in the risk inherent in farming. The
difference is that the emphasis for Grow is on education and participation.
While Grow students might not go home with quite as much produce as a CSA
basket, they get to harvest unique, nutrient-dense fruits such as goumi berries and chokeberries, along with the typical vegetables that are in season.
For some participants, it may be a relief to only take the amount of food they
know they can handle that week.
Because
of the structure of the Grow program, the weekly gathering in the gardens is
something members look forward to. The education is hands-on, so most of the
learning is through activities, such as preparing garden beds, planting, and
tending the plants, rather than in memorization of facts and terms. While
participants are physically active and are given opportunities to bustle if
they so choose, most of the work is relaxing and meditative—or lends itself to
conversation with others in the group.
Emerge into a new Hort profession
Budding ecological horticultural professionals may consider
Grow’s parallel program, Emergence, which is designed for students who see
themselves one day making an income from farming. As the Grow model expands to
sites other than just M R Gardens, Emergence students are prepared to help
coordinate these gardens. Grow can be replicated on sites such as businesses
that hold the intent to better the lives of their employees and community
members, or even on private property held by individuals wanting to share their
space for group classes in exchange for an edible/native landscape install.
A few students of M R Gardens, who started out as
volunteers, have already begun making a side income from gardening. After more
than a year of learning here, Asheville resident Jenna Payne occasionally helps
out M R Gardens’ landscape design clients, if Payne gets a break from nursing
school and a midwifery apprenticeship in which she’s currently enrolled.
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| Owner Megan Riley |
“Megan is a skilled teacher and mentor with the basis of her
instruction focused on real-time, hands-on learning,” said Payne, who has been
working off and on with various growers for a decade. She was struck with the
uniqueness the M R Gardens style—the way of building the soil, of using ground
covers in place of grass, and of integrating plants that naturally pop up in
the garden.
“Megan's gardens are incredibly abundant despite the small
scale,” Payne said. Most of the edible and native gardens are currently in a
half an acre, with plans to eventually expand throughout the two-acre property.
Payne is particularly impressed by the care and attention
that M R Gardens gives, which makes for strong, robust plants and also skilled
students. “Megan excels at conveying her successful gardening processes and
systems in a digestible, fun and applicable way to beginner or advanced
gardeners,” Payne said.
More about the inspiration for Grow
The inspiration for Grow and Emergence is multifold. While the programs are in part a response to customers’ need to gain more vegetable growing knowledge and have greater success in the garden, we are also addressing an issue that persists despite the many films about food and agriculture that have been released in the last decade. The general public is still too removed from farming to fully understand all that is entailed—such as the resources spent, the skills required, and the timing and seasonality.
Over the years, I have also noticed a great need for
connection. Community members are drawn to help out in the garden simply
because they want to be around the plants and in a natural environment. When I
give volunteers vegetables to thank them for their assistance, they often act
like I am giving them too much, Just being here and participating was enough
‘thanks’ for them.
The programs are also way for me to share my lifestyle with
others. I thoroughly enjoy my day-to-day activities of gardening, learning
about the natural world, and having conversations with fellow gardeners, even
in the midst of the vast amount of attention a business needs to grow.
Why should I be the one to have all the fun? There’s plenty
here to go around.
