AMERICAN COMMUNITY GARDENING ASSOCIATION
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About community gardening:
A special message for spring 2022
As the beauty of spring surrounds us and with Earth Day circled on our calendars for April 22, and as all of us get our gardens growing, we can pause a moment to hold our fellow gardeners in Ukraine in our thoughts and prayers. Here, a group in Kyiv plants a tree, in better times before the current conflict. In 2021, President Zelensky of Ukraine announced the ambitious goal of planting one billion trees over the next three years. This inspiring call to environmental action is now obscured by missiles and carnage. Let all of us work together for the day when humanity can stop fighting ourselves and start taking care of our planet. May this coming season bring peace and justice, in Ukraine, in the US and Canada, and throughout the world. In solidarity with Ukraine, community gardens across the US and Canada are planting sunflowers, Ukraine's national symbol. Please join us.
The American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) links over 2000 gardens across the US and Canada. There isn't "one right way" to garden in community. Instead, there are lots of right answers. We find strength, sustainability, and resilience in the diversity of our gardens and members. Even in the cold of winter or facing COVID, we show resiliency. Visit "About us" to find out more. One thing is certain. Nobody can do a community garden alone. Gardeners need one another. Join us..
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Photo courtesy WikiMedia, photographer Anntinomy
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On 3-4 March, 2022, Growing Communities came to LaGrange, GA, with a group including many young African-Americans. ACGA’s Terri Carter and Charlie Monroe facilitated. The LaGrange workshop included a visit to Piney Woods, a non-profit 100 acre farm. At both workshops, public officials, park employees, and Cooperative Extension agents paid a visit, making them ideal for networking and finding resources.
Don’t be left out!
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ACGA's Growing Communities Workshops are an ideal way to strengthen your garden or community gardening program. In a focused two-day format, you will learn about organizing strategies and proven techniques to grow and improve your garden, serve your gardeners, and address perennial problems (and we don't just mean weeds!)
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Thanks to support from USDA, ACGA will be offering Growing Communities throughout the state of Georgia this spring. To learn more and sign up, visit our Events Page.
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Not in Georgia? People from out-of-state are welcome to attend, and you can find out more about hosting your own workshop in your community by contacting info@community.
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(Photo: Piney Woods staff show Growing Communities participants around a Georgia farm. ACGA lead trainer (and former President) Charlie Monroe is at the far left. Photo: Farmer Terri Carter.)
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ACGA Growing Communities workshops feature super-learning and super-foods
President's May message
Spring is here, a symbol of hope, renewal, new beginnings, and a fresh start.
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We community gardeners are excited about planting our gardens, fellowshipping with other gardeners and getting some much needed time outside. Oh, how beautiful everything is sprouting up and blooming! A new beginning of empowering the community through food and education.
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Just as spring brings new energy to our gardens,, we as community gardeners continue to make a positive impact in our communities by helping to protect the environment, for us and for those yet to be born. Our gardens provide safe places for our families and neighbors to gather. Together, we grow food to nourish those in need as well as ourselves. Most of all, we feed our families fresh wholesome food that we grow in our gardens.
I believe that everyone should be involved in some capacity in community gardening. We as community gardeners need to continue to educate people on the importance of community gardens, healthy food, and the environment. We can show our youth where food comes from, and help them to master new science concepts and cultivate invaluable life skills.
Until everyone is fed the work of community gardeners will and must continue. Through community gardening, we can become anything we would like to become, and our neighborhoods can truly bloom and flourish.
If you want to make a difference in the lives of your family and friends, join us, and become a member of ACGA. And if you like gardening and growing healthy communities, there’s no better or more fun way to learn all about community gardening than by attending our 2022 annual conference in New Orleans, October 6-9, 2022. Make plans now, and see you there (right now, please take pictures of spring planting to share…)
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Sincerely,
Cathy Walker
ACGA President
Join ACGA in New Orleans October 2022
The American Community Gardening Association invites all community gardeners and garden organizations, urban farmers, environmental stewards, and all friends who cultivate food and justice to join us for ACGA’s 2022 Conference in New Orleans.
ACGA conferences are unique, a place to meet and share ideas with community gardeners and garden organizations from across North America. They are informative, inspiring, and fun.
The dates are October 6 through October 9, 2022. It’s a beautiful time of year in the Big Easy, perfect weather for visiting gardens and enjoying NOLA’s legendary music and cuisine. Mark your calendars now, and watch this site for more information about attending, as well as about presenting. The conference is the perfect venue for sharing your stories and insights from your own garden and organization. See you in October!
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(Photo: An edible schoolyard in New Orleans.)
High marks and ACGA's new annual report
As you consider your plans for end-of-year contributions to your favorite organizations, you not only want to make the world greener, healthier, and more just; you also want your money to be used wisely. Highly respected non-profit rating agency Guidestar has given ACGA its Siver rating for transparency. To find out more about what we are doing, read about us in our 2020 Annual Report, compiled by ACGA Board Member (and ardent birder) Marilu Lopez-Fretts.
ACGA RATES GUIDESTAR SILVER STATUS
Community gardening
questions?
ACGA is a great place to ask questions and share perspectives about all aspects of community gardening. You can ask us directly via our contact form, post a note on our "Common Ground" forum, buy copies of our annual magazine addressing different community garden topics at our shop, or visit our Tool Shed page for links and references. Last but not least, you can post your garden or find a garden using our interactive garden map.
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