Gardening is more than planting, weeding, and mulching. Gardening is an activity that many enjoy doing as a mental and physical activity. Gardening is for every age group and is practiced all over the world. Gardens are different in many ways, but each garden is unique in that it represents a person, family, community, region, or country. Gardening allows people and communities to come together to grow, care, and harvest from. A garden is also a place to use all of your 5 senses: sound, sight, taste, smell, and touch. For many, gardening is therapeutic. The sound of water, the sight of insects, the taste of fresh juicy tomatoes, the smell of magnolia blooms, and the touch of soil gives a sense of healing and purpose to so many. In addition, gardens create a place of habitat and space to be creative. Watching birds build a nest for their future young, or waiting patiently to photo the dance of a bee from flower to flower, or painting a sunset landscape gives purpose for gardens. At the Lakeside Commons Educational Gardens in Campbell County, these gardens have created a space and has given purpose to so many for over 20 years. As the gardens evolve, volunteers and the horticulture staff at the Campbell County Cooperative Extension Service continue to implement best horticulture practices.

Recently incorporating art into the gardens has been the focus from the horticulture staff and volunteers. One of our devoted volunteers expressed her words of validation: “The art and the garden are to be experienced with all the senses, seen and unseen, know and unknown. Art in the garden can create a path into another world”.

When summer gardening tasks and chores comes to a halt and days begin to get shorter, the volunteers strive to continue to meet and generate projects to incorporate in the gardens for the upcoming growing season. For many, the family atmosphere that Extension provides, is what gives our horticulture volunteers the need and desire to continue giving so much of their time back into the community. Their desire to give so much to Extension and continue to feed the mission and priorities of our programming allows for stronger horticulture programs and strengthens our Extension family. “Differences don’t matter. Acceptance and openness are paramount”, shares her connection to Extension and the gardens.

With support from Extension horticulture staff, volunteers from the Master Gardener Program and from the horticulture advisory committee came together to form a garden art committee to gather regularly during the winter months. Words cannot describe how our volunteers bond and form a unique relationship with each other. “These projects and garden keep me from going insane. They give me stability”, shares one of our veteran volunteers of 20 years and counting. We truly are a family and without Extension, these bonds would not have been possible. “We feel that our ideas are valued and that gives us a sense of pride and ownership in these projects […] these project empowers us, inspires confidence and a senses of team work”, shares another volunteer who has been in our Extension family for 3 years.

The garden art committee met bi-weekly to share some of their family trips and photos to gardens to gain inspiration and ideas for  garden art projects. Once they identified a few projects to focus on, volunteers met weekly to accomplish their projects. Pot-luck lunches were also a big part of these meetings as they enjoy sharing their favorite homemade dishes just like they do with their families at home. Sharing their food, stories, and memories, allows for our volunteers to feel at home with Extension. As our volunteers continue to learn and with the leadership from the Extension horticulture staff, our horticulture volunteers are eager to share their passions and lessons with others in the community. Teaching, for some of our volunteers is not one of their strong suites, but with the mentorship and encouragement from Extension staff, plans are in the making for volunteers to being to offer programs into the community which, will continue to provide outreach education and allow for the horticulture staff to focus on new projects or programs. Seven volunteers who make up the art committee, have accumulated at least 50 hours saving tax payer dollars over $8,000 during the winter months in 2020.   

As the Extension Horticulture staff continues to seek new volunteers and leaders in our communities, we will also will continue to build the platform and mentorship for our volunteers to allow for our Extension family to grow for many generations to come.