The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees) announces the 45th Annual Gardener’s Gathering will take place March 20-22 online, focusing on how community gardens are not only food sources, but can become hubs of social activism and community support.
Hosted by the Trustees Boston Community Gardens and the City of Boston, the Gathering is free and has something for both beginners and skilled gardeners, as well as those curious to learn more about urban gardening. This year’s event will be headlined by Michael W. Twitty, award-winning chef and author of The Cooking Gene, who will deliver a special guest presentation on culinary justice, sharing knowledge around crops, and practicing integrated learning across intergenerational linguistic and ethnic spaces.
Continuing a long tradition of partnership with the City of Boston, the Mayor will kick off the Gathering on Saturday with a keynote address and present the Community Garden Awards to the “Most Valuable Gardener,” “Rookie Garden of the Year” and “Hall of Fame Garden.”
Twitty will deliver his special presentation on Saturday at 11 am. A two-time James Beard award winning author, chef from Washington, D.C., and also a culinary historian, he draws on his African-American and Jewish cultural backgrounds to explore the ways that recipes, heirloom crops, and food shape and evolve with our identities and our history. He will speak about gardens as healing spaces and places to work through the issues of living in a multicultural democracy.
Skill-building workshops are the backbone of the Gardeners’ Gathering. This year’s lineup will feature some garden basics for the many new gardeners who started last spring and summer: seed starting; composting; and how to save your own seeds. More advanced workshops will include no-till gardening, building your own self watering containers, and how to grow and use medicinal herbs. Young people from The Food Project will show participants how to build and plant raised bed gardens. For those looking to start a community garden, Shani Fletcher from the City of Boston’s Grassroots program will walk them through that process and share what resources the City has available. Building on the theme of Twitty’s talk, veteran community gardeners will share their tips on growing crops that are important to their culture and family history, including okra, callaloo, and sweet potatoes.
Several sessions will focus on how gardens can be hubs for community organizing, activism, and mutual aid. Eastie Farm will highlight how they mobilize their site for meal distribution, community resources and advocacy efforts. Representatives from different community gardening organizations in New York will speak to how they’ve activated their gardens not just for growing food and building community among gardeners, but also channeling that into broader action on social and environmental justice. A discussion led by two experienced urban growers and educators from Boston will focus on how we can activate our city’s community gardens as hubs for social change.
Free registration is available at www.thetrustees.org/gathering.
