Quarterly Note from Rebecca Brown, Executive Director

The late afternoon light dispersed through our conference room—it had been a productive day soaked in the kind of thinking and listening that makes a person feel the need to find a hammock as soon as possible. It was the second Community Grower’s Network gathering and we’d done good work.

The group of Urban Farmers and Gardeners in the Community Growers’ Network are visionaries who press into the life-giving soil and bring home food. Some members work full time jobs and tend growing farms or markets, others are courageous entrepreneurs trying to make a living from their farm, still others are “never ager” retirees using every waking moment to make this city a more just place. Waking up before dawn, they often come home after dusk. 

Their smile wrinkles and sparkling eyes brighten entire neighborhoods. 

2023 Community Growers’ Network - Second Gathering

They are motivated to this work because their neighbors are hungry—hungry for nourishment, for choice, for peace. 

After hearing about each others’ challenges and trellises for support, after strategizing about the future of our Network, and after learning how to document our successes I asked the room, “What is meaningful connection?” They filled out neon pink, orange and blue sticky notes with responses:

“Sharing resources”

“Synergy”

“Being able to ask and rely on advice, assistance, and support!”

“Honest dialogue”

The Community Growers’ Network (CGN) is a pilot project that tests out a highly-collaborative approach to cultivating neighborhood-based food sovereignty and meaningful connection, defined by the CGN members themselves, is a marker of success. While each of us work in our own communities—the ones where we live and walk and dream—we are also working together. We’re figuring out how to share equipment, acknowledging racial dynamics, strategizing for future common funding.

That day, members LaVanya and Te’Lario Watkins from The Garden Club Project shared about their ongoing struggle to get builders willing to install their already-purchased high tunnel. High tunnels are essential for season extension and helpful for crop management. It had been six months and everyone was too busy or unfamiliar with the type of build. After a bit of conversation, another member, Pastor Norman Brown from Kimball Family Farms, said he could gather up some builders involved in his J Jireh Development construction trades program—their graduates could be employed by his firm, NJB Consulting, to build the Garden Club Project and other hoop houses! An example of asking and relying others’ support. 

One sticky not delighted me as I read them aloud to the group, “Laughing together.” Looking up across the faces of these amazing farmers and community activists, I smiled and laughed. 

Meaningful connection.