COMMUNITY GARDENS: Building Community by Gardening & Digging in the Dirt with Your Neighbors
Teresa will describe how community gardens can strengthen a community by expanding a green space to become a social destination where neighbors can gather to connect with nature, secure multi-generational friendships, and realize a greater awareness of community need.
Teresa will share her experience as co-chair of Fiesta Place Community Garden in District Heights (Prince Georges County, Md.), and how it is being designed to foster community engagement.
Author and garden writer, urban and estate gardener, garden coach specializing in earth-friendly practices, and organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm expert, Teresa brings knowledge and common sense to conversations on drought tolerant plants, small space gardens, shade gardens, and the African American experience in horticulture. She is author of "Black Flora" and co-author of "The Urban Garden." She is also former regional director of GardenComm International and current president of the Jabali Amani Garden Collective, a National Garden Club virtual garden club.
With ancestral sharecropper roots originating in North and South Carolina, she considers connecting with the earth authentic. “My ancestor’s hands helped build and feed our family for generations,” she says. “To not honor this earth would disrespect my heritage.” She promises, likewise, to imbue program attendees from our community with her love of gardening and respect for the earth and with the impetus to reimagine community garden possibilities.
About the Talbot County Garden Club
For over 100 years, Talbot County Garden Club has supported and maintained many vibrant public gardens in Easton, MD including Five Corners Fountain Garden, Historical Society Garden, and The Frances Plate Memorial Children’s Garden. Your gift to these much loved public spaces is greatly appreciated.