Inspiration from this list

A* M* E*

To all of you community gardeners out there,

I only recently joined this list, but already come to my email each day
excited to steal a minute to read the daily digest that graces my inbox.
I'm excited because all of you exist and are communicating (okay, sounds
hokey, yes), and I get especially excited at the job titles at the end of
many emails ..."Community Gardener Coordinator" ..."Food Bank-- Community
Garden" ..."Urban Garden Specialist"... You all, believe it or not, have
my dream jobs, and it makes me more and more anxious to find one on my
own. I'm a youngin'-- relatively recently having finished my undergraduate
education (in Environmental Education and Environmental Justice at the
School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan)--
and now working in Recruiting/Admissions for my school as I work on my
graduate degree looking at socio-horticulture/community/urban/school
gardens.  I'm hoping to carve out a research project studying you and all
of your efforts and how they impact learning, behavior, community
revitalization, etc. (I personally believe that community gardens can 
solve a good number of the country's problems and want to help
"prove" it, although anyone involved in them already knows their benefits
are numerous and extensive... it just needs to be "proven" to policy
makers and funders, etc.).  

Oh, and I garden at a school and community garden I built in Ypsilanti,
Michigan (near Ann Arbor)... and am on the board of our local Community 
Gardening org-- Project Grow... and I worked with some school/neighborhood
gardening in St. Louis... and I'm an avid composter, and am an especially
big fan of worms... 

So, from a newbee on this list, thank you, because you guys are the
inspiration that keeps me going (especially through a harsh Michigan
February).

...and if you're someone else doing socio-horticultural garden research,
drop me a line...

Amanda Maria Edmonds
Ann Arbor, Michigan

...one more thing-- does anyone know of any books (published or in the
works) on community gardening that are largely photographic?  I've read
Patricia Hyne's "A Patch of Eden" (everyone should read it!), but it's
mainly text with a few photos.  The only other things I've found are older
children's books... 

 ___________________________________________________________________________
   =======================================================================
     We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
  ________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________
community_garden maillist  -  community_garden@mallorn.com
https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden