Imagine a community in which each family has a raised bed garden built in their front lawn by local teenagers, free of charge. Will Conklin, of Greenagers, a non-profit working to connect teenagers with the environment and their community simultaneously, is working to make that vision a reality in Great Barrington. At November 11th’s log lunch, Conklin detailed the beautiful simplicity of Greenagers’ positive impact on its community.
Greenagers’ community garden program holds a lottery every year that chooses ten new family yards to receive raised beds. In April, Conklin and a team of teenage volunteers go to each chosen house to install the beds and in May they plant the seeds. All construction and gardening materials are donated. Conklin describes locating these supplies as “pulling from as many possible resources to really develop a network within the community.” The garden implementation works on a 3-year cycle in the effort to make the garden-owners self-sufficient. In the first year, volunteers build and plant the gardens then check in with the garden-owners throughout the season to provide advice and support. In the second year, they return to plant with new seeds and starts. In the third year, garden-owners are given the seeds to plant themselves. By the fourth year, the garden owners have the skills and experience to grow their gardens on their own.
Conklin emphasized how this program was not only an asset to the community but an attractive experience for teenagers. “This is not a hard one to sell to high school volunteers,” he said. “It’s always active.” Teenagers jump on the chance to learn basic carpentry and gardening skills. When they are finished, the students put up a student-designed Greenagers sign in each lawn. Conklin stressed the importance of the positive recognition teenagers receive from their community for this work.
Apart from the community garden program, Greenagers has monthly volunteer work days, which involve trail work, invasive species mitigation, and local farm help, as well as a summer work crew, which provides a group of teenagers with paid work to help conserve local areas, build bridges and kiosks in recreation areas, and do trail work.
The significance of Conklin’s work rides on the interconnectedness of community and environmental health. “I don’t think we can separate them out,” said Conklin. Greenagers has created a model for combining youth empowerment, land conservation, and investment in communal relations and organizations, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Megamenu Social