Can you believe our Mentoring pilot project is a now a GCW Standing Committee? Wow, can you believe Canny got this idea of a club mentorship going just last year? Our Mentorship Program is unique, is inspiring, and it’s fun! It encourages experienced gardeners to share plant knowledge and gardening skills that have become second nature to us and are important to pass forward. Our Mentorship Program has recruited new members who feel more confident to try gardening because we have a team with tested experience and long-earned skills ready and willing to answer questions, to instruct with a trowel, or teach with a pair of shears.
In a matter of one full gardening cycle, Canny and her group of mentors has a remarkable list of projects they have worked on with other club members which began with a surprisingly busy 2022-23 launch.
Projects included:
pond building
bush and tree pruning
a lesson on how to create BioChar
a tour of a drip irrigation system
two visits to my home with members interested in raising chickens to yield eggs, fertilizer, and pest control
over a dozen outreach visits to assist homeowners:
recognize plants in their already-established gardens,
teach how to prune,
reorganize gardens,
suggestions on plant additions,
assist with dividing and propagation.
Match-making is an art form many all walks of life. As the Mentorship Program’s administrator, putting together eager learners with people who can answer their questions or lend hands-on instruction is a must. In turn, we ask all of our membership to think about what skills they can offer others to advance a collective enjoyment of gardening and enhance our yards, our communities and our planet?
Remember: Many, many people are don’t know or are not familiar with something that comes naturally to others. And no matter how many years a gardener has played in the dirt, there’s always something new under our vivid Maine sun that an old hand would love to know. That information may be in your pocket. Give it some daylight. Nothing satisfies more than teaching and sharing.
Canny Cahn is a member of GCW and Chairs the GCW Mentorship Program.
Comentarios