“Being out in the garden, out in nature—it really does have a way of just making stresses go away” – Spring Training for Gardeners 2025

Our 2025 Spring Training for Gardeners season has officially come to a close, and the rows we planted together are already yielding so much more than vegetables. Over five weeks, a vibrant group of beginning and returning gardeners came together to learn the basics of growing food—alongside lessons in soil health, pest management, transplanting, composting, and community resilience. Whether participants were digging into garden beds for the first time or returning to rekindle an old passion, the energy each person brought to the farm was electric.

For Kayleigh, below, the experience transformed gardening from a guessing game into a skillset she can carry forward with confidence. “I was trying to grow from YouTube videos before, but now I feel like I have actual understanding,” she shared. “There’s so much gatekeeping in gardening. But here, it’s about sharing knowledge and making it accessible to everyone.”

Kelly (pictured far right, below) echoed that sense of empowerment through education. “I just needed to get the education so I could make sure I was growing things the right way,” she said. Her journey started during the pandemic, but her deeper motivation came from witnessing her sister’s experience with environmentally-linked cancer.

“That made me really think more about the food we’re eating and buying, and what they’re spraying on it,” she said. “I want to grow food for my family—and for people who don’t have access to fresh food.”

Tommineisha, who returned to the garden after a family tradition of growing in the South, said Spring Training helped her deepen her practice.

“Last year I tried to grow watermelons, and they all just wilted. In this class, I learned you have to harden your plants first—there’s a process,” she said. She’s also ready to test out new organic pest control strategies. For her, being outside and reconnecting with food has been healing: “I work in social services, so a big theme is self-care… Being out in the garden, out in nature—it really does have a way of just making stresses go away.”

As we celebrate this season’s cohort, we’re reminded that growing food is not just a practical skill—it’s a powerful act of care, agency, and connection.

Thank you to our instructors, volunteers, and especially to our participants for showing up, digging in, and helping cultivate something beautiful together.

Can you taste the abundance?