• By Mary Jac Brennan
• Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Community Garden Mentor Training Class Begins Feb. 15th

Why a community garden mentor program?

Community gardening is a great tool for improving food access to individuals who may not have good garden conditions at home. Often, community gardeners are first time gardeners and need help with the basics of growing a garden. Community Garden groups may need help with garden organization and operation. Community Garden mentors help support community gardens by providing information and resources from Forsyth Cooperative Extension to community gardens.

What is a community garden mentor?

A Community Garden Mentor is someone who is knowledgeable about gardening, enjoys sharing that knowledge with others, and has been trained to support community development around gardens. A Community Garden Mentor encourages best practices in the community garden

Community Garden Training Program

Community Garden Mentors receive 18 hours of mentor training in classroom instruction including the American Community Garden Association ‘Growing Communities’ curriculum. Mentors are required to attend a monthly meeting with other Garden Mentors, are encouraged to enroll in the ‘Sustaining Community Gardens Series’ and to take advantage of other classes offered by the Consumer Horticulture Program of Forsyth Cooperative Extension. Garden Mentors are also expected to carry out the duties of a Community Garden Mentor.

In addition to training and orientation, Forsyth Cooperative Extension provides Garden Mentors resources for their assigned garden such as seeds, starter plants (when available), access to a tool lending shed, soil nutrient testing, ongoing support during the mentorship process, and printed material on vegetable gardening, pest identification, pest management, composting, growing fruits, growing herbs, and growing flowers.

We strive to partner Garden Mentors with the garden of their choice.

The Community Garden Mentor Training class is free, and begins on February 15th. The class will run for 3 consecutive Wednesdays from 9:30 am until 3:30 pm each day. Registration is required and the class is limited to 30 participants.

Call or email Kathy Hepler at 703-2852 or kathy_hepler@ncsu.edu to register for the class.