Voluntary beginning

In the spring of 2019, I received my Master Gardener certification in an effort to learn more about horticulture and to integrate myself into a community with similar interests. I immediately found a volunteer opportunity doing public garden design at my favorite outdoor space: Ault Park. By the end of 2019, I had completed 32 volunteer hours assisting another volunteer in keeping up with bed maintenance.

In 2020, I was granted my own plot, which happened to be the largest and most shaded of them all. That year, I did my best to maintain what I had inherited (mostly pulling English ivy and mapping out ephemeral blooms). My biggest challenge was figuring out which plant species performed best in a full-shade biome. In 2021, I relinquished the large shade garden and inherited the focal plots I had initially assisted with - which I would later find out had been maintained by a minimum of two people until I had taken over. In 2022, I picked up another derelict plot that had been abandoned since the Covid standstill. In 2023, I completed a total of 52 volunteer hours in installing, mulching, weeding, and watering. This tally did not count the months I spent germinating plant inventory I would use to fill the plots, which I have been doing since 2020 as a cost savings and diversification effort.

As of 2024, there are a total of 5 plots in my care (an eight of the entire volunteer garden). I officially maintain a minimum of 450 square feet of public gardens (roughly the same size of my living quarters). It’s not uncommon for passerby’s to stop and ask horticultural questions, or even thank me for my civic duty. While challenges still arise, I always do my best to add value to my volunteer plots and to my community.