It’s no secret, we’re living in unprecedented times. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic and life as we ALL knew it has come to a screeching halt! For many, it’s terrifying. The risk of contracting a disease that takes days to rear it’s head, leaving us and our friends, family and neighbors venerable to our exposure, is frightening. Not to mention the rippling effects this pandemic has caused our global, local, and home economies. 

Many folks are out of work. Grocery store shelves are often barren. And parents with children who rely on two meals at school, are forced to find other means of sustenance.

In all of this, I pray, there must be a silver lining. There must be a reason for all of this pain that’s to be endured. There must be a bright, beautiful light at the end of this tunnel. And, there must be a sense of calm that can be tapped into, amidst this chaos. 

Through the Grow Wayne gardening project, we have the opportunity to work though a few of these challenging thoughts… We can all pray and pondered on reason… We can hope for truth to shine it’s bright light… We can continue our search for the silver lining and we can experience a sense of calm amidst the chaos… And we can do all of this…in the garden! 

While social distancing has changed the way we connect with one another, it hasn’t changed the fact that we are stronger together and that spending time with our families in the garden and around the kitchen table is healing and will get us though this!

At Grow Wayne, we’ve transitioned our monthly workshops into virtual meetings and continue to connect with our growers on a number of platforms – social media, phone calls, video calls, texting and emails. We’ve set up our resource allocation so that we can keep our social distance by doing drop offs or strategic pick ups for our growers. 

It’s only March, and so far, our growers have tested their soil, prepped their garden beds, planted peas, lettuce, onion and potatoes. We’ve handed out organic fertilizer, and partnered with Wayne High School Horticulture class to grow out our cool weather plant starts. These are going in the ground this week!

While life as we know it is uncertain, what we can all rest assured in, is the fact that Mother Nature knows what she’s doing. We can rest assured that if we mimic nature in our gardens, and we trust in the fact nature knows best, we can all heal. We can all get though this, and in the end, we’ll be stronger, more self-reliant, more resilient, and more connected than we were at the start!

Grow Wayne, Grow!