... and the article isn't about using a word, but about broading the standard cliques to embrace young growers. I'm all for inclusivity and abandoning the snottiness.
"...My question to plant lovers is: do we need to ditch the term “gardening” to reach new people? Or do we need to reclaim the word by demonstrating it to be more inclusive? I am tempted to say the former, but rather hoping for the latter*..."
*my italics.
Hardly a crusade against the word 'gardening' ........ more of a weary diatribe against the other terms being used ... read it again.
A bit behind?... eh? .. because I don't spend every waking hour on a gardening forum?
And yes I did read it all..twice in fact..but thanks for the suggestion.
I loved this bit ...Or do we need to reclaim the word by demonstrating it to be more inclusive? .... c'mom even a leftie like you must see that's woke signalling boll0cks.
... and the article isn't about using a word, but about broading the standard cliques to embrace young growers. I'm all for inclusivity and abandoning the snottiness.
Oh Lord...take a deep breath petal.. Wong is virtue signalling fool.. always has been.
We too are reducing the volume of work needed on our garden, grassed areas that we found difficult reduced the vegetable plots, and do what we can, we still get loads of pleasure from our garden, enjoy it, don't moan.
I think you have the wrong end of the stick. The hort industry is worried about young people not coming in or being interested. 'Gardening clubs' are ageing. Lots of sectors are finding the same thing.
I helped form a garden club thirty years ago. We had sixty members in the beginning and at it's peak two hundred and fifty .In the early days the G World team filmed at our club. We had a waiting list for people wishing to join. We have made every effort to encourage younger members in recent years. In 2019 I remember being at the AGM, new committee members were needed but when I looked around the room most people had helped in some way or other over the years. Today it is still very popular but finding anyone to help is very difficult. Younger people use forums like this and other social media to find answers to their gardening questions. Sadly what they miss is sitting at the back of a coach having been on a club trip surrounded by plants with like minded gardeners and having a giggle.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
I head a small, informal gardening group and we have sixty people in four streets. I don't think any of them would have joined a formal gardening group and few, if any, of them think of them as 'proper gardeners'. Chris may sneer at inclusivity but it's the central plank of the group. Some people don't have gardens but grow things in window boxes or on pots on the step. A lot are council tenants, some are local councillors, some folks have alzheimers; we have lots of kids doing stuff and anyone and everyone has to be welcome or we become a clique. They don't have to turn up to anything, we have no shared bank account or a constitution. But we do have plant and seed swaps, there's lots of support for people who want to try to grow stuff - by messaging and in person. We ask lots of questions, share joys and struggles. Most are new gardeners.
I don't think growing cress on the window sill would normally count as 'gardening' or our school growing courgettes or tomatoes growing in a pot on the front step or kids growing salvias under the street trees. We are as interested in learning about bees, moths and frogs as we are about soil. Tech plays (particularly Whatsapp) plays a large part in all this - constantly chatting and asking questions, but also arranging picnics, garden visits and parties.
We have a U3A garden group that meets about half an hour away - mostly people over 60 and I hear it's very popular. I can guarentee that it's a very different type of cohort and demographic. Good to have both types, and more, available. I'm all for the proliferation of types.
No doubt Chris will regard any discussion of groups as 'virtue signalling' rather than discussion of projects and ideas that matter to us. So be it.
I think you have the wrong end of the stick. The hort industry is worried about young people not coming in or being interested. 'Gardening clubs' are ageing. Lots of sectors are finding the same thing.
Younger people are unlikely to be interested in gardening while few younger people are able to afford a house with a garden. 😢
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Younger people are unlikely to be interested in gardening while few younger people are able to afford a house with a garden. 😢
Maybe that is part of why more variety of group types is important. Growing house plants seem to be going through a boom at the moment, partly for this reason. Instagram is playing a large role.
If govt are serious about 30 x30 targets, one of the single best ways is to double the number of allotment 'parks' available and then double the number of allotment plots open to people. It's a no brainer, if the govt are really willing to put money where their mouth is. They could sort this out in six months.
Posts
And yes I did read it all..twice in fact..but thanks for the suggestion.
I loved this bit ...Or do we need to reclaim the word by demonstrating it to be more inclusive? .... c'mom even a leftie like you must see that's woke signalling boll0cks.
Crusade, diatribe, whinge, rant...etc etc etc etc ...
Wong is virtue signalling fool.. always has been.
I think you have the wrong end of the stick. The hort industry is worried about young people not coming in or being interested. 'Gardening clubs' are ageing. Lots of sectors are finding the same thing.
We have made every effort to encourage younger members in recent years. In 2019 I remember being at the AGM, new committee members were needed but when I looked around the room most people had helped in some way or other over the years. Today it is still very popular but finding anyone to help is very difficult. Younger people use forums like this and other social media to find answers to their gardening questions. Sadly what they miss is sitting at the back of a coach having been on a club trip surrounded by plants with like minded gardeners and having a giggle.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.