Are you Mentoring Anybody to Help Them Learn?

[baymule]

Are you teaching anybody that you know to help them learn how to garden or raise animals? Are you sharing your knowledge with a friend or neighbor? Are you trying to make a difference, not only with your own family, but in your community?

I thought we could use a little discussion. I know many of my northern friends are teetering on the brink of dirt diggin' and could use a little diversion from the walls-closing-in-willies. So tell us what you are doing or plan to do to make a difference in the lives of others around you.

We got a new, young Edward D. Jones stockbroker in town. At first he was politely intrested in my regaling him with my gardening/chicken tales. Then he and his wife watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It scared the crap out of them. He called me to ask if I could grow enough to feed his family too. Sadly, I told him no, but I would help him and his wife grow a garden of their own. I visited his wife, we talked garden and she is now planting some purchased plants. They are my one and only egg customer and they bought a small coop and run and as of yesterday, they now have 3 chicks. I have sent her web sites and links to study. I am proud of them and their efforts to begin a better, healthier life.

For the last 3 years, I have planted Thai #3 green beans from Baker Creek. This will be the fourth year when I plant in a couple more weeks. I have spread this seed far and wide. Some seed even went to Honduras with our preacher when he went there to conduct classes in a bible school. With every packet of seed given out, a new seed is planted, sparking an intrest in growing one's own food.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=33860

I have promised the 3 little boys accross the street that I will give them green bean seed and help them plant it. Their dad works offshore, so next time he is in, we will be making those kids their own garden.

My grand daughter is my ongoing sidekick. She is in the middle of the chick buying and garden planting. They live 3 hours away, but I try to plan planting/chicks/even butchering a roo/coop and run building when she comes to visit. She is following in Mamaws foot steps.

The mail lady saw me in the garden one day and asked for advice. She wound up turning the mail truck off and we chatted for a little bit. I gave her green bean seed too. I told her how and when to plant potatoes and told her I would be glad to teach her how to can.

I invited another friend over one day to teach her how to make bread. We had a blast and she went home with loaves of bread, recipes and a sense of accomplishment.

I talk garden, chickens and producing one's own food with anyone that will listen. Few are intrested enough to actually want to put forth the effort to do anything about it. But for those that are intrested, I am more than willing to help them get started.

So what are you doing? Are you boring people to death with your incessant chatter about tomatoes? Corn? Eggs? Goats?

 

[seedcorn]

Count me as one who encourages and discourages. With plants, it's encouraging. With animals, they need to know both sides.

Under education, I'll put plug in for BBBS program called lunch buddies. You help a kid do well in school and life that is missing a male or female influence. Check it out.

Now back to fun of gardening.

 

[canesisters]

I am absolutely hopeless about talking about my chickens. I've got a few friends who have recently gotten chickens or are thinking about it, but they haven't asked for much advice from me. There are more experienced folks in the community who are more of the sort who fence in an area, fill the feeder & collect the eggs from the ones who survive. I'm the crazy chicken lady who names them, sets up game cams to watch for predators, gets giddy when they come to sit in my lap......
I need to learn to be a tiny bit more discerning in my 'free to any' advice though. A friend of a friend through facebook was very interested in all my chicken stories. Wanted to come out and meet the girls, see the coop, maybe even get some eggs. I found out just in time that he was not nearly as interested in the chickens as in what else he might be able to get ahold of out here. Glad I never actually gave him the address.
Maybe - after all of TEG's wonderful mentoring - I'll have something to share about gardening next season.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

I think that is awesome! (and now I have a documentary to watch too!)

I have my grown daughters that I mentor, but that is a given.

I have a friend that has had lung transplants years ago due to CF. Last year I spoke to her about growing her own food. She was always making comments about me growing this or that and how she wished she could, but couldn't. She has a husband and a little boy. I convinced her that "She CAN!" grow some of her own food. I told her that the only dusty part (which is her biggest issue) is when you first plant. So we can help her. She can have her little boy water and make it a family affair. I just talked to her again and she is on board to try some container gardening!!!!!!!

Last year, my boss after hearing a couple of us employees talk about thier gardens decided to put one in. He is a city slicker, but I was really happy that he was getting into gardening. He also purchased a pig from us. We raised it, he just picked it up at the butcher. Baby steps...baby steps.

My other boss, I talked into letting his little girl get 10 baby chicks from me last year.

I must say though...that I learn just as much if not more from other gardeners and the more people I talk to the more I learn.

Spread the gardening/farming info!!! Live healthier and happier! Keep up the good work all.

 

[journey11]

I have my little garden buddy, DD, that I try to encourage...I let her plant squash any and everywhere that she wants to, so long as she is happy to plant it. I'm letting her start her own flat of flowers this year too.

Overall, I think I've been able to influence more people, young people mostly, toward an interest and respect for honey bees. I just drafted two visitors who promise to come along to my next beek meeting! I've done presentations on bees and chickens for my creation club kids at church too, and they seemed to really enjoy it.

Currently I am looking into starting up a seed lending library at my local library with what I currently have collected and available to share. I tuned into a how-to webinar the other day, but they had technical difficulties and there was no sound. But they are going to re-play it, on April 9th, I think. I cleaned out my email inbox and now can't find the link, but they'll email me again a couple days prior and I'll post it here for you guys if you're interested too.

Basically, an individual or organization donates a variety of seeds in packets along with info on how to grow and save seed from them and a rating of what level of expertise is needed to save that particular seed. The library provides a corner to display them. Anyone with a library card can "check out" some seeds with the condition of growing them out and bringing back some of the seed for others to check out the following year. To some degree this is on good faith...if they have a crop failure or whatever, I'm not sure how that's handled, but the library keeps track of who is supposed to "return" seed.

I do want to take the master gardener's course someday, when my children are a little older. I can see this seed bank project easily leading to public speaking opportunities or maybe even a local seed savers association.

ETA: Not the page with the link to the webinar I was talking about, but here's an article on the seed library .

 

[MontyJ]

I have been teaching my best friend. He has seen my garden for years and never showed an interest. His wife would ask about it and I would tell her. Then she decided to grow a small garden. She started asking lots of questions and I explained everything to her. I remember one conversation we had about tomatoes. I explained suckering to her. She saw some of my competition tomatoes and wondered how I got them so big. She also asked why my other tomatoes looked so neat and ruley. So, I told her and even showed her how to sucker tomatoes. Well, when she planted her tomatoes the next year, her DH, my friend, told her that she needed to sucker them. She said why? I'll get more tomatoes this way.

To make a long story short, he asked her, "If your not going to do what Monty said, why bother him with your questions?" So, he has taken over the garden, and has been an avid listener and learner. He does have one problem...he is addicted to Marconi Peppers. I have 46 of them started in the grow chamber...all his. I have no idea where he plans to put them. But at least he listens and takes the advice I offer him. His garden has gone from a run to riot mess, constantly besieged by disease, to a very nice little producer. This year he was going to try starting his own seeds, but chickened out and brought them to me. I made him plant them under my supervision. I did take them and put them in the grow chamber though since he didn't get his own built yet.

 

[Smart Red]

As Stubbornhillfarm mentioned, "it is a given" that I am mentoring my youngest grandchildren, Maverick and Gypsy, both on gardening and on raising small livestock. I helped my D-I-L with her first gardens, helped my S-I-L start a garden three years ago and my BFF neighbor two years ago. They all plant some of my seedlings as well as what they purchase.

I have helped at our Rotary Gardens as a master gardener for some special events. Right now, my mentoring is pretty much restricted to sharing and helping internet gardeners and a few friends I've made on Free-cycle. I also am a member of a great seed and plant sharing Yahoo group that helps to spread seeds throughout the USA and even other parts of the world.

 

[digitS']

I thought that is why we are on TEG!

Okay.

Maybe that is #3 out of the top 10.


Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

We are all learning from each other here.

 

[OldGuy43]

We are all learning from each other here.

I'm with Marshall. A good teacher not only teaches, but learns.