How does gardening relate to community organizing?
When the Oxford Dayton farm got started, I made a point of saying that we’re growing food and growing relationships. It could be seen in the whole design of the garden, with three-foot pathways that helped shape the plots, which are 10 feet by 10 feet. They could’ve been bigger, but we needed enough space to grow relationships. If I had my choice, I would just be an urban farmer. That’s where my passion is. The farming has made so many different inroads and connection. It has brought me all over, from California to the White Earth native communities. I have never thought of myself as an artist, but with flowers and vegetables I’m able to create art. You’ve got a lot going on. What is your motivation? Do you have some sort of mantra or guiding principle? I surf PBS quite a bit. I see Michael Pollan on there, talking about living with the Incas. Potatoes were the main crop, but they had 10 different species so if a plague came in, it didn’t hit all of them. He compared that to Ireland, w
