Farm-based Education

How do you communicate garden projects to camp counselors or other educators on your team?

I am in charge of our Education Garden and I am looking for new ways to communicate garden projects and to-dos with camp counselors and other educators during the summer. Last summer, I tried a white board in the garden area and asked folks to sign up, but no one really used it. Maybe I just need to put this list in a more central location?

Hi Melody!

Thanks for sharing! I think part of that might just be that white boards are more of a passive communication tool, especially in a camp setting where everyone is busy and moving nonstop! I wonder if it would help to bring garden projects/tasks up during staff meetings or morning huddles or send quick reminders in a groupchat or email and also break projects into really concrete/specific tasks like "water beds Monday," "prep supplies for Thursday gardening workshop," etc and assign rotating or fixed ownership roles so staff feel more connected to certain projects. I also think people tend to engage more when they understand the "why" behind the tasks and how they connect to camper experience/programming rather than just feeling like extra tasks for staff.

Hope that helps Melody! Thank you kindly,

Kalie :)

How do you communicate garden projects to camp counselors or other educators on your team?

I am in charge of our Education Garden and I am looking for new ways to communicate garden projects and to-dos with camp counselors and other educators during the summer. Last summer, I tried a white board in the garden area and asked folks to sign up, but no one really used it. Maybe I just need to put this list in a more central location?