Growing up surrounded by plants instilled in me a deep love of gardens and the desire to share that love with others. My journey gardening with children began with a volunteer experience at a school garden program in 1995 and opportunities to continue along that path just kept popping up (even when I was trying to head in a different direction). While in graduate school, I had the chance to serve as a volunteer school garden coordinator and also conduct research on the benefits of using school garden programs to teach nutrition. Since then I have worked with KidsGardening (and National Gardening Association prior to KidsGardening being its own nonprofit), various botanical gardens and Cooperative Extension coordinating numerous children’s gardens, writing curricula and activities for youth of all ages, conducting formal and informal youth education programs, and teaching teacher training sessions on integrating gardens into the classroom. Additionally, I now have 2 young gardeners of my own who are helping me garden at home and volunteer with local school garden programs.