Growing a Community

When it comes to organic gardening, it’s all about the soil. You can have brilliant planning, good seeds, and a healthy attitude, but without plenty of nutrients and a good soil structure, your vegetables will not flourish. Every organic gardener knows that healthy soil produces healthy plants and that healthy plants are better equipped to resist insects and disease.

I’m convinced that the same holds true when it comes to growing communities. Like a garden, a healthy community also requires plenty of nutrients and a good structure, and that’s exactly our hope and intention with Mission Clarksville. Right now we’re working hard and taking the necessary steps to properly work the soil and build a rich, lasting foundation. We’re establishing relationships. We’re meeting and listening with community leaders, residents, and organizations. We’re sharing ideas, we’re developing our programs and organization, we’re sowing a field that, if done correctly, will bear fruit for years and years to come. We’re also implementing a number of ideas and new initiatives that are serving as the initial, life-giving organic matter for the long-term communities we’re seeking to grow. From our Food Project pilot program this week to our meetings with potential youth leaders, to our amazingly productive conversation with the Clarksville Housing and Community Development Office, our strategy is to be patient and deliberate in the way in which we interact and develop our network.

This is a preparation year, and we know that. We’re building healthy soil. We’re building up one another. It’s how we grow.