This week on Community Corner, we had the privilege of inviting Ginger-Rose Krueck, Executive Director of GROW Enrichment into the studio (in person!). Since its inception, GROW Enrichment has made massive strides in educating Nashvillians about sustainable approaches to restoring urban green space. As stewards of fourteen acres of land in Two Rivers Park, GROW Enrichment has modeled a microcosm of permaculture methodology that they hope can be replicated across the greater Middle Tennessee area. The mission can be encapsulated in the following three tenants:
- Everybody has a responsibility to take care of our planet – it’s our home!
- By taking care of our home planet, we can better take care of each other.
- The way that we take care of our planet and each other should be equitable and just.
After experiencing exponential growth in 2019, in large part due to their successful Permaculture Action Day, Krueck’s team was looking forward to expanding their workshop offerings — but the global pandemic quickly put and end to those plans. Instead, GROW Enrichment took a year to reassess their organizational mission and approach. After an entire ten months without being on-site, they are now poised to work with neighboring Two Rivers Middle School and MNPS on rigorous educational field trip programming. But this proverbial classroom isn’t limited to students — Krueck hopes that children and adults of all ages can develop a passion for permaculture by volunteering on-site. Spend a few hours mowing, fertilizing, or weeding, and you can’t help but leave with a vocabulary that now includes at least ten types of invasive plant species.
Whether you’re itching to get your hands dirty or you have some spare cash burning a whole in your pocket, GROW Enrichment can use your support. To learn more about volunteering and donating, head to their website, linked here. Community Corner airs every Saturday at 7am, but if you missed us on-air you can listen to the full interview with Executive Director Ginger-Rose Kreuck below: