by Clarence Thomas, Jr.
MGI Contributor
Margaret John loves gardening. Her whole life is rooted in it since her grandmother introduced it to her at four years old in her native Caribbean country, Trinidad. Today her gift and passion is practiced primarily as the Community Garden Coordinator for Moving To Success, Inc. (MTS) – much to the delight of those she instructs.
Food for John is life. She says it keeps us alive. Especially if we take the time to grow healthy versions of it ourselves. For her, getting what we consume successfully from the ground to the table is a big deal that affords us the chance to better appreciate and enjoy it. “It’s my nature. It’s something I grew up with. Gardening helps us to be healthy. I love to see things grow just like the life of humans,” said John.
John began as an MTS volunteer a year before becoming its contracted garden coordinator. She teaches the art of growing vegetables, herbs, and fruit to residents and students in five locations across the city. Northside Senior Village, Tindall Senior Towers, Hunt School Village, Central City Apartments, and Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School all benefit from her gardening expertise.
Tomatoes, greens, and cucumbers are some of the native species of vegetables that can be found in these locations along with those foreign to our soil but on their way to becoming more familiar to our palettes thanks to John. She says there’s
a science to gardening. That it’s way more than just putting seeds in the ground – reminding her audience that it also involves making sure the soil is rich, well irrigated and the temperature for growing is right.
She is grateful and overjoyed at the response of the communities she serves and especially happy to see mothers changing their children’s lives for the better through the creation of healthier choices. “Teaching them how to grow good food is how I make a difference,” she said. Working with the students at MLK Elementary is especially rewarding, she added. “Because it allows me to work with young people and their parents in creating healthier choices as I add joy to their lives through teaching them gardening.”
Becoming the garden instructor at MTS was also made possible by her friend and fellow foodie Rodney Mason, founder of Restored Ancestral Roots, a Macon based culture and education focused non-profit dedicated to community enhancement through the creation of traditional and non-traditional foodways.
The two initially were next door neighbors before Mason, caretaker of the Felton Homes community garden, discovered their shared interest in growing and invited John to assist him there. The New Orleans native recently referred to her as a steward of the land that feeds and educates her community. He really respects her view of food and her personal experience with it. “Gardening is part of who she is, but she is so much more,” suggests Mason. “She is one of the village mothers that’s in the kitchen, in the field, tending to children and advising the young men and women in the best way.”
Karen Middleton presides over Moving To Success, Inc. (MTS) as its President/CEO. She said Mason introduced John to the MTS Team. According to Middleton participation in gardening at the apartment complexes has increased and further stated that John is a wonderful addition to MTS and residents and students win because of John’s gardening knowledge and the love she has for them.
She is glad to have her on board as part of the Team. In addition to her in-depth knowledge, it also helps that John is a kind, friendly person with a welcoming spirit. “She brings folks together, youth and seniors, and that’s a great thing,” Middleton shared.
Forever working to improve her students’ experience, John is eyeing the future. In addition to her current focus on gardening and healthy cooking, she plans to eventually teach canning, dehydration, increasing the shelf life of food, and juicing – the extraction of raw fruits and vegetables liquid content for rapid consumption of concentrated vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
John says she’s one hundred percent committed to MTS and her work. She and her team members are definitely on the same page, she insists. Connecting the Black community to its heritage is also a goal of hers. “So, we can share the harvest. I want the community to come together.”
If you have any questions about gardening, you may Ask Ms. Margaret by emailing mjohn@movingtosuccess.org.
