Overview

A testament to the influential nature of educational and community gardening programs for teens Part engaging conversation, part comprehensive fieldwork, Growing a Life demonstrates just how influential educational and community gardening programs can be for young teens. Follow author Illéne Pevec as she travels from rural Colorado to inner city New York, agrarian New Mexico to Oakland, California, in order to study youth gardening and the benefits it contributes to at-risk teen lives. Extensive research, supplemented by beautifully candid interviews with students, illustrate the life altering physical and mental benefits that mentored gardening programs can provide. Giving readers the opportunity to examine the largely unexplored topic of urban gardening, the programs discussed present models for future educational and community based gardens. Each destination brings with it an abundance of programs geared toward educating teens by giving them the tools they will need in order to have fruitful futures. With an emphasis on positive psychology, Growing a Life delves into the minds of underprivileged teens and what gardening means to them.

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9781613320174

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Reviews

"“This is an astonishing book! It will inspire you from the first sentence no matter how long you’ve been involved in the garden world. Because of Dr. Illène Pevec’s research, I am beginning to understand what lies beneath our need to grow plants – and that’s after almost 40 years promoting urban agriculture. Read this book!” -- Mike Levenston * Executive Director, City Farmer Society, Vancouver, BC * “Timely, well-written, and easy to read for people interested in urban agriculture, youth development, and social justice issues. The combination of narrative, personal anecdote, and more scholarly research presents a convincing case for more programs like the ones in this book.” -- Jody Beck * Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Colorado, Denver * ""This book shines a spotlight on youths’ transformational experiences in their urban school gardens, and uses their own words to clearly illustrate the power of nurturing living things to change children’s lives for the better—improving their health, their connections to their communities, and their empathy and care for the Earth."" -- Sharon Danks * founding director, Green Schoolyards America; author, Asphalt to Ecosystems * ""Illène Pevec offers her expertise and insight into the profoundly good effects of youth gardening programs on the lives of young adults, and her most powerful evidence is in the honest voices of the teens themselves. This is a terrific book."" -- Richard Louv * author of Last Child in the Woods and Vitamin N * “This book makes a strong case that well designed gardening programs promote positive youth development. Exactly how they do this is explained by young people in their own words: words that amplify the research that Pevec reviews. The eloquence of the adolescents who share their feeling and experiences in these pages is deeply moving and inspiring.” -- Louise Chawla * Professor Emerita, Environmental Design Program, University of Colorado * “Pevec's first person documentation of adolescent lives in transition makes this book a remarkably inspiring and grounding read. The interviews, collectively, reveal the holistic ways hands-on learning, mentorship, positive social settings, and a caring relationship with plants can positively affect young lives. The book serves as a powerful call to action.” -- Cam Collyer * Executive Director, Programs at Evergreen *"

"""“This is an astonishing book! It will inspire you from the first sentence no matter how long you’ve been involved in the garden world. Because of Dr. Illène Pevec’s research, I am beginning to understand what lies beneath our need to grow plants – and that’s after almost 40 years promoting urban agriculture. Read this book!” "" -- Mike Levenston * Executive Director, City Farmer Society, Vancouver, BC * ""“Timely, well-written, and easy to read for people interested in urban agriculture, youth development, and social justice issues. The combination of narrative, personal anecdote, and more scholarly research presents a convincing case for more programs like the ones in this book.” "" -- Jody Beck * Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Colorado, Denver * """"This book shines a spotlight on youths’ transformational experiences in their urban school gardens, and uses their own words to clearly illustrate the power of nurturing living things to change children’s lives for the better—improving their health, their connections to their communities, and their empathy and care for the Earth."" "" -- Sharon Danks * founding director, Green Schoolyards America; author, Asphalt to Ecosystems * """"Illène Pevec offers her expertise and insight into the profoundly good effects of youth gardening programs on the lives of young adults, and her most powerful evidence is in the honest voices of the teens themselves. This is a terrific book."" "" -- Richard Louv * author of Last Child in the Woods and Vitamin N * ""“This book makes a strong case that well designed gardening programs promote positive youth development. Exactly how they do this is explained by young people in their own words: words that amplify the research that Pevec reviews. The eloquence of the adolescents who share their feeling and experiences in these pages is deeply moving and inspiring.” "" -- Louise Chawla * Professor Emerita, Environmental Design Program, University of Colorado * ""“Pevec's first person documentation of adolescent lives in transition makes this book a remarkably inspiring and grounding read. The interviews, collectively, reveal the holistic ways hands-on learning, mentorship, positive social settings, and a caring relationship with plants can positively affect young lives. The book serves as a powerful call to action.” "" -- Cam Collyer * Executive Director, Programs at Evergreen *"

Author Information

Dr. Illène Pevec, PhD., is a researcher for the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design, University of Colorado Boulder, as well as program director for Fat City Farmers, a local food education program in Basalt, Colorado.

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