Little House garden of refuge
In 2015, Little House created a community garden with recruited refugee seniors from UPAC-EMASS who were interested in gardening. The Little House Garden of Refuge was created with the assistance of HHSA-East Region who provided the materials and the expertise with Master Gardeners and a Landscape Designer. The gardeners worked with the Designer and came up with a beautiful layout for the garden and the plants and trees they wanted to add. El Cajon Collaborative hosted a Growers' Workshop earlier that summer and the most requested need was more land for growing. The garden continues to expand and thrive. It has become an inter-generational garden with the help of the Granite Hills Key Club, Molina Healthcare volunteers and soon the San Diego Loyal Soccer Club. The East Co. Senior Service Providers gifted the garden with three picnic tables and the City of El Cajon with a patio and landscaping. With COVID-19, the garden continued to be a space where our seniors could safely get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and ever changing crops. Stop by and see this amazing garden. Donations are always welcome for growing the garden and trainings, tree trimming, and landscaping. (see more photos on the Photo Page.)
“Seeking Refuge in the Garden”
There are many tired gardeners but I've seldom met old gardeners. I know many elderly gardeners but the majorities are young at heart. Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized. The one absolute of gardeners is faith. Regardless of how bad past gardens have been, every gardener believes that next year's will be better. It is easy to age when there is nothing to believe in, nothing to hope for. Gardeners, however, simply refuse to grow up. --Allan Armitage
There are many tired gardeners but I've seldom met old gardeners. I know many elderly gardeners but the majorities are young at heart. Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized. The one absolute of gardeners is faith. Regardless of how bad past gardens have been, every gardener believes that next year's will be better. It is easy to age when there is nothing to believe in, nothing to hope for. Gardeners, however, simply refuse to grow up. --Allan Armitage