In Ithaca, NY, Leigh MacDonald of the Ithaca Children's Garden (a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension-Tompkins County), and Cornell University student intern David McDonald, experimented with conducting Garden Mosaics in small town and rural settings. Leigh and David partnered with two groups: teens involved in a summer employment program through the Youth Horticulture Apprentice Program (YHAP), and pre-teens participating in the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) summer camp. Each youth group conducted Garden Mosaics activities one day a week.

Leigh and David wondered how Garden Mosaics activities might work with home gardeners and small farmers. They identified potential gardeners and small farmers through Cooperative Extension. David then made contacts with individual gardeners by walking around Ithaca and approaching people who had interesting gardens. His goal was to show the wide variety of gardening styles among Ithaca gardeners.

More gardeners and farmers wanted to share their gardens than the youth had time to visit. Some of the more interesting sites included: a formal designed garden, a plant collector's garden, vegetable gardens, and a local artist's impressionist garden. The youth visited and conducted interviews at 11 gardens and four farms, but focused most of their activities at two sites.

CRS Growers
In 1985, Carol and Bob founded this six-acre organic farm overlooking Cayuga Lake in Lansing, NY. The farm includes a large barn, two greenhouses, two fields, and two ponds. The YHAP youth learned about the variety of ways that Carol and Bob market their products. The basement of the barn features a large area for storing produce grown by members of the Finger Lakes Organic Growers Cooperative. Carol and Bob helped start the cooperative and a number of area farmers bring together their produce for sale to larger markets and restaurants. Bob and Carol also have a roadside stand where they sell their produce during the summer. Their main income, however, comes from selling their produce at the Ithaca Farmers Market and to people who are members of their Community Supported Agriculture.

The YHAP youth learned that Carol and Bob grow a variety of herbs, flowers, and vegetables, including lettuce, cabbage, squash, potatoes, peppers, pumpkins, tomatoes, green beans, garlic, horseradish, and Jerusalem artichokes.

The YHAP youth also learned about Carol and Bob's approach to growing these crops. One youth noted: "organic farmers don't use chemicals like conventional farmers do (such as synthetic fertilizers). IPM is integrated pest management—look for thresholds to see if it's necessary to do something about pests (depends on amount). Some bugs are good—some bad."

The YHAP youth conducted soil measurements (such as testing for pH and drainage). They also learned about some of the experiments that are conducted by Cornell University researchers on the farm. They observed the effects of this summer's drought and of an experimental weed treatment using vinegar. Helping Bob and Carol with weeding was another activity during the visits to the farm.

Rob Young's Farm
The YHAP youth also visited Rob Young's organic farm. Rob has a composting greenhouse filled with vegetable scraps and other organic materials, which release heat as they decompose. The heat helps seedlings growing in the greenhouse. Rob also uses the compost on his farm fields. One YHAP youth wrote:

"In Rob's garden he had lots of edible plants such as tomatoes, lettuce, wheat, corn, apple trees, and also grew white pine trees. A good way of keeping the deer away from the food we eat was putting the food that the deer ate in a fenced off area. Rob is an organic farmer and doesn't use fertilizers or pesticides. He doesn't have pest problems because the plants were healthy enough to fight off the diseases. Compost was used a lot. Once every two to three weeks he turns it. When he first started out with his farm, he did soil tests. He rotates crops so the soil replenishes itself. Rob has had his farm for 15 years and it covers 40 acres."

On the day the YHAP youth visited Rob he had just harvested a field of wheat. The youth helped separate the wheat seeds from the chaff and grind the seeds into flour. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to make bread!

Ithaca Home Gardeners
Some of the GIAC youth's favorite places were Lori's curbside garden and Beth's vegetable garden in downtown Ithaca. One youth made the following notes about Lori's garden:

"Insects—good ones, praying mantis. Bad ones, aphids, Japanese beetles. She uses soap and water to kill them. Roses got infested by the Japanese beetles. Weeds a lot and cuts grass. Lori cuts bushes into shapes of animals and arches. She uses compost when soil gets really bad and waters the garden every day. Owns some of the land and the reason she gardens is because of a car accident and she says gardening is like music."

Lori claims her gardening has slowed down the traffic on her street, reducing the possibilities for further accidents.

Beth's garden includes a variety of herbs, vegetables, and flowers, as well as hops. She also grows fruits, including peaches, pears, raspberries, blackberries, currants, and gooseberries. Her garden offers a good example of organic growing methods and the intensive use of a small space. For example, she places netting over her peach trees to keep squirrels and other wildlife from eating the fruit. The netting was not enough to stop some of the GIAC youth, who enjoyed sampling Beth's delicious berries and peaches! Another activity was identifying young squash bugs using an insect guide.

The GIAC youth used books and the Internet to learn more about the plants they found in the gardens (such as lambs ears and rudbeckia). They also learned about Ms. Charity Smith, who in the 1930's made vegetable art in Ithaca. She took pictures of her art and sold them as postcards, which were quite popular at the time. The GIAC youth were inspired to create their own "veggie art" and took pictures of their creations. They then wrote about their project and are compiling their poems. The GIAC youth took numerous photographs during the summer and were able to thank Lori and another gardener, Tracy, by presenting a poster they made about the gardens.