Abstract
In this essay, the author responds to Madhu Prakash’s piece on friendship gardens and healing our “Mother” through Prakash’s central question, How to birth a world in which many worlds flourish and complement each other in their wild, divine diversity; all equally enjoying Ahimsa flourishing and happiness? Coming from the standpoint of schooling, education, and teacher preparation, the author works to reground the descriptors of “pre-service” and “in-service” from a technical discourse to an ecological one, where the notion of service becomes expansive and pedagogical. Illustrated is how people in community are building gardens and working with soil in a way that is restorative for more-than human relationships, illuminating the deep ways gardens heal and nourish. This is especially important as we emerge from the wake of Cold War numbness, where gardens enable and empower continued societal growth from ideological mindset of “against” to an increasing ability to look at the discord inside of our own communities/selves and move to growing “with.” Working with soil not only opens us to relationship and hospitality with one another, but also inspires peace with the earth.
Published Version
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