Megan Greene Of New Hope Community: 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Vegetable Garden To Grow Your Own Food

An Interview With Martita Mestey

Look at your plants every day.

Go out to your garden, patio, fire escape — wherever you’re growing — and look at your plants. Inspect the leaves and look at their undersides. Pests love to hide. If you do this, you’ll be able to catch any problems early and try to keep them under control by removing diseased plants and picking off pests.

As we all know, inflation has really increased the price of food. Many people have turned to home gardening to grow their own food. Many have tried this and have been really successful. But others struggle to produce food in their own garden. What do you need to know to create a successful vegetable garden to grow your own food? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Vegetable Garden To Grow Your Own Food” we are talking to experts in vegetable gardening who can share stories and insights from their experiences.

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Megan Greene.

Megan Greene is Head Farmer at New Hope Community’s Hope Farm in Sullivan County, New York. Hope Farm is a wheelchair accessible, health-focused organic farm project initiated in collaboration with SUNY Sullivan. Megan works with New Hope residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities to grow delicious and nutritious foods using sustainable farming techniques. In 2021, twelve-thousand pounds of produce from the farm was distributed to New Hope’s residences and local food pantries.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Tell us a bit about your “backstory.”

I grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York. My family always had a garden and too many pets, including chickens, ducks, rabbits, and even chinchillas. Thinking back, every job I have ever had was somehow connected to food — from my first job at a local grocery store when I was fifteen, to my current position at New Hope Community as Head Farmer at Hope Farm. I have no recollection of ever wanting to be a farmer, but when my parents were moving, I found a drawing I did in first grade answering the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In my picture I was holding a pitchfork and wearing a straw hat that said Farmer.

I completed my B.A. in Applied Linguistics and Sociology/Anthropology from St. Michael’s College in Vermont. After college, I taught nutrition and exercise classes at senior centers in Vermont and to preschoolers in Northern California. I spent two years as a kitchen manager and five weeks working on organic farms in Portugal through the WWOOF Program. I went back to school at Chatham University and moved to Pittsburgh, where I completed my Master of Arts degree in Food Studies with a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture. I worked on the campus farm as well as a couple of others in the Pittsburgh area for two years, which made me realize I wanted to find a way to make farming my career.

After graduate school, I returned home to the Hudson Valley and worked with a gleaning program. I drove an 18-foot refrigerated box truck and helped coordinate pickups, deliveries, and volunteer events across six counties to reroute excess produce from farms to emergency food providers. I wanted to get back to farming, but with experience at both for-profit and non-profit farms and organizations, I knew the not-for-profit world was for me. I found a great fit in the opportunity to manage Hope Farm.

Share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career.

I have been working with New Hope Community on the SUNY Sullivan campus for almost 2.5 years now. I started in January of 2020. Two months later, New York State shut down all non-essential businesses due to COVID-19, with many of our administrative employees working remotely or staggering schedules, Day Program switching to in-home programming, and SUNY Sullivan’s classes shifting to online (Hope Farm is located on the SUNY Sullivan campus). Two months later, New York State shut down all non-essential businesses due to COVID-19. Many of our administrative employees began working remotely or staggering their schedules. Our Day Program switched to in-home programming and SUNY Sullivan’s classes shifted to online. The farm team and I continued working through the shutdown. We prepped for the season at Hope Farm by starting seedlings and caring for the plants in our 3,000 sq. ft. heated greenhouse. We had to figure out how to get produce to our residences in a way that was safe, so we set up “no contact” pickups at the farm and found ways to connect with the individuals we support through virtual farm tours and by providing gardening advice over video calls. Our maintenance team built raised garden beds at several homes, and we dropped off vegetable and flower seedlings as well.

It was nothing like what I pictured my first season would be, but we ended up producing over 10,000 pounds of food in 2020 and responded to an increase in food insecurity due to the pandemic by donating 3,000 pounds of organic vegetables to local food pantries. In farming, you have to be flexible and adaptive, but the pandemic definitely solidified that on a whole new level. All that said, the most interesting thing was probably when I was newly engaged and lost the diamond from my ring while loading up a box truck. I found it later that day in a box of sweet potatoes!

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Inquisitive

I am naturally curious and always interested in picking up new facts and skills. Farming is the perfect profession for curious people — you learn something new every season. I am very interested in other people’s stories and experiences. I ask a lot of questions and am constantly doing research. I can easily admit when I do not know something and have found people generally like to share their experiences. We all have something to learn from each other. I strive to take this mindset into my teaching and approach people where they are at in a hands-on, accessible way. My hope is that they are comfortable asking me lots of questions too! As a woman in the field of food and agriculture, I have faced challenges and, at times, relentless self-doubt. I have learned so much through keeping an open mind, and I’ve definitely made a lot of mistakes along the way. If I do not know how to do something, I am always determined to figure it out. This is something I have definitely gotten more confident with over the years.

2. Compassionate

I have always been empathetic and intuitive. I tend to try to understand things from others’ worldviews and experiences. There is never one way to view a situation or to approach a topic. All of us have a different experience in moving through the world. Sometimes in hands-on teaching, trial and error is best until you find a method that works for each individual person. For example, in working with New Hope Community’s Day Program participants, I have learned over time which methods for seeding and transplanting work for each individual person. We all think and learn differently, and we can get to the same end result (a beautiful seedling!) with differing approaches.

3. Enthusiastic

I tend to be positive and try my best to be optimistic. Farming is hard, and things don’t always (if ever) go as planned, so you have to take things in stride. I am so lucky to get to work outside with an incredible team, teach people about farming, and grow food for and with my community. I love to cook, and I am always sharing my favorite recipes and preparations for everything we grow. If I am genuinely excited about something, my hope is that others will be excited about it too.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote?” Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Life’s a garden, dig it.” I try not to take everything so seriously and to appreciate the small things.

Are you working on any interesting or exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

At New Hope Community, we have an amazing team of people who come up with creative programming for and with the people we support. We are working with our Therapeutic Riding and Animal Therapy Program participants to come up with animal treat recipes, where we will utilize seconds from the farm and incorporate them into treats for our resident horses, guinea pig, bird, cat, and dog. We are also working with program participants and employees in our Supported Employment Program (SEMP) to grow herbs and flowers for tea that we will dry, process, and package into tea blends to be distributed to our supported homes. These projects are a way to get people involved in developing a product from start to finish, and to have a tangible result at the end. This can help the people we support to develop skills and confidence in their abilities and encourage them to explore their unique interests. One of our farm employees is always saying “I can’t believe I can do this!” It has been amazing to see her confidence develop over the years which, in no small part, is due to the skills she has developed by working on the farm and in the greenhouse. This confidence has pushed her to take initiative and to pass on her knowledge through teaching our volunteers.

Can you help articulate a few reasons why people should be interested in making their own vegetable garden? For example, how is it better for our health? For the environment? For our wallet?

Food you grow yourself tastes better. You can grow a lot more interesting and flavorful varieties than you can find in the grocery store. In your own garden, you’re harvesting produce right before you eat it, and the freshness really makes a difference. After the initial start-up costs of soil, compost, and pots if you’re using them, it is less expensive to buy one tomato plant than to buy tomatoes all season. However, I don’t want to pretend it doesn’t take work — when planning your garden, take into consideration how much time you can devote to it. It’s not everyone’s thing, and that’s okay too — make friends with a gardener instead.

Where should someone start if they would like to start a garden? Which resources would you recommend? Which plants should they start with?

Start small — buy a couple of plants that you want to grow and go from there. You don’t have to do it all your first year. You can buy seedlings from a local garden store or farmers market, or from the nursery section at any big box store. Crops like radishes and beans can be direct sown, meaning planted right into the ground.

For resources, I would recommend looking up your local Cooperative Extension. They exist in all 50 states in the U.S. Many of them provide gardening resources and classes. The Johnny’s Seed website also has tons of helpful resources, including a seed-starting date calculator. If you don’t have the space to grow at home, look for a local community garden plot to rent.

Can you please share your “Five Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Vegetable Garden To Grow Your Own Food”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

1. Grow what you want to eat.

If you think you should eat kale, but you don’t like kale — grow something else! Always wanted to try a cucamelon? Try growing them. And if you’ve never heard of them — look up a photo. They’re adorable! Love tomatoes? Grow tomatoes. You’ll be much more likely to take care of a garden full of plants you’re excited to eat.

2. Gardening is very place- and site-specific.

Look up your gardening zone by your zip code. This will be important information for you to plan your garden. You can find your last frost date, the date at which it is safe to plant more sensitive plants like tomatoes or peppers outside. Don’t let an 80-degree day in early May trick you into putting everything outside. Once you know your gardening zone, you can also see which flowers and herbs are perennial (meaning they will come back every year) in your area. Before you plant, pay attention to how much sun you get. You will want full sun for things like tomatoes or cucumbers. However, if you only have partial shade, you can still grow things like lettuce or cilantro. You’ll find what works for you and your specific garden, as well as your time constraints. If you don’t have a lot of time to spend gardening, grow low-maintenance and hearty crops like herbs, lettuces, and greens.

3. Soil health matters.

Healthy soil means healthy crops. We apply organic compost every year to all our beds on the farm, and I suggest you do the same in your garden. If you really want to get into it, you can get your soil tested by sending in a soil sample to see what amendments you might need to add in addition to compost. If you are growing in pots, you can mix compost into your potting soil, and fertilize your plants with fish or kelp fertilizer to keep long-season crops happy.

4. Look at your plants every day.

Go out to your garden, patio, fire escape — wherever you’re growing — and look at your plants. Inspect the leaves and look at their undersides. Pests love to hide. If you do this, you’ll be able to catch any problems early and try to keep them under control by removing diseased plants and picking off pests.

5. Make a plan, then realize you might not follow said plan.

It’s always nice to have a plan. However, you can’t control the weather. Some years will be better than others. You might have a great year for potatoes, and a horrible year for cucumbers (shoutout to 2021). Even if you don’t follow your plan, take notes. I can promise, you will not remember everything that happens in your garden. Notes are great to refer back to, so you know what worked well for you previously. They can also prevent you from making the same mistakes the next time around.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a garden? What specifically can be done to avoid those errors?

Here in the Northeast, planting sensitive crops too early is the most common mistake. Most of our favorite summer crops (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash) don’t really like temperatures under 50 degrees. The best way to avoid this is to trust the last frost dates given for your area and resist the temptation to plant early. Your plants will grow faster in warmer temperatures anyway.

What are some of the best ways to keep the costs of gardening down?

If you’re starting plants from seed, one way to keep the cost down is to save and trade seeds. Try to find a local seed swap where you can trade seeds with other gardeners. Flowers are an easy place to start. If you save seeds from one sunflower, you’ll have plenty to share. Some libraries even have free seed libraries. You can score some nice planters at yard sales or thrift shops instead of buying them new. If you buy your plants, save the containers they came in to reuse them next year in case you want to try starting your own seeds.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’d start a movement to share plants and food with our neighbors. People are already doing this, of course, but if you haven’t given someone a bouquet of flowers or a pepper you grew yourself — I highly recommend it. It feels good to make someone’s day with something so simple. Trading home grown treats is even more fun.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would love to sit down with Vandana Shiva. She is an incredible advocate for food and seed sovereignty, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture. Her work is so inspiring, and I’d be interested to hear her thoughts on how to affect change on a much smaller scale.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Follow our farm Instagram page @hopefarm2015, New Hope Community’s Instagram page @newhope1975 and the New Hope Community Facebook page @newhope1975. For more information on Hope Farm, visit newhopecommunity

Thank you so much for the time you spent on this interview. We wish you only continued success and good health.

Thank you for the opportunity, it was fun.