Today we’d like to introduce you to DePhane Marcelle Weaver.
DePhane, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was a leader for my neighborhood in Tempe, we always hosted fun events for our neighborhood and surrounding communities to bring people together. When we moved to Mesa about 7 years ago we repeated the same fun events, one being plant n seed exchanges. Afterward, I would put the extra seeds in my book box and the plants on the bench next to the book exchange. Both properties are certified wildlife habitats through the Nation Wildlife Federation. We also have a monarch way station property.
Then years later a gardening friend Ann started a group on FB to have people pick up plants from her place. I said this could be fun and big. She said she did not care about it being big, then made me an admin. I got my other friends involved, Silvia, Deb, Kay, and Mary as admins and moderators, plus a few decided to host stands. I decided to close my other 2 FB pages/groups down and started to grow the stand private group by promoting in other states and countries. And the fun begins, we have grown because we love to share our garden goodies with others. I then decided it was time to turn this into a *non-profit, under Legacy Global Programs (Previously known as The Charity Foundation) to help us become a non-profit on our own eventually.
Our Free Plant N Garden Stands leads Arizona’s largest group of plant-sharing people. Our program focuses on helping neighbors set up stands, cases, and shelves in their front yards or businesses with the purpose of sharing plants, cuttings, seeds, and tools. Our mission is to encourage permaculture and wildlife sustainably through information and tools for community and environmental development. Connecting neighborhoods and communities through a shared love of colorful growth. We use charitable gifts to support the local gardeners, farmers, neighbors, and companies solely to maintain the stands, replenish donations and motivate sharing. Take a seed/plant and share a seed/plant is what keeps the stand lovely for the next visitors.
We also provide monthly opportunities to bring stand hosts and visitors together with free educational classes or workshops. We love how each person helps educate one another on varied topics like how and what to plant, how to help grow and support the local wildlife with native plants, pollinator plants, how to make your own bouquet herbal tea from what you grow, salves, make your own compost, vermiculture, and how to grow for sustainability plus more.
In the hot summers when the stands slow down in our Sonoran desert or close we do online or youtube if we can not get together.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes and no. Some people want more recognition for their involvement in the organization and I was not aware that they needed that, we are learning as we go and constantly adapting to the needs of those involved.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We love to help new seed libraries and Plant N Garden Stands get added to our global map. We are community driven, green, sustainable all through the spirit of giving. Through our free educational workshops it is something that anyone can get into at zero to little cost. A few seeds and some soil and you are ready to get started…
Our favorite way to share our mission is using word of mouth. Our main FB private group is where we see what people share at the stands, post events, have great conversations, and make new gardening friends. Our locations can have a small seed library on their front patio (best for HOAs) or can go all out and do plants and gardening items.
We also collaborate with other nonprofits to help schools with gardening programs by sharing seeds. We also just finished the Local First Arizona SCALE UP program and will be helping the non-profit Journey out of Homelessness when they get going on a property. The one project that is still going on is #23 Encounter Farm on a church garden lot in Mesa. We hope to provide fresh produce from this location to help the church that already has a program for the food insecure neighbors, plus have some for the stand when people come to visit.
What’s next?
Getting more locations in neighborhoods so people can come together, do less driving, and help one another as they learn to grow food for themselves or for the wildlife. We hope to have a property for the public to come to for free education on gardening and how easy it can be.
People in wheelchairs or those that have PTSD might not think how good being outdoors can be, the sun on your skin, with your feet on the earth, can be so comforting, relaxing and good for your mental health. Plus we believe that people need to know a basic thing which is how to grow their own food and cook what is in season. We are 100 % focused on bringing back gardening culture.
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Free Plant N Garden Stands
