…on Nextdoor.com. An app that, depending on where you live, is either a toxic cesspool of humanity, or exactly what it was purported to be–an online space to chat with nearby real life neighbors (though the “nearby” part can be argued since I’m still not sure exactly how they determine their overlap–we have a few other border towns included in mine–but they are fairly low population which might be the reason).
I’ve been on Nextdoor since we received a postcard for it with an invite code not long after we bought our home. I feel rather fortunate that my however it’s determined “neighborhood” has been fairly nontoxic, given the oft-reported craziness I’ve read about taking place on other Nextdoor neighborhoods.
Back when I joined, I was still struggling to find what used to be a staple in many communities during certain time periods–the local garden club. It simply didn’t seem to exist–or at least if it once had, no longer did. We do have a few garden related clubs that are state based that I’ve found, and even a few not nearly as close as I’d like dedicated to various inter interests within the broad stroke of “gardening” (e.g. natives/butterfly/bird watching/etc.), but none seemed to fit what I was seeking, and as I said none were close by (but some are a reasonably driving distance.) I’ve since had no luck finding a more local variant, though my pursuit of gardening has led me to connections with our city’s Conservation Commission which has brought some knowledge to me at least.
So on December 7th of last year, I took the plunge and formed one on Nextdoor using their special interest “Group” function. I did this mostly because if nothing else maybe someone would point out, “You know, we have a garden club in X area nearby”, which would negate my own need to have a group through Nextdoor. Now nearing the three month mark–though the membership has grown–not a single person has said such. So, I continue to try to add a post once a week hoping someone will respond (they rarely do, though sometimes I get a “like”). I also sometimes send out an invite if I notice someone put up a garden related post, or when I look at their profile I see they have “Gardening & Landscaping” within their interest areas.
The group has been really quiet overall, though a few folks have posted. One post I’m actually rather excited about is a fella working on a hydroponic system for growing food indoors. Something that’s quite smart here in Massachusetts. I’m hoping the closer we get to warmer weather, the more folks will start posting garden stuff. Time will tell!
Feel free to leave a comment below about any local garden clubs you may have joined or form, in the face to face world, or online.
