That Green Thing Inside US ALL, Jill Mays on Nurturing Nature, Gardening for Special Needs

Cultivating Place

As the summer gardening season rolls into full-throated song, the idea of who has access to the work, joy, and benefits of this practice also comes into view—and feeds what Occupational Therapist and author Jill Mays calls that "green thing inside of us all." As an occupational therapist by career and calling, over the course of her professional life, it became increasingly clear to Jill how many of the occupational therapy goals she set for her diverse clients were well met by the variety of activities, sensory stimulations, and social, mental, and physical benefits of gardening—preferably outside and in the company of others. After several years of developing gardening programs in her now-home town of Truro, MA, Jill has documented the journey of her work, research, and garden program designs for a wide range of special needs in her new book: Nurturing Nature, A Guide to Gardening for Special Needs. Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.