Have you ever thought about the healing power of plants beyond just their aesthetic appeal? As plant parents, we know how much fun it is to take care of our plants, but did you know that therapeutic horticulture is a practice being used in hospitals, retirement homes, and even correctional facilities?
Today, we’re exploring the concept of therapeutic horticulture with the guidance of expert teacher Hilda Krus, who has been a horticultural therapist for over two decades, working with inmates at Rikers Island, New York’s largest jail. Let’s dive in!
In this episode, we learn:
[08:16] How Hilda Krus became a therapeutic horticulture expert
[17:06] What is AHDA?
[21:07] Is horticultural therapy the same as therapeutic horticulture?
[24:34] Need a plant-based meal delivery system that eases bloat and boosts energy?
[27:41] How creating a comfortable and easy space in a garden requires intentional work
[31:53] What lessons did Hilda learn after working at Rikers Island for 20 years?
[42:15] How can horticultural therapy programs get government funding?
[49:09] Hilda describes her routine and a student’s typical day at Rikers
[51:21] What is the layout of the garden at Rikers Island?
[53:46] How is the food they grow on-site at Rikers Island being used?
[56:26] Did any of Hilda’s students choose to work in horticulture after finishing her class?
[59:14] Are you looking to create a spa-like ambiance in your home with beautiful chimes?
[01:01:37] Inspiring stories in Rikers’ therapeutic horticultural program
[01:03:56] What is the Horticultural Society of New York?
[01:11:03] What classes does Hilda teach at NYBG?
[01:12:13] Hilda’s recommended horticultural books!
Check out the full show notes and blog of ‘The Power of Therapeutic Horticulture’ here: https://growingjoywithmaria.com/rikers/
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As planned parents we intuitively understand that gardening is therapy plant care is self-care and the multitude of other plants and wellness inspired sayings right that we’ve all come to embody I mean I wrote a whole book on this topic but did you know that there is a practice being used in
Hospitals retirement homes Correctional Facilities using plants as a means of healing empowerment and even as a vocation Horticultural therapy also known as therapeutic Horticulture has received a lot of attention in the last year as registered Horticultural therapists have been changing the concept of what healing can look like I
Recently took a class on therapeutic Horticulture for mental health with the New York Botanical Garden and I fell in love with my wise sensitive and very interesting teacher Hilda Cruz in addition to teaching therapeutic Horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden Hilda is also the director of Horticultural therapy with the
Horticultural Society of New York and with the society she has worked at Rikers Island new York’s largest and probably most famous jail through the Hort Society of New York for decades today we explore the healing modality the power of therapeutic Horticulture welcome to the growing Joy podcast where
We not only learn how to care for plants successfully but how to Simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate more joy in our lives I’m Maria author of growing Joy the plant Lover’s guide to cultivating happiness speaker podcaster and most importantly an epic plant killer turned happy plant
Lady on growing Joy you’ll find conversations about plant care plant community and wellness through the lens of plants is self-care on growing Joy the podcast plan friends welcome back Happy Spring I’ve placed my transplants orders with territorial seed company for my balcony Garden I’m doing grow bags again this
Year my house plants are starting to grow my monstera has a big juicy fenestrated leaf that is unfurling it’s right next to my Peloton that I ride I work out on in the morning so it like sits with me and cheers me on as I work
Out I also hung two bird feeders outside of my office window and I am getting so many different birds at my office window it’s actually something it’s a practice I talk about in my book but it’s so fun to be seeing birds all the time just
It’s a it’s a way to get my eyes off of my screen and out my window to connect with nature for a few minutes anyway spring has sprung I hope you’re feeling it too if you’re in the northern hemisphere I wanted to give a quick
Shout out to kdh Vicki Ross disa L and Brittany H these are four listeners who have recently joined our community platform an app it’s called the growing Joy Garden Society it’s the plantiest and kindest corner of the Internet it’s a platform if you want to access it via
Your computer it’s an app for IOS and Android we’ve got the most amazing news feed of posts from International members of our communities about houseplants gardening planty DIY there’s a plantrepreneurship group we’ve got monthly calls it’s the coolest place ever if you’re interested in joining us join us at jointhegardensociety.com and click the
Community plan alright into this episode holy moly plant friends if you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while you’ll know that I have Dove deeper into my plant care education through taking online and in-person classes with New York Botanical Garden I started in 2020 I think since then I’ve taken their soil
Science 101 plant science 101 the science of tree communication and introduction to Horticultural therapy having lived in New York City for a decade I was so lucky that I could just hop on the train to get to one of the most amazing botanical gardens in the
Country it is so magical over there but in the pandemic they moved their education online and I felt like I was able to benefit even more because the courses were digital so this January I took my newest class called therapeutic Horticulture for mental health as this
Topic is near and dear to my heart plants were a huge part of me healing my personal depression I’m so inspired by the practice of Horticultural therapy I mean I wrote a whole freaking book on how to use plants to live a happier life if you don’t know the book is called
Growing Joy the plant Lover’s guide to cultivating happiness it’s available anywhere books are sold but anyway my class on therapeutic Horticulture for mental health led by Hilda Cruz was way different than I was expecting through the New York Botanical Gardens reconceptualized therapeutic Horticulture certificate program which is different than Horticultural
Therapist which we’ll learn in the episode today students can prepare for a multitude of career Pathways by using plants and gardening as a therapeutic modality all of the courses in the therapeutic Horticultural certificate program offer education to learn how to utilize nature to empower individuals and groups whose lives have been
Affected by illnesses injuries disabilities and life circumstances in order to achieve improvements in their cognitive physical social emotional and spiritual well-being this course was really eye-opening it was a hybrid course so I took most of it online and then we had one day at the Garden altogether all of my classmates were
Part of the certification program so I was the only one taking it just out of curiosity City for the subject matter we got a lot of data and science-backed methods to apply to our own therapeutic practices we did Hands-On activities we had tests we had homework and
Accumulated in this beautiful day at the Garden where we had a class long assignment to create our own miniature therapeutic Gardens whatever that meant to us so throughout the six-week course we were all working on our own therapeutic Gardens we brought them to New York Botanical Garden and the
Presentations left meteor-eyed so many of these presentations and these Gardens were created rooted in The Human Experience rooted in deep desire to help people heal grow bloom grow for lack of a better word and I just felt like the presentations kind of projected what the future could look
Like I hope that we have a world in the future where every hospital every Correctional Facility every retirement home has programs like this because the work works and Hilda Our Guest today is going to speak more to that if you’re interested in potentially taking therapeutic Horticulture classes
At New York Botanical Garden you can go to nybg.org learn then click adult education and certificate programs and click therapeutic Horticulture there’s a direct link to the program in the show notes as well it’s just too long for me to say and if you’re interested there are a
Couple of classes that are certificate level that are coming up so they have a fundamentals of gardening class that starts on May 17th and they have an intro to plan science that starts April 28th or May 12th I’ve taken both of these classes and they’re great I especially really like the intro to
Plant science so therapeutic Horticulture we’ve set the stage today’s episode you might have noticed it’s specifically regarding Horticultural therapy at Rikers Island New York’s largest and most likely famous most famous jail when I learned that Hilda my sweet soft-spoken teacher with bright orange hair has led the Horticultural
Therapy Program there for almost two decades I knew I needed to know more so today’s episode is going to be all about therapeutic Horticulture but through a very specific lens in Correctional Facilities it’s very inspiring let me know if you enjoyed this episode and exploration of therapeutic Horticulture
Because I could totally see turning this into a whole series where we look at different populations in need and how therapy Horticulture can be used to serve those populations so without further Ado here’s Hilda foreign welcome to Growing Joy thank you very much it’s so exciting being here Maria
This is wonderful and I appreciate you inviting me and letting me speak today you’ve been my teacher at New York Botanical Garden and I’m so excited to introduce you to my audience for two reasons number one the work you’ve done your story I’m so excited to share just
You and the work and your Devotion to this to this work but also you have the most amazing voice and the most amazing accent and every time we were in class I was always so tickled by your accent and you’re just beautifully soothing voice it’s like perfect for podcasting so I
I’m so excited that my audience gets to hear hear your accent do you want to introduce yourself and just say Obviously where you’re from and also your journey to becoming the therapeutic Horticulture expert that you are now so my name is Hilda Cruz and my real name
Is mehtude and I’m saying this in this podcast because I’m also you mentioned my accent my accent is German I come from a village near ULM in the south of Germany and live in the States now since nearly 20 years and if I think of my journey into
Horticultural therapy I have to start in Germany in my parents Garden actually I was really really fortunate to grow up with gardening as did many of my appeals and it was so normal for us we didn’t think it was unusual so my my parents had a garden they grew
Up those Gardens also include vegetables to feed their parents my grandparents grow vegetables to feed their families and so this partition was continued and we had food in the garden but we also had ornamentals my father was a rose lover and he passed that love onto me I could
Speak very lengthy about roses and ornamentals also that’s a great passion of mine and throughout my youth and then early adulthood there were many moments where I thought Horticulture is beautiful I enjoy it I didn’t Envision it as a profession at that time but I experienced moments
Where I thought maybe there is more to it and one of them was my background the social work and in a place where I worked in Germany for children who came for medical treatment to Germany and who had severe injuries and needed to learn to use their body again
I started a small garden with them and we realized how beautiful it was for all of us and I saw how good it was for the children in this facility to practice moving and using their body and not be confined so much to new body shapes they had or
Situations they had and so that was my first Contact and I didn’t know yet that there is a name for all of this and then I also experienced a little later in my late 20s when my father got very ill that gardening continued to be something that we really connect over
We spend until it wasn’t possible for him anymore we did spend time in the garden and eventually he sat and I worked and it was something that connected us until his end and that stayed with me as something that could also be a connection between
People in this way and I then had my own little apartment and experience stressful situations at work I was outside in the garden I installed a streamer light I was outside in the garden nearly till midnight sometimes just to have some time outside yeah to decompress yeah and
So these are examples of me experiencing therapeutic benefits of horticulture prior to reading about it as a profession and then came this moment that many of us have their the read about or hear about therapeutic quality culture and Horticultural therapy as a profession it then happened to me my mother sent me an
Article about poor therapy with older adults and I cut the article out and put it in my memory box on the table because it wasn’t the right moment when when I got the article and pulled it out a little maybe a year or two later and thought
Now is the time where I want to add something to my profession and want to explore this and this was then my entry into exploring where I can learn that and I came to the states to learn about it because at the time this was 2003 we didn’t have learning opportunities
Yet in Germany for this profession which has changed in the meantime but at the time we didn’t and so I came to the states to learn about this and add to my professional social work and this was relatively in a nutshell how I got to to this field
And as a child I would have never thought that because I grew up my maybe my first 12 years watering and collecting slugs from my mother’s letters and didn’t think this would be something I enjoy so much at the time and utilize in a therapeutic way and so from then
To now has been a lot of experiencing of what Gardens can do implants can do for us I hear so much Universal experience in your story so many people have that memory of growing up in your parents Garden or for me in my grandparents Garden similarly my grandparents are immigrants from Italy
And they had two plots of land they had a plot of land for their house and then they had the next plot of land next to the house for their garden and they grew all their own food in Queens New York and also that experience of late life
Bonding as a means of connecting to a different generation and it’s interesting because I think intuitively so many of us understand the concept of therapeutical horticulture Horticultural therapy you know outdoor gardeners say my garden is my therapy indoor plant parents say plant care is self-care the minute you start connecting with a plant
You have this intuitive connection and it is very interesting that you mentioned you know you had to come to the states to get your training but now it’s changed because I think it was like episode 40 so it must have been in 2017 2018 keen on therapeutic Horticulture
And even from 2018 to now it feels like it has made Leaps and Bounds this practice has made Leaps and Bounds just in cultural awareness having programs in hospitals and you know jails and correctional facilities and retirement homes and hospice like all of this it feels like all of a sudden everybody
Knows about it when you know back then I had never heard about it before and got connected with someone at the Chicago Botanic so it’s super interesting so where did you come to study in New York yes I came to a small school called way to grow which no longer exists it it
Revealed the last course my teacher taught she wasn’t a long-standing Horticultural therapist who had built a school near Saratoga Springs but because she had also worked in the city school the school blocks this was a Blog course like an intensive course and the school blocks took place Upstate
New York and our internships were down here in the city where she also had an apartment she worked with a lot of practitioners around Saratoga Springs who also taught us so that was my school entry into into it and at the time the entryway was slightly different over these last 20 years
Ahdae has worked a lot on trainings and it Pathways of Education into the field and at the time because I had a social background and has worked in social work my entryway was slightly different nowadays such prior trainings or or schools also are facilitated into our education and
When I came in it was as well and so the way training looked at the time is was quite different than it is now it’s interesting at our New York Botanical Garden class that I just took with you I was one of the only people that wasn’t
A social worker in our class like it I I thought it was very interesting that there were so many people who have degrees in social work gardening was their Hobby and now they’re looking to kind of add a tool to their toolkit or completely switch over so let’s talk a
Little bit about that so you hear Horticultural therapy and you hear therapeutic Horticulture are they the same are they different is this a license is this a doctorate like what is this field and I know that it’s developing but right now at this time stamp of spring 2023 what is this field
This is a big question I was actually excited thinking this through and I’m going to do something which I don’t usually do I thought how do I work with how do I want to think of of this field end of this question and I’m going to utilize
Ahdas definition as a base for my answer because I think and what is ahda okay so ahta is the American Horticultural Therapy Association which is kind of our umbrella just like adult fields of professions also have a Professional Organization so so do we and even though it’s still a relatively
Small profession we’re growing and Maria you just mentioned the growing interest even in the last three years I experienced that too in the field so it is a growing profession and ahda is the National Organization and then there is also an opportunity Nationwide to find individual Regional
Networking groups here in this area we have the Mid-Atlantic or therapy networking group as well as the North Eastern one so there’s a little bit of an overlap but ahda is the National Organization and is also the organization their Pathways into the profession are discussed or their schools their teach Horticultural therapy
Would get accredited and ahda says Professional Standards there is currently no licensing but this no official licensing that’s also recognized by the Bureau of Labor this is something ahda is working on very hard and in the course of all that there’s also thoughts about definitions and how all of this gets sorted
And you just mentioned what is it even what is when we say the garden is my therapy and and hobby gardeners say that also what makes it different from an actual form of therapy that’s practiced than they are and all of these things are what is thoughtful
By many practitioners and so I want to start those ahpase definition not as a kind of a cop-out for me not to having to say that but because I think it’s important to say this is not random in it’s not my decision what I call Therapeutic war or therapy
It is something that’s defined as a base for a profession and that also would mean that if an organization or a facility is hiring the services of a therapeutic Horticultural professional or award therapist they would know that this person has received some training and there are Shale Professional Standards
For this and that’s why I think this is very important I often experience still then I see I’m a Horticultural therapist slight confusion and it sounds like a very soft profession and something that’s hard to press and so I do think it’s important that we Define what we are doing
So wilster was ahda the definition for Horticultural therapy is core therapy is the participation in Horticultural activities facilitated by a registered Horticultural therapist to achieve specific goals within an established treatment Rehabilitation or vocational plan Horticultural therapy is an active process which occurs in the context of an established treatment plan where the
Process itself is considered the therapeutic activity rather than the end product so this is therapy and now as contrast I’m going to read therapeutic horticulture therapy record culture is the participation in Horticultural activities facilitated by a registered Horticultural therapist or other professionals with training in the use of horticulture as therapeutic modality
To support program goals therapeutic quality culture is the process through which participants enhance their well-being through active or passive involvement in plant and plant related activities and so there is a subtle difference these are the two core definitions I think there is a subtle difference difference and to me it
Matters very much that therapeutic Horticulture doesn’t necessarily have to be facilitated by a person who’s a registered or a therapist which is a deparant voluntary registration process through ahda but it can also be facilitated by people who took courses I think it’s important that these courses are serious
And based on a clear understanding of the profession and one of them of course is our example from nybg which is nybg is a worldwide recognized training and education institution and so the courses offered at nybg are great example for me how individuals from all routes of life could receive
Relevant training that well equips them to work as therapeutic horticulture facilitators and so there is a bit of a difference I think one other difference is also that Horticultural therapy has established treatment plans and works within this treatment plan also very clearly geared towards outcome and measurable outcome various therapeutic Horticulture is a
Little bit wider in its opportunities yeah it feels like therapeutic Horticulture is a little bit looser in terms of a little bit more lenient maybe in terms of it’s like could I go do a therapeutic Horticulture class probably but I’m not a Horticultural therapist it’s worth noting you know I had taken
The intro to Hort therapy class at nybg a couple years ago thinking oh maybe I want to go get certified you know I want to go get registered it’s rigorous it’s a very intense going through it at nybg plus I don’t know if they’re volunteer hours or they’re like Apprentice hours so it’s
Very rigorous so we are in the full swing of spring right now and that means the growing season is here which is super exciting but it also means the travel season is here we’ve all got weddings we’ve all got summer travel we’ve all got time off I love traveling I love connecting with
Family and friends and exploring but an undesirable side effect of traveling can be the extreme bloat that sets on after too many indulgent meals not being in control of the food that you’re eating or if you’re like me just like drinking too many pina coladas on vacation
Because that’s my jam I am so thankful for sakara’s delicious nutritional plant-based meals that are the perfect reset after a season of travel if you don’t know who they are Sakara my new favorite meal delivery system they deliver science-backed plant-rich nutritional programs and wellness Essentials right to your door they’re
Ready to eat meals are nutritionally designed to deliver results from weight management and eased bloat to boosted energy and clear skin I just finished the three-day program I was traveling for three and a half weeks I came home I timed my three-day program to happen right when I got home plant friends the
Meals are so freaking good every meal was more delicious than the last I was shocked I signed up for the program because I knew that I just wanted to like kind of give my body a reset as I shifted back to a more healthy eating lifestyle but I loved the food and I
Really have to say after just a three-day program I really felt a difference it felt so nice to give my body the nutrients it wanted and needed after just like feeling like my pants didn’t fit anymore that three-day program was a great opportunity also to reset my
Palette my body and yeah my body feels lighter my clothes fit a little bit better honestly the most important and the most impressive side effect of the program is that my spirit feels lighter it’s wild with three days of Clean Eating will do for your mental health so
If you’re looking for a healthy eating Kickstart I can’t recommend sakara’s delicious meals and programs enough and right now plant friends listen up Sakara is offering our listeners 20 off their first order when you go to sakara.com growingjoy and enter code growingjoy at checkout that’s Sakara s-a-k-a-r-a.com slash growingjoy to get
20 off your first order sakara.com growingjoy um okay so I am always on the hunt for new podcasts to listen to and I figured if you’re listening to this podcast you might be too so if you’re looking for another show that nourishes your soul then you have to check out no small
Endeavor produced by my friends at great feeling Studios and PRX no small Endeavor explores what it means to live meaningfully just like this show in each episode award-winning professor and host Lee C Camp brings you thoughtful conversations with artists philosophers and theologians like the office actor Rayne Wilson and West Wing’s Michael
Sheen about what it means to truly flourish if you need a place to start I highly recommend their recent episode with New York Times best-selling author Gretchen Rubin the conversation is all about what it takes to be happy day by day so go ahead plant friend go follow
No small Endeavor on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and tell them I sent you that’s no small endeavor thank you therapeutic Horticulture is kind of something we practice in our own homes and I want to just give a shout out to the New York Botanical Garden right now
On making understanding therapeutic Horticulture way more accessible than I think it has been in the past it’s so cool that the program the therapeutic Horticulture program at nybg has so many different people from so many different walks of life that have this interest in learning more about therapeutic Horticulture in
Order to bring this incredible knowledge that we’re about to talk to to their communities it’s just it’s so moving and I think you know it’s something that we all kind of intrinsically understand in ourselves but we do need some training and practice to really be able to go and
Apply it and even for me someone who wrote a book about the power of plants you know it deepened my experience of understanding the true power of therapeutic Horticulture and giving me more Tools in my toolbox and I just wanted to say I just I love the New York
Botanical Garden education program so much I feel so lucky that I’ve been able to take so many courses with them and highly encourage everyone no matter what you do professionally to try out a course but something that really blew me away in your class was how intentional
The plans are and the goals and the objectives and you know there was the most fascinating worksheet you gave us that had different mental diagnoses like ADHD or depression or anxiety or bipolar and different therapeutic Horticulture practices that you would quote unquote prescribe based on the different diagnoses that you’re working with like
This is it’s very it’s not just like go in the garden and feel better it’s very intentional and thoroughly researched and I think it’s a lot more than what people understand right and I think that’s also the really big difference so sometimes when somebody says to me
It all looks so easy in your Gardens and it feels so comfortable and so pleasant and sometimes people also say I would love to have your job this all looks so easy and I think no this is how we make it look we make it look comfortable and
This is part of as intentionally creating spaces where people who come to the gardens can feel this level of comfort and can feel it is easy but that’s also the work we do and this is as you just say I think the term intentional is key in all of that and it really
It’s that’s very very important that it’s not just as being in a garden that’s what I can do for myself I can be in a garden and just let be there and do something in part or about and feel good about it but that’s my personal interaction with it the moment
I bring it to work with clients or bring other people in for any other reason than just spending free time there I need to have an understanding of how I can utilize that and that begins with a clear understanding of plants it’s not enough to say I think plants are pretty
We need to know enough about plants to be able to utilize them these are our tools really our I think that’s Health skills that we need in this profession to be able to think when I meet this client maybe this plant would be interesting or how can I utilize plants really really
Focused with people and then also to think about goals I I just shared it also when I read about these goals and what our clients our participants might want to develop and then we can build a plan utilizing plans as a vehicle but to me the term
Intentional is key they are and to have a solid understanding of how I can support a person through these activities and you mentioned the rigorous training I think in our course at nybg yes there are really often professionals from the field of either social work or occupational therapy
Often nursing so there is a background and many people already use plans but come to our course to get a clear clearer understanding and get these tools to work with it in an intentional way and the difference to then the the training that’s required to become HTR is that there are college credits
Required both for human science and then also horticulture to make sure that in both of these fields there is a solid leg to stand on and an understanding and of course if somebody has worked as a occupational therapist or social worker or teacher for many years there is already that strong Foundation
So more and more nowadays I see younger people coming in or people who don’t have who are not rooted in any of these fields yeah they’ve experienced their own yes transformation through therapeutic Horticulture right and want to share it you know the other thing that I think really blows my mind
Especially with you this is like trauma-informed work you’re working with populations who have really gone through some really tough situations you’re coming from working at Rikers Island for 20 years I first learned of the therapeutic Horticulture program at Rikers in my first nybg class A couple
Of years ago I was fascinated by it and then the pandemic hit can you talk about what brought you to Rikers and what two decades of working in that program has looked like for you Lessons Learned yes what brought me there was initially my last internship within my
Goals that I took here in the states in 2003. I did not have any experience with people who are incarcerated and had no there are no personal experience with this field but during my course I remember I did two internships that were really wonderful one was in a
Hospital for long-term care and in Rehabilitation and another one in a garden Upstate New York where people with traumatic brain injuries would get therapeutic Horticulture classes or workshops and then I thought this was wonderful and it didn’t completely surprise me how effective and how amazing I thought Horticultural therapy worked but I was
Thinking about my teacher had told us Horticultural therapy Wheels everywhere and with everyone and so I thought what is the population where I can’t right away imagine how this works or where I’m furious what exactly in the field might be supported for people I thought I want
To see how this could work in a correctional facility because I couldn’t imagine that and through Google found the program by the Horticultural Society of New York that’s on Rikers and I applied and got an opportunity to do my internship there and so that’s how this happened
At the time this was not considered a therapeutic Horticulture program it was the focal point was vocational training and this was also why the program was founded nearly 40 years ago people from the Horticultural Society of New York and the mayor’s office and also the Department of Correction they are thinking through how
Why the recidivism rate is so high and one of the aspects of this is that there’s very limited job opportunities for people who have a record and Horticulture actually is a field where people also with the record might find employment and so this end it’s a job where within relatively short time
People really can obtain solid skills and this is how Horticulture started on Rikers in 1986 very very early on and then so more as a vocational instead of a therapeutic program okay and for many years The Vocational and also educational aspects there for really the only explicit goal of the program on rifles
And when I started my internship there in 2003 I immediately saw or it really immediately felt that this is amazing for people and that this stuff I didn’t know what to expect and immediately saw this is a place where a lot of joy is really noticeable right away and excitement and people wanting
To learn and connecting with nature and I saw so many things even just within my first days and also realized that all along the therapeutic aspects their present but more as a byproduct until then it wasn’t explicitly said this also is a therapeutic Horticulture program and these whales were unutilized in
Connection with the program and that’s a change I found very significant to not just quietly enjoy that there is a therapeutic benefit but to say this program is a therapeutic Horticulture program in addition to vocational and educational aspects because that means over time we were able to add
Other groups of people to it and this was also then noticed by the Department of Correction and the Department of Education that’s operating schools on on rikel and so as also reichels changed with more focus on the fact that so many people on Rikers are diagnosed with mental health disorders or experience distress
And also so many people come with substance use disorders therapeutic programs became more relevant and as we grew into that the doc recognized wait there is this program that we had all along and actually it’s therapeutic and they begin to listen or hear much more from participants about what this program
Could do for them so if there were many small aspects that fade into the program growing as a therapeutic program on Rikers and we then began utilizing that and from then on I would say from 2005 on which is when I started working day or permanently we always always introduced this program as
A place that that does therapeuticorriculture vocational training and related education and we have since grown very much we when I started we had two groups of women and men who are sentenced and that meant everybody had anticipated release date and we know when they would return to the community
And we are able to start planning for that transition right away with them as they begin working with us in the program in 2008 we added our first group of people who are detainees which meant they didn’t know yet when they would return to the community and they were
Currently in the process of fighting their cases and so that was a very different situation first of all it was wonderful that we had growth in this growth was based on the doc and the doe saying we want the therapeutic aspects specifically those from you and it also meant we had to rethink
How we deliver our service because if I work with somebody who doesn’t know what’s in the future and if they might spend a short time on Rikers and then come back to the community or also if they might spend a certain amount of time often maybe even decades in us in a
Facility upstate I need to adjust what I bring to to my participants and how I make it relevant in both their situation is because they do face such different situations and that was a difference for us I mean then it becomes more important for a person who doesn’t know what happens it
Becomes more important to think about and for me to deliver planned activities that support hope and the realization that life still is there’s so much to discover and a lot to for our brain also to be activated and to be curious about things to look forward to I think that’s a very
Relevant aspect for me to focus on things to look forward to so these were differences and then over the next couple of years up until the pandemic we grow significantly right when the pandemic started we had seven groups on Rikers six seven groups of how many people in each group varying from
Typically seven is a smaller sized up to 15 for the bigger sizes and it we worked with women and men who always are separate there and those seven groups had different focal points we also will not different age groups up until 2018 when the adolescence got moved off the
Island our youngest students were 16 17. at that time we still had adolescence and we had a group there in that facility and my oldest participants they are they are in their early 70s so that the age range can be really big and then we also had groups who were
Specifically and the mental of Salvation and to me this wasn’t the development I found exciting and really Testament to the recognition for therapeutic Horticulture as an effective modality to support people and so our groups from housing areas fundamental observation they’re people who might not always be eligible to other programming or
Yeah where we then focused again focused maybe less on the vocational aspect depending on individual situation and more on supporting mental and emotional well-being and so each of those seven groups had a slightly different focal point or Angle Way of working book foreign That beautiful Harmony wafting its way through your lawn and garden this year or better yet gifting the Glorious experience of a Wind River chime to a loved one so every time they hear it sing they think of you hands down one of the best things Billy and I ever did for our mindfulness
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Element to your gift they come in a variety of colors sizes and sounds so head to wind riverchimes.com to listen and don’t forget to use code growingjoya checkout to receive a free engraving windriverchimes.com codegrowingjoy at checkout Foreign For new podcasts to listen to and I figured if you’re listening to this podcast you might be too so if you’re looking for another show that nourishes your soul then you have to check out no small Endeavor produced by my friends at great feeling Studios and PRX no small
Endeavor explores what it means to live meaningfully just like this show in each episode award-winning professor and host Lee C Camp brings you thoughtful conversations with artists philosophers and theologians like the office actor Rayne Wilson and West Wing’s Michael Sheen about what it means to truly
Flourish if you need a place to start I highly recommend their recent episode with New York Times best-selling author Gretchen Rubin the conversation is all about what it takes to be happy day by day so go ahead plant friend go follow no small Endeavor on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you get your
Podcasts and tell them I sent you that’s no small endeavor thank you it’s really interesting because you’ve been there for you know 19 years so you’ve really seen this program Blossom for lack of a better word what do you think is the most potent vehicle for moving Horticultural therapy forward
When it comes to government institutions putting money behind these programs is it the science and the studies that are proving it or do you think that the testimonials from your students are enough I think it has to be a little bit of it all I think none of all of this
Pin work without science to prove it or when I say science I mean results documented results and outcomes to prove it I think that’s very very important because I can talk all day about the beautiful time we had in the garden and can give example after example
And yet it sounds like well there is this friendly woman who likes plants and she tells me these stories right playing in the garden exactly it doesn’t work like that I need which is so sexist too but whatever we move forward kind of and that might play into it also but part of
That can come into speaking with people who I want to convince but I always need to support it also with solid results and this can happen in form of collecting data in form of we do that since a long time on Rikers in form of questionnaires and feedback and then
Translating that into things like pie charts or Soviet we document very specific aspects we document stress reduction mood Improvement anxiety reduction and skill development and these are things that we then take from those questionnaires and turn into pie charts or clearly visible outcomes so I think that’s one important thing and we have
Started doing this also with the Horticultural society’s other therapeutic Horticultural programs in the community so aside from Rikers we have programs into quality housing and also continued opportunities for people who come from correctional facilities and want to further their trainings and so this tool is very important all
Of this is important to document now on reichels I think you asked about what is the most potent part I think it’s a bit of all of that it also is well correctional facilities are places where when I think about what do people have in common there or what
When I work with the person who is incarcerated what do they have in common and one thing people they have in common is that they are not their voluntarily they live with other people they didn’t choose to live with they don’t at this moment have control over their movements
Over the course of the day within the facility or also to go outside of the facility they don’t have beautiful environments by Design it’s not beautiful and they are away from their loved ones so these are common common things they also often don’t have Clarity over what can happen next with their future
And so this is what I would look at there might be some other things they have in common many people on Rikers um and we know that also from the paper do have substance are diagnosed with substance use disorder and or mental health issues and so this might be a commonality but I
Can’t assume that everybody who is incarcerated kind of is the same people are individuals we have people of all ages all routes of Life all levels of Education people who are who have been homeless before coming to Rikers other people who have lived with families they might be siblings Brothers fathers mothers they
Might also be grandparents so I meet people really from all walks of life but what I mentioned earlier these factors they have in common is something I didn’t work with and Gardens of course have unbelievable opportunities starting with beauty I think every person needs something that’s that’s appealing that’s
Beautiful something to look at and feel all about to me that is one of the key things about therapeutic horticulture that we can be in awe and that we can leave behind for a moment all that’s around us and that might weigh us down and that’s difficult and just experience
All and this is one thing I see all across our groups no matter what people who are in jail sometimes have to feel strong or put up their gout because they have to make their way through through this housing areas it’s not a friendly supportive environment always and they
Have to be able to take a stand and put up the account and in a garden we can leave that for a moment we can um just be excited together about the garden and feel all together and that has been reflected to me by many people as a
An incredibly important part to be able to let their guard down for a moment and just see people in a garden together and take care for this land together and so once that has happened there’s also ground for conversations that are different than the ones that are possible while inside
And maybe for an kind of an honest open interaction with each other so to me this is one of the key elements and another one could be that Gardens give an opportunity to have agency over the space so our participants all are able to choose what they grow in the growing
Seasons and really influence how these spaces look and that means there is an element of creating something and to really have agency I don’t want to say control because the goal isn’t to control nature but agency is to how we proud love of Nature and how that can look it must be incredibly
Empowering what does a day look like for you at Rikers in your running your program and then what might a day look like for a student so for us I I do have a team on Rikers I have instructors who are out there in our individual groups and so we
Would arrive very early via the our programs start earlier they have to tie they have to fit in between all other elements of Life there between count times and meal times and all of that and so we start at 7 30 in our earliest groups we have
Typically two groups a day one in the earlier part and one in the later part and each group would be three or three and a half hours and so they they would start at 7 30 and then go for these blocks of time or styled in the later part of the day for
The same block of time they are in different facilities so when arriving there the the team we need to move around to get to those facilities and so there’s always the element of even arriving already when we arrive we have quite the route behind us and then all our programs would look recognizable
They start with a brief check-in with each other this is important I think this is important for any therapeutic recording culture group no matter where it is um to do a brief check-in and just see how people are because everybody comes from something that has happened earlier
In the day or the evening before and so we need to check in if people are okay and what might just have happened and then we go over the plans for the day and often these are just tied into the year-round cycle of gardens in nature
What does the garden look like is do you have a greenhouse do you have an acre plot that you’re growing stuff like what is the what’s the setup there’s various setups because this as having several groups we also have several green spaces the largest Green Space is about three
Acres big it’s a large spot and that’s also the oldest cup there we have a freestanding building a classroom building and a greenhouse that’s attached to it a large Greenhouse where we grow our own seedlings right at this time of the year it’s full of seedlings and we also have
This really big outdoor space with raised beds for food production and then a native Woodlands a pond and a slightly yeah an area that’s themed around this water feature we have a rose garden and then Cut Flower areas and we have guinea hens in this Garden
So we have a little bit of Wildlife and then they have smaller spaces that are within other buildings one of the currently we have two Courtyard Gardens that I was in a building because these participants don’t leave the facility to come to the program they just walk
Through the facility and step out a door into this Garden that’s tied within a large programming area so each setup looks different and we have a total of seven green spaces on right off different sizes and different access routes all of them share that we grow food as well as
Ornamentals and then a lot of it is based on sensory experience so we always include plants that smell good that respond to touch that might rustle in the wind so there’s a lot of that to to create real excitement about it so water features we aim to have water features
In all of the gardens whether they are tiny or bigger but we want all of these Gardens to offer a similar experience to participants to see kind of a broad view on what could be in Horticulture and the food that you’re growing on premises is that going right to the cafeteria is
That going to whoever’s growing it how does that work most of it is eaten by the groups themselves so the end in the classroom so we don’t people can’t take this food with them to the housing areas but we prepare it and eat it in the classrooms and this is part of our
Curriculum to also talk about nutrition how to grow food how to prepare it we exchange recipes this is really really meaningful for students because it also allows for an exchange between cultures and different backgrounds and to connect with family recipes people have and to share that
And speak about it with each other and it allows for real Community because in a correctional facility meals might go very quick and people don’t always share there’s no opportunity to really sit down and share table meal community and we do that in the program so we also make sure there’s
Enough time for it and we give credit for the people who made the food as well as for the people who grew it and Foster a meal community that allows for table conversation where we hear each other out and so the topic of meal and food is big
We also collaborate with the Department of educations shifts so very intentionally we have a small program offshore called Farm to Table there we teach about specific Foods or herbs crops in the classrooms and then our participants who also take part in the doe cooking programs can utilize these things in their cooking
Class and the chef works with us on picking that up and utilizing it and incorporating that aspect so and then we have because we collaborate with the doc we have people who we invite to the garden and always share a little bit of the produce as well and bring It Off
Island also for our graduates who might want to share with their families what they grew while they were on the island and so there’s many different things we do with the food have you ever had a student of yours leave and then go into Horticulture as a profession several so
Because we have our Workforce Development program in the city as an option I have seen many many people choosing that option and I have to say when I first started with the program I thought this is the overall goal I measured success in seeing how many
People would do that and would go from the island to choosing it as a profession and then working as horticulturists and then I thought okay not that many people do that are we failing and again in a development that I had to I had to learn a lot out there also realized we
Are not failing if they don’t go to their program we’ll just offering many different things that can be done with the program afterwards one of them being to make that a career adults there are other things people do with it but one of them is to make that a career and
So yes I’ve seen many people going into our Workforce Development program and learning more about Horticulture especially if we have people with us who didn’t complete a season because their time on Rivals is short they would then learn so much more that we couldn’t do we also have limited use
Of power tools out there and so that’s something participants would need to learn and really the difference between our garden steel and then City Landscapes that people might encounter is something that’s a huge field of horticulture that needs to be learned so yes when people come from Rikers and go into our Workforce
Programs I see that our program out there provided a great foundation and then there’s a lot more to learn and people learn Horticulture as well is also soft job skills because we we work with many people who might not have a long work history yet and so there’s other things to learn
Like being accountable and realizing everybody on the team matters and we have to be on time and so there’s many more aspects that then get learned in the community because they can really be learned under those circumstances on vehicles I was moved to know that you provide everyone with a reference letter
When they leave the program so that you know they have proof of employment know that we have to protect identities but you were able to share so many moving experiences that you’ve had in in class are there any like Transformations maybe even if they’re common so not from one
Person but you kind of you’ve seen it multiple times of uh clients and students who really have blossomed in the therapeutic Horticultural program at Rikers yeah thank you there’s so so many and everybody does including us I really also think when we are there staff and
Officers too are included in that and I I want to say that in a therapeutic Horticultural program to me one of the big topics always has to be inclusiveness of every person who’s there so to me it couldn’t work by saying I only work with the select
Group of people who are my participants and you others your officers are excluded a garden a therapeutic Horticultural program needs to be inclusive and so these stories that you just mentioned go all across and they include all of us and I see that well if I think of
Students yeah many come to mind I do want to say we have currently several people on our permanent staff also in supervisory positions now who come through the program on the island and so it is a real career option and there’s growth that that people can choose and there’s growth opportunities
Which is a very wait you’re saying that they came as a person who was incarcerated moved through your program left and then came back to work not on Rikers but to be hired with our Workforce program at the Horticultural Society so these would be individuals who chose to continue their training outside
And then discovered that Horticulture really is a field that is exciting for them and where they can see themselves thriving and so they stayed with us and got hired as staff on the whole from a more internal position initially after coming from the island to a permanent staff
Position who now are also supervisors themselves and can you explain what the horde is sorry we should have I should have explained that in the beginning yeah so the Horticultural Society of New York is an organization that’s now a bit over 120 years old and initially started
Probably more as a social club with a Horticultural theme and was geared towards bringing Horticulture to New Yorkers through flower shows and it was very different than now in its earlier years probably more something for belfio New Yorkers and more focused on education that’s not necessarily inclusive at a
Library and it taught about Horticulture and was more or a specific group within New York and over the last 40 years was the program on Rikers in the Workforce Development program and also our school programs we work in public schools and have education Greenhouse a Danny Farrell Riverbank State Park
And then over the last 20 years with our growth in Supportive Housing we shifted our focus and so the Horticultural Society now is an organization that brings Horticulture to all New Yorkers and and aims to improve the life of anybody in New York through plants and plant activities and
It’s yeah it would be widespread many of the cityscapes would be maintained by our teams by our Workforce teams so we would be visible all over the city as a training or facility as Workforce Development organization and also as a I’m shying a little bit away of the world of Social Service because
It has a very the world has a very active role and so all our participants in all of these programs are actively beautifying the city and and create green spaces and work in in nearly all boroughs in parks and green spaces got it are there any other stories you
Might be able to share just as we kind of close out one story comes to mind of a person who prior to his stay on the island this was a person who’s a veteran and prior to his stay on the island was unhoused and also had a long history of substance
Use and then on the island I remember the first maybe two weeks I didn’t see much sigh in or interest and then it changed and this was at the beginning of the growing season and we had planted our Tomatoes outside and then this person started to be very very excited about
The tomatoes is also something that he liked to eat and I think combined with the exciting names these tomato plants had and looking in the seed catalogs what to be expected when what there were so many plants they all look the same or similar so many potential different
Outcomes and so he turned into our tomato pills and began really taking care for these tomatoes and thinking through what needs to be done for these tomatoes and until his departure took care for them including Pest Management and this is tomato one worm season we had Juan Williams that he called his nemesis
And he became the Tomato Man and to me seeing something like that really shows very much about the potential Nature has and plants can have because this person all of a sudden had something to look forward to on a day-to-day basis that’s very powerful to think okay this was today and then
What happens tomorrow what need what do I need to think about tomorrow maybe tomorrow I need to fertilize so all of that would be important and then also to take joy in this and to take responsibility for somebody who might have been at the mountains for a long time and
Maybe people didn’t even notice him when they walked by him on the street and now he had he took responsibility he embraced it and he spoke about it and got compliments for it and so these are this was a one example that I will always always remember or
Also the story of a young woman who also had a long story of of substance use and felt very reluctant to take care for herself and to go into a program and maybe make a big decisions that were necessary for her in life and so she was part of
The Horticulture program for quite a while and there too I I saw that it was maybe a slower start of investment and she was with us for quite a while and then I clearly remember as harvesting cucumbers and preparing these cucumbers we made a salad with them and
It was a simple cucumber salad but when she came back the next day she said I thought about something I told my daughter about these cucumbers and the cucumber salad and I thought if I can get that excited about a cucumber what else could there be in life that
Gets me so excited and that I want to learn about and what changes do I need to make for that and so this tool was feedback that I could not have anticipated clearly this situation was the Cucumber came about by chance I didn’t plant it we all didn’t plan that and yet
When the time is there and this is something I observe a lot in our programs when the time is right our participants have such moment like I had my aha moment with Horticultural therapies people might have such moments and and you’re not you’re never sure what exactly is going to be the
Trickiest you just have to keep showing up they have to show up and just kind of let it unfold and it’s you know for lack of a better word natural rhythms this is just so inspiring I’m so thankful for the classes that I’ve taken especially for your class if people are
Interested in exploring Horticultural therapy for themselves are there books that you would recommend maybe reading obviously we’re going to recommend the New York Botanical Garden course and there’s multiple courses and a full certification you can go get you know a certification in this practice what classes do you teach at nybg I teach
Therapeutic Horticulture for mental health that’s currently the only one I teach and then we also are about to reopen our internship opportunity we for a long time have internships for students from nybg and also from from other schools and but we provided internships and for a long time due to
Covet this was pause and I think by Fall late of all we are able to open this internship opportunities back up in a bigger Arena than we did before not just on Rikers but also in our Supportive Housing Programs and probably school programs for people who would like to
Step into therapeutic or the cultures when I think about what I recommend to read I think so Stuart Smith spoke the well Garden mind is something I would so good recommend I interviewed her on my show okay yeah and I think that’s a really amazing book to
Learn much about plants in nature and what can be happening inside yeah I think there are few recording culture steps to welcome us on all levels of our being anyone listening who hasn’t read the well guard in mind yet she I had her on my show in 2021 but she’s a
Psychiatrist and a lifelong Gardener and so the way that she can break down the studies that prove the plant person connection but then also speak personally to her experience and the book is just like so thoroughly researched it’s a great read if definitely if you’re interested in this
I think that one would be one and then I used the book Horticultural therapy methods by Hala and Capra which to me is a book that I I continue to utilize a lot because it’s so Hands-On it has so many um and there are many more books I’m
Just now in very very good books I’m now just speaking the two I probably use most in my practice and that I also give to all incoming staff that comes on my team because I think there’s the more reflective side from Zeus towards Smith book that I really want want everyone to
Understand in the in the very Hands-On book that speaks on strategies and you had earlier in the interview mentioned this almost prescription form topics yeah that’s from that book like s are and this book have many other um clear explanations in it and to me that’s helpful because it brought
Therapy recording culture from a slightly abstract thing to a very concrete thing that can be learned and I think it can be learned it’s not something where we stand in a garden and have some magic potion we are in a garden we have tools and we can learn these tools and so that’s
Something I would encourage everyone to to see if we are passionate about it and are able to see other people and be passionate about bringing Horticulture to other people we can learn these these skills and it’s it’s not a well-kept secret it’s something that needs people to come in
And utilize that and share this absolutely well I can’t recommend your class enough at nybg and those books will make sure that everything’s in the show notes you can go to nybg.org and then just click on the education section they have so many amazing educational programs
Are you on social media yeah like can people follow you publicly okay so uh where can people follow you specifically Hilda if they’re inspired I’m very limited on social media I was just about to say the Horticultural Society is on social media and really informs about
All of the many programs we’re doing so under the whole world anybody could find us and I can also send this through to you my social I have to say I’m a this is terrible to say in this day and age I’m not a great social media person
I’m more an in-person soil person and I need to improve that I know that so I’ll send now you see me fluster because I don’t even know my exact social media name but I will send it to you we can include the horror at social media too no stress
Thank you so much for having me in your class and for being such a wonderful beautiful teacher I really cherish everything that I learned in your class and I cherish everything you shared today it’s been so interesting and inspiring to learn about that program and your journey and I hope that there’s
Many more budding Horticultural therapists in The Listener Community to get certified soon thank you so much this was such a pleasure it was wonderful Maria to meet you in this class and yes I think the whole therapy the therapeutic Horticulture classes are also a great way to get to know each
Other and get to know this community and right now we are ending whole therapy week this is the last day of what therapy week so I’m very excited that our interview fell into this week and last week Sunday we had a meeting at the New York Botanical Garden by the Mid-Atlantic networking group
With so many students from your course and other courses and it became clear that the classes at nybg really are a starting point for so many going into this field and then building community and sharing with each other and that’s maybe one thing I
Would love to see at the end this is a profession that like a garden a profession that shares and lives of people who come in and are excited about it and then also spread the world and so Maria I thank you for giving me this opportunity this was such a pleasure
Thank you very much such a pleasure and yes I will say all the women in our class were special ladies it definitely attracts a very kind creative Sweet Soul to the profession so thank you Thank you Hilda for this talk she really gave so much insight into the program this field of therapeutic Horticulture Horticultural therapy however you want to call it is so interesting and so powerful and I really feel like it could be the future not the future like no
More medicine but wouldn’t it be amazing if it was supplemental you know in Japan you will get a prescription to go Forest bathing right and wouldn’t it be amazing if in the states we start getting prescriptions for therapeutic Horticulture I think that could be pretty amazing and if you’re interested
In you know some of these practices you can totally grab my book it’s called growing Joy the plant Lover’s guide to cultivating happiness I talk about Horticultural therapy I talk about a lot of the different studies that Horticultural therapy are backed on and different practices but also take a
Class at New York Botanical Garden their educators are some of the best in the world I’ve never taken a class I didn’t like I think at this point I’ve taken like six if you’re interested in the certificate program I’ve left the link in the show notes for you to click and
Explore but basically you go to nybg.org learn then click adult education then click certificate program and then the therapeutic Horticultural program will be there they have a couple of required courses coming up if you’re interested the fundamentals of gardening and intro to plant science I’ve taken both those
Classes love them both really loved intro to plant science you learn so much and in general New York Botanical Garden just has like so many amazing classes and even just like little lectures and webinars that are one-offs so definitely go check them out and we’ll leave all of
The links that you need in the show notes so on the heels of this conversation about therapeutic Horticulture I hope you can take a minute and make a commitment to yourself for how you might use plants as a wellness tool this week whether that’s you know creating a plant care self-care
Routine where you’re watering or you’re taking care of your plants every day but you’re using that as reflective space so you’re not on your phone you’re like giving yourself some time with plants maybe you’re going for a walk in the woods nearby maybe you’re grounding putting your feet on the bare ground and
Connecting with the Earth’s energy maybe you’re saying plenty affirmations to your plants or yourself like you grow a little plant there’s a myriad of ways to apply this practice people can go get certified in but there’s ways to use plants as Wellness tools that can be very
Accessible and easy to you so with that my plan friends go engage with your plants in a mindful way this week and until next time keep looming and keep growing Joy plan for and fresh so much for tuning Degree and I don’t want you to miss one topic and while you’re subscribing would you mind clicking over the review section and leaving us a review reviews are tremendously helpful for the growth of the podcast so I thank you in advance for helping this podcast reach as many
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Possible so I made this cutie little Planned Parent personality quiz that’s totally free for you on my website to take the guesswork out of building your plant collection effortlessly and joyfully after speaking to thousands of members in our community I realize that there are about five key Planned Parent
Personalities each one with their unique set of strengths weaknesses and a unique set of plants that thrive under their care for example a mindful plant parent someone who wants to engage with their plants daily use them in their morning routines if someone gifted that plant parent a succulent and they watered it
Every day that succulent would die immediately however that drought resistant succulent island is a perfect match for a low-key plant parent which is someone who travels has kids is busy doesn’t have time to engage with their plants every day they’re looking to engage with their plants more like once
A week or once every couple of weeks in addition obviously to understanding your light and basic plant care that we provide on this podcast happy Planned Parenthood is all about discovering your personality and then picking the right house plans to go with it it’s that simple no more stressing over your
Collection so what Planned Parent personality type are you plant friend all you got to do to find out is take my free quiz on my website and let me know you can access it at growingjoywithmaria.com personality after taking the test you’ll get an email with a list of plants
Podcast episodes and plenty projects that I think would light you specifically up like a full spectrum grow light so once again that’s growingjoywithmaria.com personality for your free plant parent personality test results foreign