Tilling the Garden of Joy/Sorrow: A Poetic Inquiry into the Rhizomatic Complexities of Growing into and through Collective Spaces

A pilot research project turned ongoing program sought to explore the experience of participating in an inclusive Campus Community Garden. In the confines of institutional research the project undertook a specific focus on uncovering the perceived benefits and barriers to participating preschoolers, older adults, individuals with mixed abilities and their caregivers from residential and intermediate care facilities. This paper describes a parallel exploration as an occurrent act of art making; an evolving rhizomatic process of poetic reflection on images and privileged notes from the field. In this work, the authors uncover the shape, movement, and colour of the joy/sorrow of tilling the garden through creative expression.