BDN Article Focuses on Alternative Gardens, Gibson and Coffin Quoted
Ellen Gibson, AgrAbility specialist with Maine AgrAbility — a nonprofit collaboration of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Goodwill Industries Northern New England and Alpha One — is allowing gardens to be more accessible to everyone, regardless of ability, reports the Bangor Daily News.
“I think of it similarly to the concepts of universal design in architecture, designing gardens for everyone, regardless of age or ability,” Gibson said.
The article also quoted Donna Coffin, an educator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Penobscot County, who explained that alternative gardens often come in trends. For example, there was a big movement a few years ago to create lasagna gardens, layered spaces made with compostable materials that slowly turn into soil.
“Every year there’s new techniques,” Coffin said. “This year the new thing is straw bale gardening.”