Farmer Uses His Garden as a Classroom
Dennis Harvey, Volunteer of the Year
Gardening is as natural as breathing to Dennis Harvey. He got an early start as a gardener after his mom gave him his own plot as a young boy when she tired of him pulling up all her plants. She planted a seed that turned into a lifelong passion.
After high school, Harvey landed a job as a postal clerk and worked nights, while taking courses in biology and business administration at Virginia Union University and Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University). But when he realized all his biology labs took place in the evening and he wouldn’t be able to complete a traditional degree program, he decided on an alternative educational route. “I just changed my mindset and learned what I wanted to learn,” Harvey said. His self-education led him to attend workshops and agriculture field days at Virginia State University (VSU) and Virginia Tech.
That early seed began to germinate in 1976 when he bought his Richmond home and a vacant lot next door. His dad encouraged him to buy the lot so no one would build a house there. “He really wanted to put his retirement garden there. My dad worked that vacant lot for one year before passing away,” Harvey said. After his dad died, Harvey connected with the local 4-H Extension agent about developing a garden for children. “We turned that vacant lot into a 4-H club youth gardening program, and it was beneficial to children to tie their academics into gardening. Math, English and science are all subjects that can be taught in a garden,” he said. “It became an intergenerational project, and a lot of older people in the community who had gardened and grew up on farms came and worked with the young people.”
The seed his mother planted and father nurtured started sprouting even more when Harvey enrolled in the Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program in 1987 and earned his certification the following year. His passion for passing that knowledge to children also continued to bloom. Harvey said he enjoys helping children make connections between what they learn in school about growing food and actually seeing it happen. “A lot of children have no idea where their food comes from. They don’t know that watermelons don’t grow on trees, that peanuts grow underground and that most of the clothing they wear comes from cotton,” Harvey said.
Having children grow food is a good way of improving their diets; they take home vegetables from his garden that they wouldn’t eat otherwise. He always plants extra to donate. And he’s willing to try growing whatever children ask about—even bananas and avocados. At Harvey Gardens Homemade, Harvey grows blackberries, plums, cherries, tomatoes, onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and collards. He also grows grapes and makes wine. “I call it communion wine, not headache wine,” he said with a smile. He also grows gourds that his wife, Gwendolyn, has used to develop a profitable gourd craft business.
Once he started attending VSU’s agriculture field days and workshops, Harvey quickly developed a strong and lasting relationship with the university that only grew during his 37-year career with the United States Postal Service. After retiring, he devoted even more time to teaching others about gardening.
“I have volunteered so much in schools, communities and church, that a lot of people didn’t know I had a real job,” he joked. He hosts different gardening and farming workshops in his 3,000-square-foot garden so that people can learn that food can be grown in the city. He does demonstration projects and works with young children, middle schoolers and high schoolers. While he’s educating them, he’s also still educating himself. “I come to Virginia State to learn and fine-tune my techniques, then take what I’ve learned back to the community.”
His longstanding volunteer service with VSU was recognized last fall when he received the 2018 Volunteer of the Year award at the VSU Small Farm Outreach Program (SFOP) Annual Conference held in Danville, Va. “It was one of the greatest honors that I have ever received,” Harvey said. “Being recognized by Virginia State University, a land-grant university, was amazing. Having a relationship with a land-grant university has been a huge plus in my life.”
The award is well deserved according to SFOP agriculture management agent Vernon Heath, who nominated Harvey. Through Harvey’s work with four other farmers (located in Richmond and Chesterfield, Amelia and Surry counties), they touch the lives of roughly 500 people each year, from young children to retirees. In Surry County, they help demonstrate new equipment and planting techniques.
Staying active after retirement has been good for Harvey. It keeps him busy and engaged. Harvey reflected on how years ago he was growing food in his backyard at a time when people thought it was weird. Now it’s the hottest thing. “In an urban community people don’t expect agriculture,” he said. And even though his entire family farmed and his siblings also have gardens, he has taken gardening to a whole other level. “They think I’m weird, but they always stop by to get fresh vegetables,” he added.
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