With a new season ahead of us, we are moving some information around on our website to highlight the latest news from Gathering Ground. An explanation of our name has found home on the front page for almost a year and now it’s moving over to the blog.

We pondered names for quite some time, but when we stumbled upon the name Gathering Ground we knew it was the one! Here’s why:

Why “Gathering Ground?”

We like to think of Gathering Ground as both a noun as a verb. Gathering Ground is a place – 35 beautiful acres comprised of vineyard, a school garden, woods, and a lot of potential. It is a place community members gather together. Work together. Celebrate together. Learn together.

We also think of Gathering Ground as a verb:

Working to gain momentum, build interest toward the common goal of making Washington Island a place where sustainable agriculture thrives. We work to build excitement and financial development around sustainable farming.

And Gathering Ground also refers to the literal ground –” to the building of healthy soils. We are working with tree roots, microbes, organic matter, water, and worms to gather together healthy soil to help grow good food.