Greenhouse

In this video, Greenhouse Instructor Jen Morse talks about her work within the Austen Riggs Center Activities Program.

I once had a student who was very very competent in life outside the greenhouse, but he kept overwatering the seedlings, and many trays of the seedlings didn't make it. The student was very very upset about this and wanted to quit his job, and we worked together about failure. The way that you learn is through trial and error. The bottom line is they're just plants. Yes, we lose some, and I would much rather that students learn about that. It's not all perfect in the greenhouse. That's part of the process. That's how you learn. My name is Jen Morse, and I am the greenhouse instructor at Austen Riggs. I oversee the day-to-day management of the greenhouse first and foremost, but I have patients who work for me in something called the work program, where they actually get paid to do the work. So, I manage them. I train them. Many of the patients don't have any experience when they come to Riggs. That's not a prerequisite of the job. They can come and learn on the job, and they get paid for that learning at the greenhouse. Patients are called greenhouse assistants. The patients who work for me rather than patients and we keep that separated because this is a place for patients to come and get away from treatment for a little bit, have a little bit of respite, do something different. It's a little bit of a distraction for them. Also they they learn a skill. We have a nice organic vegetable garden out that window, and we have a nice flower garden out that window, and all those things we grew by seed in the greenhouse. So, there's a whole lot of learning happening here. I think students learn about confidence in themselves when they come and work in the greenhouse. While the activities department is not considered a clinical space, it can be very therapeutic for the students who come and work here. They get immersed in the projects, and the dirt, and the growing, and the nurturing of the plants. They so enjoy that process watching something from grow from a seed to a seedling out into the garden it goes. So, there's a way in which what we're doing in the greenhouse applies to the real world. It's not just taking care of plants, it's dealing with life issues. When a student walks into the greenhouse, they instantly feel calmer. They love the feel of the greenhouse, and that's what I've tried to create here. You don't have to work in the greenhouse to come and enjoy the greenhouse. It's a healing space. It's a space where students can get away from their thoughts, or they can come and sit and think, but it is - and parents will come in and say the same thing when they do the tour - wow, this is such a beautiful space, this is such a healing space. I hope that my child gets involved in your program, and many of them do.