Along with a team of three other volunteers, I stood in the packed central hall of the Historical Society of Washington wearing a fluorescent yellow vest. In this eye-catching get-up, I attracted person after person ready to trade me a completed attendee profile for a lunch ticket. The forms, designed to help Rooting DC’s organizers understand the interests and backgrounds of those who attended, gave participants a brief chance to reflect on their own motivations for showing up. As a collector of these profile sheets, I felt like a pollen-rich flower in a field full of bees!

Volunteering at the third annual Rooting DC conference (which was totally free for anyone to attend!), I came into contact with so much positive energy from participants, vendors, and other volunteer workers, I couldn’t help but anticipate the pulse of a new growing season.

During the hour or so between the doors opening and the start of the first session, I gathered much more than a stack of papers with information about who was attending the event. I had the chance to soak up the excitement of 500 urban gardeners, food justice advocates, nutrition educators, community leaders, and good food eaters from DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Each person was there for a slightly different reason. Some came to learn about growing specialty crops from Africa and the Caribbean or preparing healthy meals with garden-fresh ingredients. Others came to hear about the history and future of urban agriculture or social enterprise strategies for increasing food equality. Some planned to attend a presentation in Spanish on container gardening or nutrition. The youngest ones had a fun day of garden-related crafts waiting for them in the kids’ room.

But everyone seemed to bring a little bit of the same thing: a sense of hope about the future of DC’s foodscape and a willingness to get their hands dirty to make it happen.

If the buzz at Rooting DC this past Saturday proved anything, it’s that Washington is ready for spring. Not just for the snow to melt and streets and sidewalks to become fully passable again, but for the soil to be turned, seeds to go in the ground, networks to grow, and ideas to flourish. The combined passions of everyone coming through those doors filled that high-ceilinged room with a spirit of community that made me feel like we could certainly accomplish our goals. Fresh local food in schools, chickens in backyards, a new fleet of food carts serving quick and wholesome lunches, vacant ground transformed into lush garden space—we can do it!

That morning, before Rooting DC had even really begun, I knew it was going to be a good day…and a great year to get busy planting, tending, harvesting, and sharing the fruits of our labor. My first job for spring? Planting some lettuce mix, Tatsoi, and Minutina in pots for my very own balcony salad bar.