Comparison groups for rental garden.
Aggregate traits. Rental gardeners participated in the program for a variety of reasons, but mostly
to improve the quality of their lives, and gain some sense of self-efficacy. They did not usually
participate in gardening activities collectively (although there were opportunities to do so), but used
program resources on an individual basis. Rental gardeners came from all social classes, all age
groups, all educational backgrounds, and all ethnicities. For the comparison site, we pursued a
collectivity that would attract this diversity, and seek common, selfenrichment services on an
individual basis. We selected University adult study programs (both degree and non-degree) in all
three counties-UWMilwaukee in Milwaukee, UW-Waukesha in Waukesha, and UW-Parkside in
Kenosha. Individual traits. We attempted to match the intervention and comparison groups on the
basis of ethnic backgrounds (because of the cultural salience of gardening), and age and gender
(because of the age and gender variation in dailV exercise, diet and social factors).