Gardening is really finding its own special place in my life. I’m really becoming hooked on eating what I personally had a hand in growing. The congregation and community are catching on as well. I think it took folks a minute to understand that at this stage we are not selling our produce, we’re giving it away. Like it is in many other communities, the healthy food that’s immediately available to members of our church and surrounding neighborhoods is often not affordable. The people who need this food have to pass it by and choose cheaper, often unhealthier foods. This garden is our way of changing that. Making free kale, string beans, lettuce, broccoli, squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, and other treats available to our church members and community neighbors is our way of honoring God and addressing a systemic injustice. To remember what the space looked like 4 months ago – barren, run down, unused – and to look at it now is mind-boggling.
The garden is attracting people from all walks of life. I see it helping to strengthen the community. People who just 4 months ago would have walked past each other without speaking, now know each other by name. Our neighbors who didn’t have any connection to the church at all are now bringing food to events, taking photographs for our archives, and helping us in the garden. It’s a great feeling. However, the garden is not only attracting wonderful people, it’s also attracting some mysterious visitor who is chomping away at our crops. I’ll work to figure out this week what insect is foraging our foliage and working to find a natural way to address the problem.
With all of the great things happening in our church garden which might end up one day being a small farm, one of the unexpected blessings that I am experiencing as well involves the great workout that gardening gives you. For one, I tend to ride my bike up to the garden which gives me a great “warmup sweat”. Then once I get to lifting, lugging, planting, pruning, and painting, I really start to feel the burn. Last week, I did some “dumpster diving” and found some wooden pallets that we’ll be using to build a three-bin compost system. I totally underestimated the weight of those things. After carrying about 10 of them out of the dumpster, I was really feeling it! Who knew that gardening could give you such a workout…with no gym membership!
Stay tuned. I have a feeling that more great news is on the way about the goodness of gardening.
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I honestly believe that this garden should be used as a model for many churches who have the capacity to do this.
Wow how simplicity and compassion can heal, feed and unit so many people. Only God can inspire such goodness!