Three congregations’ community gardens were featured at a workshop sponsored by the Empowering Team of Diocesan Council on March 26.
St. Gregory’s, Parsippany, which hosted the event, St. Michael’s, Wayne and Good Shepherd, Wantage each made presentations to an audience of about 40 people from around the diocese.
Each county has a Master Gardener as part of Rutgers’ University Cooperative extension program, and the Passaic County Master Gardener was also one of the presenters, speaking on the guidance he has given to St. Michael’s on their garden.
A presentation was also given by a representative from Garden State Urban Farms, a “For Profit” hydroponic garden located in Orange that also has sponsored a traditional garden in an underserved area of Orange. The Garden State Urban Farms presenter had become involved in horticultural therapy while serving 23 years in prison. Through that program he became involved with Prodigal Sons & Daughters, a program for ex-offenders, and is one of several members who work in the community gardens in Orange and sell what they raise.
Some of the community gardens give their crops to food pantries and others keep the food for their own consumption. The community gardens are open to non-parishioners and are a way of people meeting one another.
Following the presentations, a lively discussion took place covering topics such as the need for gardening tools, water supply, composting, establishing guidelines for using the garden, having a picnic table on site for the gardeners to chat with one another, non-use of chemicals, and education on gardening.
All the presenters said the gardens create a healing atmosphere, and that one can see God in the growing of something from the earth and giving it to someone for nourishment.
Your congregations might have a piece of property which could be the start for a community garden. A couple of raised boxes would not be expensive or you can start by growing vegetables in containers.
“And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
(Genesis 1:12).
For more information, please contact the workshop organizers, the Rev. Ginny Dinsmore (revginny@optonline.net) or Martha Reiner (Martha.reiner@verizon.net).
