The Holy Spirit, Loving God and Neighbor, Children in the Garden, a Quick Tour

Sorry! This posting was originally meant for 5/6. Something went wrong and it did not stay online…I think it was something I clicked. So I’ve re-posted as much as I was able to recover. Please stay in touch. Don’t forgot our wish list near the bottom.

Here’s a story about the harvest delivery this week:

Sometimes I wonder if our neighbors at the St. Joseph’s food pantry enjoy the harvest that we share with them.

Normally when I deliver the harvest to the pantry and I see our neighbors in line I give a wave or a nod to say hello. But today I was in a rush so Walter D. delivered the harvest on his own.

As I ran through the parking lot a lady to the left of me yells out, “Hey! I really love the vegetables that you bring to the pantry. I made a salad with them the last time I was here.”

Then from my right a bearded man with a little dog speaks up, “Yes. I can really feel the love that you put into growing those vegetables for us. I can tell that you put love into the soil. You need to have fun with that.”

I thanked the lady and the man. And I told the man that his words were clearly inspired by the Holy Spirit. And he smiled and said, “The Holy Spirit is in you, too. It’s in all of us!”

I hope you enjoyed my little story.

Please remember that our garden work helps fulfill Jesus’ commandments to love God and love our neighbor.

Love for God!

Special thanks to St. Lucy's Guild for helping express her love for God with this flower bed right next to the small chapel at St. Mary’s:

Every color planted by Pat Niemann! People were nearby talking about all of the flowers in every bed.

Loving our neighbors!

I forgot to take a picture this week, but I do have an estimate of crop values to date. I truncated this snapshot to include only the last two weeks of harvest though the grand total is year-to-date. Please contact me if you wish to have access to all of the harvest data.

The total harvest estimate to date is $465. These fictional prices are as follows: A bunch of cilantro is $2, a bunch of lettuce, kale, collards, mixed greens, beets, carrots, turnips or walking onions are $3 each. These fictional prices help put the quantity of the different harvests on a similar scale. I try to “price” the units a little bit lower than a typical farmers’ market quantities. In the main season, a pound of tomatoes or peppers will be $3. A pound of summer squash will be $2.

Children in the Garden

Thank you to whoever donated all of the kid-sized tools. We now have at least three small shovels and one small hoe. Please bring kids gloves if you have some!

We welcome children in the garden. Sometimes children come to the garden and work a little bit. Sometimes they just go enjoy the playground with friends. Sometimes they eat vegetables directly from the ground. We are still learning how to help the children get involved. Please bring children to the garden so that our ministry will have a strong future.

Children who helped this week: Katelyn (First time volunteer! I hope I spelled her name correctly), Olivia, Luchi, Ceci, and Geordie.

Teenagers who destroyed the weeds in the pepper seeds this week! Loren, Maisie, and Martha. I wish I had a picture of them doing their work…next time…

Adults who helped this week: Kathy H., Jason N., Tom T., Walter D., William G.

Master gardeners (who talked a lot this week): Bev A., Karen W., Linda G., Jason S.

Garden Tour

Here’s a quick garden tour from east to west in the garden. Each image faces southward.

East fence line bed: This is a narrow bed that grows cilantro, kale, and collards. During the hot season we will transplant extra plants and seed flowers in this area.

Bed #1 with a killed cover crop: During the main season, this bed will have squash and cucumbers. We plan to plant these next week or the week after.

Bed #2 Tomatoes and basil: As the tomatoes get taller, we will string a weave-style trellis to support the vines.

Bed #3 Peas and lettuce: During the main season we will transition into successions of pole beans on these trellises.

Bed #4 Peppers. The teenagers destroyed every trace of weeds in this pepper bed. We have jalapeno, sweet banana, and bell peppers planted here.

Bed #5: Beets, carrots, collards, kale, cabbage, lettuce will transition to okra during the hot months.

Bed #6: A hairy vetch cover crop that we terminated will make way for several successions of sweet corn that we will plant next week. Also visible in the distance to the right is our perennial asparagus and crawling onion patch.

Wish List Update: 

-We need leaves and shredded yard trimmings for compost and mulch (no sticks, no herbicide)

-Work gloves for little people and children

-Landscape fabric for a future compost setup

-Cash donations can be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society (St. Joseph Food Pantry)

If you donate please mention the St. Mary’s Community garden in the comment section of the donation page.

We do not need any seedlings at this time. But we can help you find a home through our network of growers.