Gentle wonderful rain and our Community Garden

We are getting much welcome rain here in Charlottesville, and the best kind of rain for our gardens: gentle, soaking rain. The dampness is bringing out the wonderful earthy smell of late summer.

Our Community Garden volunteers were out in force a few days ago, joining with volunteers from Trinity Episcopal Church, the parish located in the garden's neighborhood (more on that exciting development in another post). They've added new compost, planted spinach and other greens, cleared away a lot of dead brush, and prepared the garden for winter.

Here is a photo I took late yesterday during the rain. Enjoy your garden!

Community Garden planting

The work at our community garden is definitely in full swing. A number of dedicated folks came out Saturday to till the ground, weed, plant and get the garden in shape. Here are a number of photos taken by Jane Rotch.

Our community garden springs anew: Season II

With the snow melting and the sun shining, our community garden it is definitely time to tend to our community garden. You may remember last year a group of parishioners and University students created a community garden in an African American neighborhood near the church.

Our goal is creating a place for the community to gather, grow good, and give the food away. Not only did the garden produce bushels of food, but we held picnics, poetry readings and concerts at the garden.

Time for the garden again!

Lori and I went over the other day to have a look. The apple trees planted last year are blooming; the tulips are gorgeous. The soil looks ready for planting.

Work parties are there on Saturdays. Please join them if you can.

The garden is just south of Preston Avenue on 10 1/2 Street in an open lot.

Photos by Lori.

Tonight: Celebrate at our Community Garden

We went to our community garden Tuesday afternoon to pull weeds and harvest food.

The garden is just exploding with cucumbers, flowers, corn, peppers, herbs, onions - and more! 

At least as important, the garden is becoming part of the community. We met a number of neighbors, including Harold (in photo, his house behind him). Folks in the neighborhood are enjoying the food, and we are harvesting more for the food closet.

Tonight we will celebrate.

Please come join us at our garden at 10 1/2 and Preston. We will have food, music, poetry and much more!

And thanks to all who have worked so hard in the garden.

This is truly an amazing project, and a display of faith in God's abundance.

Photos from the Community Garden celebration

Alas, we missed the Community Garden celebration last week, but we sent sunny weather from the West! Thanks to Martien Halvorson-Taylor for a terrific slide show (see below) of the celebration. By the way, if you want to do an hour or two of work at the garden, it is all for a good cause -- producing food for the poorest among us. The garden is located on 10 1/2 Street just south of Grady.

And if you have photos of other St. Paul's events, PLEASE send them to me and I will post on this blog. To see the photos from the garden celebration, just click HERE.

Come help at the community garden

Our community garden at 10 1/2 and Grady is sprouting! Please come join the crew tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:15 pm for an hour or two of weeding, staking and tending to the garden. 

All of the food will be donated to the community, and this is a great opportunity to meet other members of St. Paul's and some of our neighbors.

Next Wednesday June 24, the garden organizers are planning a celebration at 4:30 pm. Plans for the celebration: food, musical instruments, games, possibly creating an art project inside the circle, and to have some poems be visually up in the garden by that time as well as scriptural or poetry by anyone  who would like to read.

St. Paul's Community Garden: Sprouting more than food!

We haven't checked in lately in this space on the progress of the St. Paul's Community Garden, located in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Charlottesville. So I went over this morning and took a few photographs in the early morning light. 

With all of the recent rain, the garden is very green with beans and tomatoes and lettuce and lots of other wonderful things. The food when harvested will be donated to the community. Great thanks goes to a dedicated group of volunteers who've lovingly tended to the garden.

Special thanks to the Rev. Neal Halvorson-Taylor for his vision and leadership and to Louise Gallagher for building the shed and to Peggy Galloway for leading the volunteer team.

I am totally inspired by this project. Besides growing food,  the garden is growing relationships between segments of the congregation that don't often interact: students, young people, retired people and all manner of families, and with people who live in the surrounding community.

In the days ahead I hope we can especially deepen our relationship with the neighborhood through this project. 

More volunteers will be needed throughout the summer. To find out how to get involved, contact the church office.

The Body of Christ is definitely growing in the garden!

Spectacular Sunday at St. Paul's

Today was awesome at St. Paul's. Our youth led the service, with prayers and songs and sermons. Later this week I will post their "Prayers of the People," which they took from the various faith traditions from congregations they've visited this year. The energy was huge and the congregation enthusiastic. Thanks to Janet Legro and all the young adults.

Then we had lunch in the parish hall and walked over to open our new Community Garden. The drizzle did not seem to dissuade many from this epic moment. A good 30-plus folks put in the first planting: lettuce and tomato starts, flowers and a few herbs. 

The lettuce starts, incidentally, were donated by Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. We hope the community garden will provide food for the neighborhood and a gathering place building community.

Here are a few photos I took today at the garden. Margaret Haupt is holding the first lettuce start before putting in the ground. Lori has a basil start in her hand. The rest of the photos are self-explanatory. Enjoy!

Come bless our Community Garden Sunday

Tomorrow will be another huge Sunday at St. Paul's. The youth of the parish will lead our worship at 10 am. After worship, I will do a Q&A in the Chapel with anyone who is interested.

Then let me invite you to the opening of our community garden. We will bless the garden at 1 pm. 

This is an amazing project. Although the official opening is Sunday, a dedicated group of parishioners and Canterbury Fellowship university students have been working hard and planning the details for weeks. Earlier this week they began preparing the soil for the Spring planting (the photos were taken Friday). 

Major thanks goes to The Rev. Neal Halvorson-Taylor for his extraordinary work in casting the vision, corralling our resources and organizing our team to make this a reality. 

The Vestry in April approved the plan and appropriated $2,000 for start-up costs, and several Vestry members have been invaluable members of the planning and planting team. We have also asked for assistance from the Diocese of Virginia, and we welcome the involvement of other Episcopal churches in the vicinity.

This is not just any garden. The location is on Grady and 10 1/2 streets, in a predominantly African American neighborhood. The property owner has invited us to build this garden as a ministry to the neighborhood and has made a five-year commitment to us to allow us to use the property as a community garden. We hope to grow food to give to the food closets in Charlottesville, and build a green place in the neighborhood where people can gather. We still haven't named the garden -- that will come, and ideas are welcome.