I wonder, what kind of impact is this garden going to have? When I began planning, dreaming, envisioning this garden I had two fears...
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1. $5,000 wasn't going to be enough
2. Nothing or little was going to grow so all the time & energy wouldn't be worth the result
Well, I can now say that both fears have subsided. We have had enough money to build an amazing garden with the many blessings of assistance and donations that we have received. Not only do we have a garden that is approximately 50x80 feet of growing space, we also have a children's play area, children's raised beds, and this week a gazebo & shed are being put up. The second fear was blown away this Sunday when I went to see the garden after being away for three weeks. When I left on June 12th, we had a beautiful field of dirt. It had been plants, but nothing really showed for our efforts. We had to keep after the kids because they couldn't tell where they should be walking because nothing was sprouting to show the paths yet. Well, in three weeks time we have gone from dirt to a full PRODUCING garden! What a sight to see. The lettuce and spinach are almost finished and have been harvested many many times during the past two weeks. The summer squash and zuchinni are producing and have also started to be harvested. Everything is in full growth... including the weeds:) I wonder if St. Brigit had a green thumb? And so now I sit here thinking about all the families, children, community members who are going to know the love that has been put into this garden. I feel truly blessed to be a part of this experience. After spending 3 hours weeding on Sunday, I felt renewed. We are meant to get our hands dirty. We are meant to care for the land. We are meant to eat fresh vegetables...and this year MANY people in the Tri-Town area will do just that!
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And what else does the garden have? Bugs...especially lady bugs. Lucas spent hours finding them in the plants, checking them out, learning about their appearance at different stages of growth. Nothing like a garden to provide hands-on learning fun for the kids!!
Here is a response that was received & thought that it should be shared so others could 'see' the effects of this amazing garden:)
ReplyDeleteHello everyone,
As I was reading BrandiLynn’s blog about St. Brigit’s Bounty, her latest post about the garden is titled: What kind of impact is this going to have?
http://www.brigitsbounty.blogspot.com/
Well, I just have to share with you the amazing experience Kate and I had on Thursday night as we distributed 36 bags of lettuce at the food bank in Dacono.
On Wed afternoon several of us went out to the garden to harvest leaf lettuce, spinach, and arugula. We spent about 40 minutes harvesting and then took the wonderful greens into the house to get in cold water and separate into bags for each family to take home.
Almost every family who came into the food bank received a mixture of all of the greens. We also took several yellow squash with us and those were immediately snapped up.
It was such a gratifying experience to begin to build relationship with the folks who come to the food bank and offer them a fresh vegetable to take home.
It is amazing to watch the community of St. Brigit reach out and be the hands of Christ! I hope that you keep in mind that as you water, weed and tend to this community garden, the fruits of your labors will be greeted with a grateful smile and much excitement! “Wow, fresh lettuce?” was something we heard more than once.
So, Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have helped to make St. Brigit’s bounty a way for us to reach into the community and spread the love of Christ.
Faithfully,
Maureen