Community Gardening
June 11, 2010
Several of our churches are involved with community gardens this summer, providing opportunity to build relationships with their neighbors while meeting very real needs for nutritious food.
Please feel free to contact the people below, or leave comments and have a dialogue here on this page.
Those we are aware of include:
- Reedwood (view their garden page or contact Susan Hathaway )
- Klamath Falls – Jill Sebatian
- George Fox University (contact Corey Beals)
- Metolius (Deb Mulkey)
- Sherwood (view their garden page, or contact Tim and Christine Brandt).
- Sprague River- Tonya Henry
- Netarts Friends- Mike Kelly
- CrossRhythm Friends (Annapolis)- Senate Fouty
At Klamath Falls, our gardens consist of space by a house the church owns next to our meeting house. It had a smallish plot about 20 x 30 feet in size that we started using about four years ago. A “peace garden” with flowers, other plants, and beautiful stones was initially built on one corner and has an area beside it for sitting to meditate and pray.
Two years ago we started tilling the lawns of the small house and it is now circled with gardens. We feel that lawns might often be better used. Two master gardeners, connected with the Oregon State Extension Office, are collaborating in using the space and the house, teaching children from three local grade schools how to garden and prepare foods from the garden. Numerous people from our own meeting and some from the community are involved in this and in various aspects of the gardening. Jill is the organizer of all this extensive work. The small house is the site of a food pantry that is being well-used by the area. We were invaded by deer at the end of last year’s growing season who helped some with the end of the harvest. We see them hanging around salivating, so are also putting up a deer fence.
After a lot of cold weather our garden is finally planted and growing has commenced.
Thanks, for the opportunity to tell our story.
Ken Magee
North Seattle Friends is experimenting with our own garden, although
the meeting as a whole is not currently associated with what are called “pea patches” throughout the city of Seattle.
However, I was involved with the history, purchase and planning of the North Seattle Mapleleaf Community garden and pea patch which is our neighbor, and I regularly help with their projects and supply them with electricity when needed and whack weeds with my weedeater.
Thanks.
Doug Daily
Seattle
dfdpaf@earthlink.net
Patricia Callaway is the contact person for our South Salem Friends Church community garden. She can be reached at 503-363-4372.