Gardens that are a community effort

Aug. 7—Amid the tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, peppers and flowers, the most prolific item blooming in community gardens in both Lewiston and Winchester is community.

Volunteers at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Lewiston and the Winchester Community Library on the Camas Prairie have transformed small, unproductive plots near their buildings into gardens that feed people and nurture one another.

"The original idea is to grow food to give away," the Rev. Kathy Kelly of the Lewiston church explained.

"I think that's just a wonderful ministry. The workers — certainly it feeds their faith because we're building community. And we're looking at what God calls us to do in the community and the commandments about love and caring for the poor."

Chris Case, librarian at the Winchester library, said the idea for their project came about three years ago when the library board decided to build a small patio out back to be used for classes and other activities.

This year the library received a $2,500 grant from the American Association of Retired Persons and Case saw the potential for something more.

"I thought, 'Oh, what a perfect place for a garden.' So a couple of weeks ago, we purchased these raised beds and people have donated plants. They all met together and we had about 25 people come and volunteers leveled (the ground) and put dirt in the containers. And then the interest really came about because people saw us growing stuff and said, like, 'Oh, a community garden.'"

Transforming public spaces into gardens is not a new idea. But projects such as these are catching on with many organizations that have not grown gardens before.

Deloris Davisson, a longtime organic gardener and a member of the Lewiston church, said about three years ago, Pat Munts, a retired agricultural coordinator with Washington State University's extension service, visited the church and talked about developing a small patch next to the church parking lot into a garden.

A few volunteers pitched in and began growing mostly tomatoes and cucumbers to add to the church's weekly food pantry, which is open to the public on Tuesdays.

"Pat (Munts) is trying to get people throughout the (Episcopalian) diocese to use church property in a good way instead of just letting it sit there and grow weeds," Davisson said.

"And it's really interesting because there's a number of church gardens. So it is a ministry about relationships and food."

Maxine Hubbell and Sue Johnson were two of the first volunteers to work in the garden. The women collected seeds and plants from various places, including leftovers from the Clarkston community garden, and began growing in the church's raised beds.

Johnson, who runs the church's food pantry, said the fresh vegetables are a welcome addition to the usual staples.

"When Maxine and I started this, we thought it would be a good idea because a lot of our people that come in have food stamps and they don't spend it on fresh fruit and stuff. So we decided to have a pantry so people could have some fresh stuff."

Johnson said the food pantry serves about 80 families with one to 11 members in a household.

Under Case's leadership, the Winchester library sponsors a variety of creative classes for youth and adults. This year, in anticipation of the AARP grant, Case directed the children to plant seeds and grow them in a greenhouse. After the raised beds were put in, the seedlings were planted and are flourishing, although Case admits that they got started so late in the year that the harvest is not expected to be abundant.

Next year, however, the group will get an earlier start, she said. And six additional raised beds are expected to arrive that will allow them to expand their production.

"We just wanted to feed people," she said.

The notion of a community garden at the Episocopal church has sparked interest in other members, and this year the group received 12 new volunteers who take turns watering the plants and helping with the harvest.

Kelly, the pastor, finds inspiration from the garden, not only from the flowers it provides for the altar but also as a way to make connections with the Sunday scripture lessons.

"It brings people together and we have a lot of support that way," Kelly said. "We used to call it 'creation care' because it goes back to biblical images about gardening and agriculture. The Bible's full of that, right?"

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.