Church gardens feed the needy, help the environment, foster community

Community gardens are cropping up on the grounds of Catholic churches throughout the Archdiocese, feeding the community and the souls of the volunteers who tend them.

Community garden ministries help the environment, feed the hungry, give a sense of community, and educate parishioners on a healthy lifestyle, said Father Tim Graff, Archdiocese of Newark Social Concerns Office director.

“They are using land that is underutilized. They give an opportunity to give fresh vegetables to food pantry clients, promote a healthy lifestyle, and get multi-generations of the community together,” Father Graff said.

Bountiful harvests, bountiful blessings

In a portion of the parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Oratory in Montclair, 24 raised beds and 40 growing vats are filled to the brim with dozens of plants and vines that this year produced over 1,600 pounds of vegetables for the Toni’s Kitchen food pantry and Little Pantries around town. The garden only spans six parking places but yields a mighty harvest.

No space goes unplanted in the Mount Carmel garden, and the yield is significant.
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Jose German-Gomez, the founder of the Northeast Earth Coalition, which has planted community gardens throughout Montclair and consults on others throughout Essex County, said the pandemic brought about a boom in the planting of community gardens as a way to spend time in the sun with neighbors and to give back. That’s when he and a group of volunteers created the one at Mount Carmel on Pine Street.

“It’s the only community garden on asphalt in Montclair. It’s very sustainable,” German-Gomez proudly said.

The garden, which is part of today’s Catholic Climate Covenant movement, is reminiscent of the victory gardens planted in neighborhoods during World War I and II, when the government encouraged the creation of victory gardens to supplement rations and boost morale. Neighbors took over small public plots to plant and tend the gardens.

A bountiful harvest is gathered from the little garden in the church’s parking lot.
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About 100 volunteers tend to the Mount Carmel Garden, with many doing water duty, which means hauling heavy buckets of water across the parking lot. Others do the weeding, harvesting, and delivering to the food bank and the seven Little Pantries German-Gomez has installed around town. Almost all the neighbors are dedicated to contributing their scraps to the composting bins to create organic fertilizer, which German-Gomez said is the magic behind the garden’s success.

The Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River started its community garden in 2015 with only four raised garden beds. As a “Green” parish certified by Green Faith, the ministry had done things like change out lightbulbs, install solar panels, and reduce the use of plastic water bottles they use, but it wanted a project that would get the parishioners passionate about the environment while giving back to the community.

“We had four vision points for the garden ministry,” said Wally Kennedy, who heads up the garden ministry for the church. “Build community, grow fresh produce to give to the needy, educate about healthy eating, and honor the sacredness of the earth.”

The Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River receives a blessing from the garden’s chaplain. (*COURTESY WALLY KENNEDY)*

The church was supportive, setting aside a 72-foot by 32-foot plot and giving the garden ministry $11,000 to build the garden, fence it in, build the beds, and buy the soil and the plants. Over 120 parishioners of multiple generations volunteered to help. There were problems to overcome, such as bad drainage that led to flooding and the lack of a watering system, but the blessings kept coming. An engineer and a few parishioners, who are retired and now lovingly referred to as the “geezers,” helped solve the drainage problem. Kennedy said that the owners of a neighboring soccer field allowed the ministry to tap into its system.

During the April through September growing season, the volunteers yielded 850 pounds of vegetables in the garden’s first year. This year, they almost doubled that number, expanding from eight different vegetables to 13 across 16 garden beds. The produce is donated to food banks in Harlem and the Bronx, Kennedy said.

Like the garden at Mount Carmel, the community helps by bringing their kitchen scraps to the compost bin. The garden also hosts weekend talks on gardening and composting and a summer youth camp. A beekeeper and his bees have also taken up residency in the garden.

In the garden at the Church of the Presentation.
(*COURTESY WALLY KENNEDY*)

Kennedy said the garden is inclusive and welcoming, and they are continually recruiting to bring new people in.

“Everyone is interested in gardening in some respect,” he said.

Small but mighty

St. Anastasia in Teaneck began its garden through its Creation Care Team a few years ago with a small $800 stipend on a 50-foot by 24-foot piece of land. The team has a group of about five volunteers but yields enough to donate to the Center for Food Action in Englewood and some parishioners, the garden’s leader Glenn Miller said.

Because the parish has a sizeable Filipino community, the volunteers grow unique vegetables such as bitter melon. And while other garden keepers try and keep critters out, St. Anastasia welcomes the deer that wander in and rest for a while, Miller said.

The deer take in some shade near the St. Anastasia garden.
*(COURTESY GLENN MILLER)*

The children of St. Raphael’s Parish in Livingston recently completed an environmental project honoring Mary, the Blessed Mother. They created a rosary by planting small red, magenta, and white flowers. The Catechists and the students planted a butterfly garden and waystation for migrating pollinators.

The Monarch butterfly population has decreased by 90% in the past 30 years. Even a tiny pollinator garden could help grow and release more butterflies in addition to serving as a waystation for migrating Monarchs, providing food and shelter throughout all stages of their life, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

The rosary garden at St. Raphael’s Parish in Livingston.
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German-Gomez has planted pollinator gardens throughout Montclair and said Mount Carmel hopes to host a pollinator garden beginning next year.

The Archdiocese of Newark created an Environmental Justice Task Force under its Social Concerns Office, inviting liaisons from the 211 parishes throughout the Archdiocese to meet about six weeks. The liaisons share environment-related project ideas and advice on how to follow through. Joe Levin, the group’s leader, called the garden ministry concept a win-win.

“You are supplying food and educating the community about our earth,” Levin said.

As the gardeners tend to their last harvest and deliveries to food pantries for the year, they also celebrate the Season of Creation. The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration to listen and respond to the cry of creation during which the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray and protect their common home. The Season “celebration” begins on Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. It ends on Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations. This year’s theme is: “Listen to the Voice of Creation.”

For more information on the Environmental Justice Task Force or to join, visit the Archdiocese’s Social Concerns Office webpage.

FEATURED PHOTO: Jose German Gomez planned the garden located in Mount Carmel’s parking lot.
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