Hunger Garden Projects Nurture Connections

Our church expanded involvement in gardening projects this year to raise vegetables for donation to area food pantries and other food helper organizations. In addition to growing a host of vegetables, gardening provided opportunities for an unplanned but bountiful harvest of connections.

This was the second year our church participated in the North Dakota Department of Agriculture's Hunger Garden Project with a plot at the Bismarck Community Gardens. In 2011, the gardening crew of ten volunteers again nurtured a 20-by-20-foot plot of land yielding more than 20 grocery-size bags of carrots, tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas and potatoes.

A second hunger garden project was undertaken this year. Church member Jay Fuhrer, District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bismarck, enlisted the help of church volunteers to help. This large plot near Menoken at the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District provided donations to five community organizations totaling 1,500 ears of sweet corn, 1,500 lbs. of potatoes, 360 lbs. of pole beans, and a pickup load of pumpkin and squash!

Kim Hocking, garden coordinator for the BCG plot, notes how these gardens provide an excellent opportunity for those new to gardening to learn from experienced gardeners. And since the activities were shared, gardeners were surprised at how this small time commitment can amount to such a large contribution to our neighbors in need. Jay Fuhrer notes that the time spent in the company of other church members offered the opportunity for real discussion and getting to know one another, much more than a quick "hello" shared in passing in the church narthex on Sunday mornings.

Both gardens offered opportunities for members across generations to work and learn side-by-side. The BCG had children working alongside parents. At the Menoken Garden, Associate Pastor Vicki Rucker coordinated opportunities for Presbyteens youth group members to participate with the guidance of grandparent-aged church members. In fact, members from the age of five years old to 75 years old shared time and sweat together.

Plan to join the gardening crews next season to experience the benefits and connections that our gardens grow.

Article by Karen K. Ehrens, Consultant to the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and Healthy North Dakota