Parish Life at Calvary
Service Activities
Calvary Community Garden
Calvary’s Service Core came up with the idea for a parish vegetable garden to raise fresh produce for Rochester’s needy in 2009. Tending a garden would engage parishioners in hands-on work for the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom, encourage cooperation and team work, while providing healthy, fresh produce to the needy through the Salvation Army and Channel One.
This year, the Calvary Episcopal Community Garden produced more than a quarter ton of fresh produce for people in need, 593 lbs, to be exact. The produce was sent to the Salvation Army, Channel One, and, new this year, the San Jose Obrero mission church in Montgomery, MN. A growing group of Calvary parishioners has taken part in nourishing the garden this year.
View the 2011 garden photo gallery. Click the image to start the slideshow; place the cursor on the image to move to the next/previous image.
Begun in 2009, the garden project has grown in size and participation. Twelve parishioners helped to plant, tend and harvest four plots in 2011, compared to two or three who tended a single plot the first year. Father Nick officiated at the Blessing of the Garden on June 19, 2011 after church services.
What we raise in the garden reflects our gardener’s skills and the food preferences expressed by customers of the food shelves in Rochester. We raise potatoes, bush beans, pole beans, tomatoes, watermelon, herbs and sunflowers (for a splash of color).
For those wishing to volunteer, a variety of tasks are available. Naturally enough, these track the growing season: Fencing in the plots; leveling the plots and controlling early weed growth with raking and hoeing; planting seeds, potato eyes, and small plants (tomatoes, melons, peppers, etc.); mulching between the rows and plants; continued weeding; harvesting the produce from mid-July till late September or frost; transporting produce to food shelves; clearing the garden and storing fence posts and wire and tools until the next year.
You are invited to get involved in one or more of these tasks for however much time you can contribute. No experience necessary. On-the-job training is available. Contact Norman Senjem (507-536-9720) or Julie Roenigk (207-281-0490).
You are also invited to experience the Calvary Episcopal Community Garden spiritually. The following prayers which Father Nick and Norman Senjem read at the Blessing of the Garden may help to orient you in this direction.