The Holy Family Community Garden is exactly that, a community of gardeners! Of the 32 individuals and families who garden in it, 28 (88%) are not members of Holy Family. They are members of the surrounding community. Every year gardeners express how much they appreciate Holy Family providing this garden area, and every year we get emails from others saying, “I have a friend who gardens there and I’d like to see if I can get one.” Or, “I live nearby and I think this is wonderful! Do you have a spot available?” The gardeners recently kicked off the 2016 growing season with an informational meeting and planning session.

Everyone works together to make it happen! Recently we saw clear evidence of this community coming together to help one another. When James’ trailer broke down, he was unable to bring his tractor tiller. With only a rented hand tiller, our job of tilling 63 garden plots looked daunting, at best. Call it what you will, but in my words “God happened” that day!

Several gardeners showed up and began helping clean up and take turns on the hand tiller. Boy Scouts came and helped tear down the old compost bins and rake old grass from plots to help the tiller get through. A mom and her young Girl Scout showed up and asked how they could help, then spent the next couple of hours pulling weeds and removing old tomato cages.

And then, something really amazing happened. A man came up to us and said he drove by and saw us working. He said he had a Kubota tractor with a 5 foot-wide tiller on the back, and asked if we’d like his help. We agreed and asked what he would charge. “No charge,” he said, “just Christians helping Christians.” He spent the next few hours tilling up 50+ plots, much to the relief of many arms and backs. He requested nothing in return. The odds of someone in a suburban neighborhood having a tractor/tiller like that are very low. He just happened to drive by that day and was kind enough to help. God’s love for us was obvious that day. I really do believe that. If ever there was a true “community” garden, Holy Family’s is it!