by Jan Gable

It was a hot, dry summer in Decatur, but Holy Trinity’s team of “Lay Weeders” coaxed a decent harvest of organic beans, peppers, squash, cucumbers, eggplant and herbs from three plots at the Decatur High School Community Garden, and the tomatoes are still going strong.

Parishioners may have seen the fruits of our labors wheeled to the altar in the red wagon to be blessed on Sunday mornings. From there it went to the Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry’s food pantry. As a newbie gardener I was pleased to see vegetables overflowing the beautiful Bhutanese basket at the offering, yet it was even more rewarding to deliver ripe tomatoes, still warm from the sun and dusted with dry soil, straight into the hands of DEAM’s clients on a weekday morning.

Visiting DEAM also gave me a chance to let clients know they can grow their own vegetables at the community garden. I hope we find ways to bring more families who need fresh healthy food to the DHS garden, which waives the usual fees for those with low incomes. It’s a great place for both body and spirit. As a young man from Decatur’s Baha’i faith community who works in the garden with youth from nearby public housing wrote recently: “It has really given our group a higher sense of purpose. The garden has allowed us to serve our family members, ourselves, and has allowed us to get closer to nature. We get to understand profound spiritual concepts by tending to our garden.” Amen!

A Holy Trinity parishioner, my daughter Anna Rose, founded the garden about four years ago while a student at Decatur High. It has flourished and now has about 30 garden plots and two cultivated fields. In addition to working HTP’s three plots, the Lay Weeders volunteer at monthly work days to maintain and improve the garden space. Find out more from one of our team: Linda Abraham, Gretchen Nagy, the Rev. Robyn Neville, Giulia Galvin, Knox Gale, Hazel Douglas, Mayo Moses, Lizzy Sandlin, or our junior member pictured above, Joseph Gable.