Compassion Gardens have begun!

Posted by Patty Dempsey

Our Campus Garden planting team digs in.

What a great morning we had planting our brand new Campus Garden!  On Saturday, May 30th, fifteen people (some not shown in picture)  joined together to help plant our 30×50 foot Campus Garden. Our vision for the garden is to invite anyone in our church to help.  As food becomes ready to harvest, we openly invite you to take some of the food if you need it, take some to give to a family you know who could use it, or help bring the rest to a local food pantry.  If you don’t have your own garden or simply want to work together on a garden with other people, here’s your chance.

Planting takes planning!

Last Saturday on our planting day, even in the on and off drizzle we had a lot of fun.  It was especially exciting to hear people connect through their own garden stories and sharing of garden tips.

We had beginners working alongside experienced gardeners, and everyone got down and dirty in the mud!

Gardening is for the shoe-hardiest among us!

The Campus Garden is just one of the gardens in our new ministry called Compassion Gardens.  If you’ve seen the grounds of our church lately, you have noticed the transformation that has been taking place not only with the Campus Garden, but the Hmong Gardens as well. 

Many people have been offering their talents and resources to make all of this possible!  First of all our clay ground is not easy to break up, so we’ve been thankful for the services of Don, a farmer who comes in with his large tractor to make the first pass at the ground.  We were equally blessed for Bryan Zempel and Randal Lamers who also came in with their smaller tractors to help till up the dirt, not only for the Campus Gardens, but for the Hmong Gardens as well, giving us greater hope for a good season.

On the planting day we were privileged to have parents bringing in their children to help plant the seeds.  What a precious sight to see the children work so hard with everyone to place the seeds in just the right spot.

Bryan Zempel and his daughter make memories

One family was able to share the experience across three generations, as Grandpa worked alongside the parents and grandchildren.

A generational experience!

We are all excited to see how everything grows.  Thank you to those who took the time to grow seedlings for our garden and bring in seeds.  Because of your generosity, we have a strong start to our garden.  We were able to plant a wide variety of vegetables and even some muskmelon.   We had more than we could have imagined!

Soon the sprouts will appear.

If you would like to help us weed and water through the summer or help pick the vegetables at harvest times, we would love to have you join us.  You can sign up at the information center at church or sign up online at www.christtherock.org/communityopportunities.

May the Lord bless our planting, watering and weeding as He alone can make things grow.  We thank Him for this gift of working with Him to create a harvest that potentially can bless many in our church and community.