River Life 2018 March | Page 10

Gift Garden By Charlotte Cornell-Simmons You might have noticed the garden behind the education building near the cemetery. A group of people tend this garden each year donating all produce to Interfaith Assistance Ministries (IAM). IAM provides emergency relief to Henderson County Residents who are in financial crisis by offering food, clothing, funds, guidance and referrals in an atmosphere of compassion and respect . In 2017 we became a Thrivent Financial Action Team and received a grant for $250 for the garden. We also received fifty packets of seeds from Sow True Seeds for the garden for "giving back to the community". We are very grateful for both. We decided to try companion planting this year, and we had big ,healthy plants. However, the many overcast, rainy days reduced our yield from last year. Nevertheless, we produced 428 lbs. of organically-grown vegetables which were donated to IAM. We planted: broccoli, rapini, marigolds, hyssop, nasturtiums, carrots, white radishes, bush beans, wax beans, potatoes, eggplants, pole beans, cucumbers, dill, okra, tomatoes, basil, sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, mustard greens, spinach, four kinds of lettuce, beets, cabbage, parsnips, red radishes, leeks, chives, peas, turnips, swiss chard, parsley, kale, cauliflower, sage, kohlrabi, collards, tomatillos, oregano, cantalope, zucchini, summer squash, watermelons, butternut squash, rattlesnake beans, arugula, corn and cherry tomatoes. I would like to thank our Garden Angels: • David Lugo - tilling outside fence • Kim Biggerstaff - tilling inside fence, planting, weeding, harvesting, compost donation, starts, cover crop donation, and putting the garden to bed • Sow True Seed - 50 packets of seeds • Thrivent Financial - $250 grant • Susan Senko - planting, weeding, harvesting • Alice Cook - starts • Marsha McGuire - starts • MRUMC - use of the land • And a special thank you to Al Allen for endless weed-whacking, setting things up, taking them down, planting, weeding, harvesting, creating the paths, dropping off the veggies, and everything in between • And most of all, to God, whose goodness and generosity is boundless, and who blesses us with the garden.