Wednesdays in the Garden with St. Tom

This past Sunday in church the priest announced that volunteers were needed for a community garden. I took this to heart and decided it would do me good to get outdoors. I haven't been camping or hiking in about a year, which is unusual for me. I have lacked the time to set aside a weekend for a trip, chores pile up. The house always needs something done. So far this summer, the extent of my outdoor time has been mowing the lawn. Exciting I know! I actually enjoy mowing, it's very zen for me. I can zone out and get out the day's frustrations pushing the mower around.

But after I heard the announcement in mass, I suppose I heard the call. It was time to put what garden skills I have to good use, which have been dormant since my childhood. My parents tended a garden every summer. And every summer we had an abundance of fresh produce. I suppose I took it for granted. Didn't every family do this? Now that I am an adult living in a city with only a small, shaded yard, not much good for growing veggies, I know this is much rarer. I miss the produce, and I miss the satisfaction from planting a seed and tending it to harvest. Perhaps that makes me a garden geek.

I have also learned from adulthood, and in my quest to eat a healthy diet, that fresh, produce is expensive--very, very expensive. I am not well off, but I am gainfully employed and stable. I have everything I need. But it's still a shocker to pay so much at the grocery store. Even my local farmer's market can be a bit pricey. If it's expensive for me, I worry about those who are less affluent. That is what makes this community garden so neat. All of the produce we grow is donated to our local food bank. The poor deserve to eat well too.

I was struck many years ago, I can't count how many, by something a Sister of Providence said. Instead of donating canned goods or giving whatever sat in the back of her kitchen cabinet (as so many of us often do--me included), she shopped in the gourmet aisle. Because she would want someone to do that for her, to ensure that she not only ate, but ate well. Who doesn't rejoice at a good meal! I think about that every time I donate food. So when I heard the call out for the community garden, I jumped at the chance. It satisfies my need to be outdoors and work with my hands, while meeting someone else's.

Tonight was my first evening at the garden. It felt good to rescue peas from the weed invaders as I listened to the conversations around me. The talk was jovial as the volunteers took joy in what they did, and I was in awe of the spirit of community in which this project was born.

I will definitely be back next week.