This was also the theme of the Assembly of the Eastern Synod of the ELCIC held in June – Behold, I am doing a new thing!
So, what is this new thing and how did this new thing get started?
Pastor Rick first heard about the opportunity to build a community garden from Father Jeff at St Cuthbert’s Anglican Church and then he was contacted by the Halton Environmental Network who offered guidance about how to start a garden. Pastor Rick presented the idea to the Congregational Council who enthusiastically approved it.
Home Depot contributed about $ 2000 in materials. We were only going to start with 3 planting beds this year and then expand to 5 next year. But, Pastor Rick took a bold step in faith and asked Home Depot if they could help us realize our ultimate goal of securing enough material to build 5 planting beds.
Dean Oswald designed and constructed an elevated garden with five planting beds in the shape of a cross. But knowing Dean, he wanted an ecologically friendly garden, so he also designed a water barrel system to collect rain from our roof. He then sourced paving stones from Kijiji so they could be reused and not contribute to the ever-increasing amount of garbage.
Pastor Rick contacted Kerr Street Mission to learn what kinds of produce would be best for our garden. We have planted bush wax beans, bush green beans, green pole beans, two beds of cherry tomatoes, zucchini, Swiss chard, and some carrots. A team of Wendy and Dave Ball, Leann, Mat and Ben Eberley, Jacob Klosler, Dean Oswald, Ashley Oswald, Judy Tamm, and Darryl Workman is involved weekly in weeding and watering – and soon they will be harvesting.
On July 18, we held our first in-person outdoor worship service since the beginning of the pandemic. At that worship service Grace dedicated our community garden.
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