A Thanksgiving for Gardens:
God of grace, in the story of creation, you made the earth a garden and entrusted it to us to till and to keep, a place of peace and beauty where we could walk with you. In the story of redemption, the one who died for us was buried in a garden, and there you raised him up to greet us with new hope and risen life. In the story of the Church, you tend us as a garden, a place of careful pruning and abundant harvest, where we can work with you. Meet us, we pray, in all the gardens where we go for nourishment, refreshment and prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. © The Anglican Church of Australia
Two years ago, the Vacation Bible Camp at St. John the Evangelist Middle Sackville Nova Scotia started a “modest” pollinator garden near the church hall doors. This year, they added a small garden near the church. They planted perennials: Liatris, Coneflowers, Butterfly Weed, Coreopsis, Bee Balm, Bachelor Buttons, Columbine, Oregano, Lavender, Sage, Borage as well as spring flowering bulbs to lengthen the season. The plan is to divide the plants as they get bigger and continue to expand the garden.
For a second year the people of Holy Trinity Emmanuel (HTE), Dartmouth are growing flowers and veggies. If you will excuse the pun, the project is “growing.” Last year they grew “instant gratification,” lettuce, a nutritious veggie that grows quickly and produces in abundance, vitamin C filled tomatoes and revived the old perennial garden. Located in a food insecure community, HTE is enthusiastically expanding their “help yourself” urban farm, growing lettuce, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and green and yellow beans in container gardens constructed from reused wood, pots and plastic totes.
This year is a first for my home parish, The Church of Saint Andrew, where carrots, tomatoes, beets, potatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, yellow and green beans, calendula, and swamp milkweed have been planted. And the children from the daycare at the church are planning to plant peppers. A holy moment that brought tears to the eyes of the project organizer was seeing the excitement of children at the daycare as they wait and watch for butterflies to emerge.
It seems that pollinator gardens are popular. There is one in front of the cathedral. I was honoured to be present and help plant with the bishop the first evening of Synod as she blessed the garden just before entering the cathedral for the opening Synod Eucharist.
Kudos to all the parishes in our diocese that are engaged in gardening. Please share with DEN the green projects your parish is engaging in so we can spread the good news. Please also share your plans for Season of Creation and SEND PHOTOS.
