The Faith Mission Kitchen Garden 2011

by Rick Brown

As I wrote on page one, Faith Mission definitely “walks the walk”. Another way they do it is with their summer urban garden. I believe this is their third. When I covered the very first Faith Garden (see Food and Drink issues 54 and 55) I knew from my own gardening experience that it was going to be a learning experience. If you have a garden you know that it not only is hard work (well worth it but hard nonetheless) and every year is different.

I was just getting to know Terri Rowe (Faith’s development officer) and like myself early on in my garden career, I knew there would be surprises, success, and failure. But she is one determined woman who knows how to roll with it. On my visit this year she expounded her newfound knowledge of groundhogs. I can relate.

Gone are the kiddie pools from year one. Ms. Rowe has worked with a local Lowe’s closely and they have donated raised beds, soil, etc. This has made a world of difference. The people from Lowe’s actually came up with an ingenious watering system made from plumbing supplies, an aluminum garbage can and several timers. This way each bed can be watered separately at different times without the need of a volunteer schedule. This is not to state Faith Mission does not need and value volunteers. Au contraire. The watering gadget has freed volunteer’s time to do other important gardening chores.

And like my garden at home, the Faith Garden has a plethora of basil. It’s a great year for the herb. Don’t ask me why. And their other herbs are thriving as well. But as I stated earlier, every year of gardening is different. And this year tomatoes are much later than in previous years. But the folks at the Mission are making the best of it with fried green tomatoes on occasion. Red tomatoes will come in due time. And to be honest their green peppers are doing much better than mine … sigh.

The annual garden might just be a metaphor for the hope, hard work, and perseverance displayed by Faith Mission. Not only do a lot of hungry folks get fed. But they get fed wholesome, healthy, and many times, homegrown food. And that’s walkin’ the walk my friend.

For more information about Faith Mission please go to: www.faithmissionofohio.org