Garden Details
Garden Details
“Common Ground for the Common Good”
This garden is a community garden that provides space for parishioners and community members to grow produce for themselves and others. A large portion of the garden is devoted to growing vegetables and fruit for our local food bank, providing our neighbors in need with organically grown, freshly harvested produce regularly during the summer. There is also space in the garden for groups to gather for prayer and fellowship. The garden also has memorial flower beds where parishioners can plant flowers in remembrance of family and friends that have passed away. The garden provides opportunities for gardeners, parish members, and community members to gather and work together to provide healthy food for themselves and others.
Garden Practices
Garden Practices
The garden is made up of raised beds. Our smaller beds (4 feet by 10 feet) are raised up to about 3 feet to make easy access for people, without having to bend over to garden. Our larger beds (10 feet by 20 feet) are about 1 foot deep. The garden allows only organic fertilizer and compost to be used on the beds. We use drip irrigation to cut back on water use. The water for the garden is supplied by an irrigation well that was drilled for the garden.
There is also an area in the garden with fruit trees and berry bushes (raspberries and haskaps). We also have nanking cherry bushes. There are a couple of low raised beds with strawberries.
There is also a large herb bed in the garden. We grow a variety of herbs for gardeners and the food bank.
A variety of vegetables are grown by the gardeners in their own plots. Montana has a short growing season (late May to early September). For the food bank, we grow onions, garlic, tomatoes, a variety of brassica, and squash (mostly winter squash). We also grow carrots, beets, potatoes, and other root vegetables. The perennial crops include apples, strawberries, raspberries, haskaps, nanking cherries, grapes, and rhubarb.
There is a perennial flower garden which includes some native flowering plants along with rose bushes.
We have a variety of events and activities at the garden, with over 400 hours of volunteer time in a year. The church maintenance crew does basic maintenance of the garden. In the spring, we have a class from the local Catholic college that come and help for an afternoon. There is a spring workday to apply compost to the plots and lay out water lines. College students grow vegetable and herb starts for the garden. The garden managers also grow many starts for the season.
Throughout the season, we gather on Sundays to harvest and prepare produce for the local food bank. Volunteers help with garden maintenance on Sundays and Wednesday evenings, weeding, raking, and keeping the garden clear of weeds and other items.
Additional Information
Additional Information
The biggest challenge is working with community members that may not be familiar with the garden rules. We spend time educating the gardeners on good garden practices. All plot renters have are expected to volunteer a few hours in the garden over the season. Some of our biggest challenges is the weather and cold snaps in Montana which can quickly damage young crops.
We welcome all who want to help tend the garden and harvest the vegetables and fruit for the food bank. Gardeners and others donate to the garden to help fund compost, supplies, and other needs of the garden.
Our garden has been able to donate thousands of pounds of produce to the local food bank to provide to their clients. We have had people of all ages help in the garden from toddlers picking strawberries to older adults washing freshly harvested produce. It has become a gathering space for parish groups and community members.
