Garden Details
Garden Details
The primary mission of St. Michael’s Garden is to grow vegetables for the Snohomish Community Food Bank. In addition to growing over 3,500 pounds of organic vegetables each summer, we also grow fresh herbs and flowers for bouquets.
Garden Practices
Garden Practices
We use organic and sustainable growing methods, 4-ft. wide in-ground beds, and the “no-dig” approach. Major pathways are mulched with arborist woodchips. Each fall we plant a nitrogen-fixing cover crop, we request donations of bagged leaves from parishioners, and compost donated leaves and the garden’s green waste for the next summer’s garden. In summer, actively growing beds are mulched with compost for nutrients and water conservation. All beds have drip irrigation controlled with electronic timers. There are also pollinator beds of native Washington wildflowers around the perimeter of the garden. The main vegetable growing area is fenced to exclude deer and rabbits.
Cabbage, potatoes, peppers, broccoli, beets, cucumbers, beans, chard, tomatoes, summer squash, blueberries, cilantro, basil, perennial cut flowers, lavender.
During the growing season, there are typically 9 – 12 volunteers on our 2-hour workdays every Tuesday and Friday. We recruit new volunteers at our parish’s spring and fall ministry fairs. Each summer our priest blesses the garden, and we hold an open garden inviting the entire parish. In the fall, we ask parishioners to donate their bagged leaves which we compost. During the growing season, we also produce a weekly garden update (with photos) emailed to the volunteers and other interested people, both within our parish and outside of our parish. This fall (2026) we held our first fundraiser asking parishioners to sponsor garden beds to help fund seed and equipment purchases. All 30 beds have been sponsored at $100 each!
We have a strong relationship with food bank staff and volunteers and talk with them frequently to get feedback on how we can better meet their needs for both crop-type and amounts. This last year (2026) we jointly developed a pilot program for community involvement called GROW A ROW: home gardeners grow vegetables directly for the food bank. In its first year, this generated an additional 5,000 pounds of fresh produce – much of it from our parishioners!
Additional Information
Additional Information
• We have issues with crows pulling out seedlings and solved it by using row covers until plants are well rooted in the ground. We also had rabbit problems and solved that by installing an 18” chicken wire fence around the base of our 6-foot tall deer fencing.
• We were also struggling with adequate and reliable funding given we had been dependent on various grants. This fall (2026) we held our first fundraiser asking parishioners to sponsor garden beds. All 30 beds have been sponsored at $100 each! We plan to repeat this each year.
• A continuing challenge is to recruit younger volunteers that can do heavier work. We work in the garden on Tuesday and Friday mornings to fit with when the food bank needs deliveries of fresh produce. But that is also when younger folks are at work. Our best target volunteer group is the “recently retired” who are still in good physical shape and have flexible schedules. We recruit for any and all volunteers at our spring and fall ministry fairs.
None.
• GROW A ROW program (described above)
• Flower bouquets – We grow a variety of perennial cut flowers to make bouquets for the food bank. Each year when we ask what they want us to do differently the following year, the answer is always “more bouquets please”. This year we provided the food bank with over 1,600 bouquets and lavender bunches. Assembling and wrapping bouquets is an important task and is something that our older volunteers can do.
• Fresh herbs – This was a new trial for 2026 and was very popular at the food bank. We grew cilantro and basil in the garden. Other herbs were brought each week by volunteers from their home gardens. We packaged the herbs in sandwich bags and added labels identifying the herb and packing date. This was a “sit down” job that our older volunteers could do. The food bank has requested more for next year.
• Fundraiser – bed sponsors (described above)
• Sponsoring / mentoring another church’s garden – The neighboring Presbyterian church began a new garden last summer modeled after ours. They worked in our garden the previous summer (2025) to see how we did things. In preparation for their garden, we provided advice, a custom gate, extra seeds, etc. This summer (2026) their 20’ x 20’ garden provided the food bank with over 350 pounds of produce, 170 bouquets, and 210 packages of herbs. They plan to double their garden size next year. We’re continuing to work together to help both of our gardens better meet the needs of the food bank.
