"For I was hungry ..."

This spring, our church started a new ministry -- an organic vegetable and herb garden! Back in February and March, we started meeting to plant seeds, construct a fence, prepare the garden site, and learn about different gardening techniques. Various individuals or groups within the church signed up to maintain different crops, and back in April, we held a big planting day where we transplanted the seedlings into the outdoor garden (we also got to bring leftover plants home!). Now that we're harvesting regularly, the fresh vegetables and herbs are delivered to area food charities, including the Chattanooga Food Bank and Tennessee Baptist Children's Home. We've also used some of the vegetables in the church's Wednesday night fellowship meals.

A couple of cold-hearty crops had already been planted before that first big planting day, including radishes. Since radishes grow quickly, some were already ready for harvest, and Maggie was given the honor of picking the first fruits from our vegetable garden.

She quickly learned how to identify which radishes were ready for picking.

So proud of herself!!

The above pictures were taken in April, and the rest were taken in mid-June -- look how the garden has grown!

French marigolds, geraniums, and nasturtiums provide natural pest control.

Not only is the garden visually beautiful, but it smells delicious too!

Painted paving stones - done by church youth - greet garden visitors.

The pepper plot Maggie and I are helping with is against the fence.

The garden also features green beans, peas, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, onions, three varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, squash, dill, sage, and pineapple sage. We're harvesting so much that we're selling the surplus at church and hope to use the money to fund an irrigation system for the garden. I love that our church does things like this -- not only are we putting into practice Christ's words about caring for the less fortunate (Matthew 25:35) but I get a really tangible teaching teaching tool -- Maggie's learning about science, growth, responsibility, and helping others.

And so am I.