Growing a Faith-Based Garden

Faith-based community gardens, like any community project, are not without their challenges. People are concerned about safety and liability issues, whether the project is sustainable for the long run, who will do the weeding and harvesting, where the water and electricity will come from. Even what to do with the sometimes overwhelming abundance that explodes over the summer can be a problem. All of these are issues need to be discussed and planned for. 

No matter how many challenges there are, nothing can take away from the deep satisfaction of getting one's hands into the earth, digging, planting, and harvesting the bounty of God's good creation. Nor can they detract from the joy that engulfs us as we experience the awe-inspiring generosity of a God who wants to provide abundantly for all of humankind. The garden is a place of healing, of wholeness, and of deeply spiritual encounters where God restores our bodies and our spirits in a way that is truly miraculous.  

Resources for Creating a Faith-Based Community Garden

• Montgomery Victory Gardens: Tips for Starting a Faith Based Community Garden
• The Brown Bag Series sponsored by the Community Partnership Project at the University of Missouri-St. Louis: Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Age of Obama
• North Carolina State University Community Gardens: Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina: Growing Communities Through Gardens
• Seattle Public Utilities Natural Lawn and Garden Care provides a variety of downloadable resources including:

★    Smart Watering
★    Rainwater User Guide
★    Growing Healthy Soil
★    Natural Pest Weed and Disease Control

• Garden planning

★    Plan Garden -- a web based garden planning site
★    Gardener's Supply Kitchen Garden Planning -- a great tool for planning a garden based on the square foot garden method

• Blogs and websites on faith-based gardening:

★     Sparks in the Soil
★     The Pumpkin Patch Community Garden
★     Five Loaves Farm
★    Sustainable Northwest: Interfaith Network for Earth Concerns

Read another piece by Christine Sine on the spirituality of gardening: Gardening with God.

Christine Sine and her husband are the founders ofMustard Seed Associates, a network of followers of Jesus that seeks to unleash the creative potential of individuals who want to put God's purposes first in their lives.  Visit Christine's blog atGodspace.