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Renewal

Riot of spring color at Tulip Days at Exploration Acres: photo by the author. Share and share alike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Renewal: agricultural metaphors are common in both the old and new testaments. Mustard seeds, wheat and chaff, weeds and crops: tending to the garden is important. The miracle of the seed planted in spring in the hope of abundant harvest—from the humble dot of a mustard seed springs forth a substantial bush … with thousands of seeds both to harvest and to plant the next generation.
Last year's garden: messy & beloved: photo by the author. Share and share alike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
I am an enthusiastic if poor and careless gardener. My plot has meandering lines of carrots and crooked rows of beans, green mixed with yellow wax and purple. I know what I am supposed to do to maximize yield, and if I relied on the small community patch to feed my family, I would probably work with greater precision and more planning. But my goal is as much a plot for contemplation and creativity as it is food production. Just yesterday we enjoyed fresh cilantro plucked from a volunteer plant that sprung up from a seed left last fall; a gift and wonderful surprise that I enjoyed immensely on my tacos.
Author in shadow as spring plot assembled: photo by the author. Share and share alike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
We are also growing Korean sesame leaves—an herbal leafy green mixed into pancakes with chives and zucchini and eaten with soy sauce. They are challenging to find fresh in grocery stores. And of course we are growing heirloom tomatoes whose flavor simply cannot be compared to store-bought, hothouse tomatoes.

Cherry tomatoes have joined "tomato row" for the first time in the community garden plot. Last year my mouth watered passing by others’ plots overflowing with red, yellow, purple, and orange gems maturing in the sun. This year I am looking forward to eating sweet red cherry tomatoes right off the vine as reward for weeding the community garden plot in the heat of the summer.

The seasons provide literal structure for the garden's flows: renewal and planting in spring, growth and weeding in summer, harvest and storage in fall, fallow reflection and barren winter awaiting the arrival of spring's eternal return. Our goal in this project of renewal is to articulate what works for this community, to embrace the experiments that are showing promise and pare back anything that is not either bringing joy and satisfaction or not bringing the results we had hoped for. This year, we decided not to plant tomatillos. The plants were wildly successful but we grew weary of green salsa last fall. We are planting okra and eggplant this year, hoping for a different bounty. What, if anything, has made us weary, draining energy rather than building interest and excitement? What are we looking forward to accomplishing and what energizes us for the new cycle at Good Shepherd?

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Location: 6042 Newcastle Rd, Lafayette, IN 47905, USA

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