UUrth Song CommUUnity Garden

By Pat Naylor

We are delighted to invite you to spend time in our new community garden. It's a beautiful spot complete with picnic tables, flowers, a butterfly bush, and lots of lovely garden plots. It is open to all of us.

Glory Wicklund dreamed of a community garden at UUSS and enlisted the help of Pat Naylor and Frieda Jackson to help develop the concept. Janet Little designed our garden layout. Keith White built the raised beds; Wayne Jackson helped us clear the area and designed the irrigation layout. Jerry Hostler was an important part of the early days of the garden. Jeff Voeller designed and built a compost bin for our gardeners. Lots of other folks in the congregation supported the idea, encouraged us along the way and gave contributions to help with initial costs. The Board supported the garden with a grant from the Heritage Fund, and the Endowment fund gave us a grant for our mulch.

On April 19 the RE children began planting in the five beds designated for our UUSS community. The highlight of the RE activity was the placement of praying mantis egg sacks and the release of lady bugs into our garden. Shortly after the release, the Reverend Roger Jones dedicated our garden space, and Joan Rubenson led us all in a rousing song Pete Seeger made famous which begins with "inch by inch and row by row, I'm gonna make this garden grow." We hope to grow not only a garden, but a strong community as we work together to raise and harvest this year's crop.

In his invocation, Roger said, "Let this garden be a blessing." We think it has been already. See you in the garden.