This team was bit by the gardening bug a few years ago . . . but stymied at first because there was no suitable location on their church property for a garden! Luckily, the town of Glastonbury has numerous garden plots available behind the town police station, and the St. James’ gardeners have been cultivating their plot now for 3 years. Late in the fall, the town turns under the entire field and plants a cover crop, and after Don tills once in the spring, everyone (including Scott’s Nursery) donates seedlings and the gardeners are let loose!
This team’s goals were to grow food for the hungry in their community, and to communicate with other community members—so they do a lot of talking with the other community gardeners, and have benefited from their neighbors’ expertise as well, including the sharing of organic fertilizers. Another innovation was to leave a basket near the entrance to the Field, so that other gardeners with excess produce (all that zucchini) could contribute to the St. James’ donation to FoodShare. Which, at the height of summer, frequently reaches 40 lbs. per week! Debbie, Barbara and Blakeley grow radishes, squash, tomatoes, lemon and ‘regular green’ cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers (and did I mention the tomatoes?), which they bring over to FoodShare or Hands on Hartford. They also grow herbs like rosemary, which they sell to St. James parishioners and use the proceeds for next year’s garden.
Standout vegetables this summer: Squash and cucumbers early, with green peppers and tomatoes producing abundantly into the fall
