Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Peter Rice
Ministries of SJC—Garden Guild
Recently, Rob asked me if I would consider being a contributor to his ongoing weekly series of reflections. Specifically reflections highlighting ministry opportunities at St. John’s. As the organizer for garden activities or in Rob’s words, "the garden team“ i would offer the following reflection.
I never really thought of the garden team as a ministry though in terms of church structure I suppose it is. First of all, I refer to it as the Garden Guild . Some parishioners of St. John’s may recall that back in 2018 via a Sunday church bulletin i had asked for volunteers to join the “Guild.” I would not describe the response as overwhelming. The gardens however still needed attending so I did what i could given what time I had to spare. From the beginning , my reliable advisor was Anne Tarlton whose knowledge of gardens and plantings has no bounds. Anne was also not adverse to getting her hands dirty when it came to weeding, pruning , etc. Laura Ludes who is an accomplished “green thumber “ in her own rite was always quick to respond when I needed help. A number of others gave of their time and talents . Among them were Dianne Halprin, Connie White, Elaine VanDyke , Alison Young and Nicole Benevenia. When Nathan arrived on the SJC scene he commandeered a small patch of space for his herb garden which additionally had a few strawberry plants. During the summer months the challenging issues were weeding and watering complicated by the fact that all of the volunteers were for the most part vacationing . The lower lot where most of the gardens are is a hot , dry, place , sometimes requiring 24 hrs. of watering through a network of weeper hoses . More than once I would ask someone from Tebbetts House if they could turn off the water before leaving for the day. Joanne Ferguson frequently helped out as did Nathan.
Presently , the big challenge is transplanting plants from out of the construction zone where the new connector building will be located. The planted area to the left of the parish hall entrance will eventually be removed necessitating the transplanting of the crab apple tree and once the blooms have gone by, all the bulbs will need to be dug for eventual replanting in the fall. Given all of the latter and summer watering and weeding, the SJC Garden Guid Ministry is accepting applications from all who want to lend a hand.
P.S. The gardens of SJC are a treasure that many enjoy and have been cared for by volunteers for many years. A special thanks to Karen Parrott who cared for the gardens for over a decade.