Not long before the pandemic struck, members of All Saints constructed the first two raised garden beds for the first phase of our community garden. Even though those beds have remained dormant in recent weeks, the community garden is indeed spreading.

First of all, All Saints received a grant from the South Carolina Synod to further develop our community garden. The purpose of this grant is to help us feed members of the community by donating produce to ECCO. With this grant, All Saints will soon proceed with more work to complete phase one of the garden.

Even before that work begins, the community garden has already been spreading in recent weeks. Members of the community garden team have taken home the seedlings that were supposed to have been transplanted to the church’s new raised beds. These plants are being tended by these members, and the produce will still be donated to ECCO.

If you are inclined to donate your homegrown produce to help feed our neighbors in need, please use the following instructions:

• Please place each type of produce in a separate bag or box. If you have small amounts of multiple types of produce, if at all possible pool your types of produce with others at All Saints who are growing those vegetables. 
• Donations are accepted Monday through Friday, 10AM – 2PM. Please drive through the ECCO parking lot area entering on Tea Planters Lane (the street running from Six Mile Road to Harris Teeter). Continue around the ECCO building to the last set of double doors on your left before the exit to Six Mile. Leave your produce on the table outside the doors and they will come out and pick it up.
• ECCO supports our community garden initiative, and they are aware that members of the church are currently growing the produce at our homes. Leave a note with the produce indicating it is donated on behalf of the All Saints Community Garden. This will be helpful for ECCO’s records as we continue forward in our relationship together.
• Please record the type and amounts of home-grown produce you donate to ECCO. We need this information for our grant report to the Synod next year. You can use either numerical units of produce (bell peppers, squash, heads of lettuce, for instance) or volume units in liters (okra, beans, tomatoes, etc.). Whichever measure you choose, please also estimate (difficult to do, I know, but an estimate is very important) the number of hours you have spent in developing the produce you contributed. This is essential information for us to have when we report our progress on the grant we have received, or when applying for future grants.
• You can forward the tally of the types of produce, the units of produce, and the estimated hours you have contributed to Jim Brueggemann at eclakes3344@gmail.com.  This can be done either when you donate, or at the end of your garden’s season.

Thank you for your partnership in this feeding project!