The garden is a Memorial Garden, a garden of benevolence, a garden of love. It is a gift to our community from the God of Love, Jesus the Christ. The first “seeds” for our garden have come from members of the congregation and a designation from the congregation’s memorial funds. These seeds have brought us to the beginning of a journey that will last for many years. Guided by the Holy Spirit we will plow forth until row upon row of our work is accomplished and our community is better nourished. The Lord invites you all to be part of His work on earth strengthening and feeding His children. The garden is made possible by generous donations from the community, and grants from the ELCA Domestic Hunger Grants, the Alaska Food Policy Council through the Municipality of Anchorage, the Alaska Women's Giving Circle, The Alaska Master Gardeners of Anchorage, the generous support by the congregation of Lutheran Church of Hope, and support from the Alaska Synod of the ELCA.

Food from the garden in 2019 was sent to Lutheran Social Services Food Pantry, the Tudor Road Gospel Rescue Mission, and to Bean's Cafe.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

May Day

No it's not a distress call. It's the first day of May. The garden is free of snow. Now for it to dry out so we can get in and prepare it for planting. There is much to be done in the meantime.

Peppers & Pak Choi
Will need to purchase some some fencing to close the 18 inches of open space at the bottom of the south side of the fence. Peas will be planted there to take advantage of the "natural" trellis created by the fence. Hope to get those planted next week some time. Need to build covers for the boxes so they will be easier to water and weed this year. Will be making a lean-to greenhouse on the north end of the garden so will have to do some construction for that as well. The chipper/shredder will have to be assembled. Start up the compost bins again. The lawn in front of the church that must be assisted with a wake-up. Must check the lawn tractors to make sure they are working properly. Need to cull the three or four push mowers we have. Which one is worth keeping and what to do with the rest. And there is always the possibility the none are worth keeping.

Apple "trees"
I did a tree grafting workshop on April 15. Two apple trees are now waiting the warm weather to begin growing anew.  One is a State Fair and the other a Carrol. These varieties are supposed to be good eating. More are in the wings so we may end of with an orchard in the near future as well as a garden. It will probably be 5 or 6 years before these will bear fruit. We do already have a State Fair and a Norland tree in front of the parsonage that are bearing well now.

Sunflowers & Cukes
So the church will be a fruit grower a well as a veggie grower. The bee hives are in place and the ladies (worker bees are female) are hard at work as we speak. The tour of the garden this year will include many more things than just walking the rows.

Plants for the garden are growing. We have peppers (many varieties), cucumbers, sun flowers, and squash. Soon there will be cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. Still need to purchase some seeds but the seeder has been assembled and will soon be tested.

The list is long. Time will fly. All will get done. At least that's what I keep telling myself. If you have some time the next two weeks stop by and I will put you to work. You can call the church office to see if I'm around. Chances are I will be.

May the Lord be with you. See you in the garden!

 

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