Community garden puts food on needy tables

Alison B. LawJune 13, 2010

Where is the Lord’s Garden planted and blossoming? In Paradise, of course.
The project of planting and harvesting a garden began last year when Noel Gill of the LDS fourth ward in Paradise wanted a way to help others. Gill said he saw many people who had lost their jobs and were in need of some extra help. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encourages members to have gardens and to be prepared by having food storage, giving Gill the idea to start a garden for those in need. Gill, who was then the high priest group leader, approached the bishop about the idea and said it quickly went from something small to a large scale project.

Lyman Jensen and Chris Bailey each donated large portions of land totalling over two acres next to their homes for the gardens. Gill had been planning on lots of little gardens spread out, but was appreciative of the land donations. Gill continued to round up people to help, especially those who had some background in gardening. Assignments were made depending on people’s specialties, ranging from site coordinator, irrigation and soil specialists, work crew coordinators, historian, communication and publicity people.
Floyd Faucette took the reins as the soil and fertilizer specialist for the gardens. Faucette said that while the ground is good in Paradise they put together a program to bring in compost to add to the soil. Last fall several local dairies dumped manure in the gardens. Faucette also uses different organic fertilizers on the plants, depending on the vegetable. The ground must also be plowed and tilled to get it ready for planting. Specific members of the ward are assigned to deep plow or till as needed.
The rain this year postponed the planting a while, but a few weeks ago families, members of the ward and youth groups came out in full force to start planting the garden. Over 30 youth participated in the planting last Tuesday night. Steve Woolf, who plays a big part in the gardens, said he thinks the garden will still grow as well as last year.

The gardens are divided up with the plot by the Bailey’s home bearing corn and the land from the Jensen’s having onions, potatoes, pole beans, tomatoes, green peppers, squash and cucumbers. Gill said the corn gets planted three times throughout the summer and last year the crop yielded “oodles and oodles” of corn.
As the plants start to grow, so do the weeds. This is where the largest group of people are needed Gill said. Groups gather on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings to pull weeds and tend to the garden. Once they have been taught what to do people, can come whenever they want. Gill said last year many people stopped by for a while before work to give of their time. Evelyn Nyman and her family spent some Family Home Evenings pulling weeds, although they were also taking care of their own garden.

Her children may have been reluctant at first to go help, but Nyman said once they got there they had fun.

“It’s fun to go out and help,” Nyman said.
New friendships were made as people weeded side by side last year Gill said and he hopes that continues this year. Over 70 people helped out last year and Gill hopes to have well over 100 this year. He and those he calls “the fearsome foursome,” including Woolf, Grant and Byron Rawlins and Dale Anderson spend at least five to six hours a week at the gardens, making sure things are kept up and teaching others as needed. The variety of people bring a variety of ideas of how to do things and it becomes a positive, informative process, Woolf said. Gill calls the gardens a “community spiritual experience,” hence the name “The Lord’s Garden.”
“It’s a great tool to get people out and get people acquainted with those they might not have known,” Woolf said.

Challenges hit the garden last year including water shortages, insects, wind damage, bad seed and lots of weeds. Gill compared them to the infestation of the crops by crickets in the days of the early Utah settlers. Despite these trials, the crops were plentiful and were able to help out many in need with fresh produce and canned, frozen or processed food. The group plans to continue to assist those in need with the harvest this fall. The women in the ward will teach one another canning and processing with the crops and share recipes using the fresh produce. Last year a dinner was held for the whole ward using some of the food from the garden or from the gardens of members. If all goes as planned, food will be distributed, recipes shared and a dinner to celebrate will follow this fall.