Author’s note: This is the first in a series.
“Do you have a lot?” “Yes,” I say 7 times out of 10 when carrying the first crate of donated food through the kitchen for Community Table. Whitney, the not-for-profit’s coordinator, and her daughter helped unload the Keep Alliance Beautiful pickup a week or so ago. We paused for a moment as Whitney showed me a green salad she had assembled for that day’s lunch. Yeah, it looked tasty, but the real significance came from the source of the lettuce – the initial harvest at St. John’s greenhouse.
Success of the Lutheran church’s indoor garden along Emerson Avenue, “St. John’s Greenhouse Coming Together After Delays”, published/posted in August, stirred memories of that project and other topics I wrote about for KAB throughout 2023. I decided to comb through those columns after Kathy Worley, our executive director, related another update concerning “AMS Student Creates Bags to Benefit KAB”, April. The student, Bayje Neal, had made another donation from sales of her upcycled accessories. Her latest contribution tallied $42 for the ongoing fundraiser.
People interviewed in both of the stories above shared expectations for how their efforts would make a difference.
Bayje, daughter of Jason and Destiny Neal, described support from her family as she honed sewing and entrepreneurship skills. What could have been a short-term effort has proved a lasting commitment, “. . . I thought it’d be good to give back to the community,” Bayje said this past spring.
Greenhouse committee members and volunteers looked ahead from the vantage point of late summer to envision a budding oasis as the chill would settle in. Potential produce would benefit the church and larger community while the 17 x 102-foot building promised involvement and education.
The south-facing structure, donated by Russ Finch of Greenhouse in the Snow, lived up to that moniker as I walked in today (Jan. 11) under a gray sky and flurries. Though not tropical, the temperature inside was a balmy 52 degrees compared to 5 above outside. Michele and Warner Schulze and Harold Roller were discussing the most efficient ways to employ supplemental heat sources that afternoon and evening. A built-in natural gas heater had yet to be connected by a local utility company.
Yet, prior to this season’s first deep freeze, dozens of plant varieties have taken hold in the past month or two with trees (including banana, orange and lime) planted during October. Pineapples are next on the list. Cacti and other exotic plants salvaged from when Russ’s greenhouse collapsed are found throughout the space. Every level holds carefully selected plants identified by species. Flowers were planted for pollinators. A tiger salamander or two have made themselves at home, eating some of the bugs. There is a compost pile started on the east end.
Radishes have been harvested in addition to lettuce. We will start by putting out vegetables on our table at church to take home, Michele said, and “Seeing what will grow and how well it will grow.”