Isaiah 58:11 “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
We all remember January 25th, 2020, when the first case of Covid reached Canada. We slowly became cautious as infection rates rose and, in response, churches found ways to gather and worship virtually. Health guidelines were implemented, and instead of meeting people in person, we kept our distance from each other or picked up the phone instead. We all reflected on how we could connect with our physical and spiritual communities safely. Coming out of the pandemic, St. Joseph’s parish in Brossard decided to grow a garden.
Fast-forward to March 2021, when two members of St. Joseph’s parish, Mary Shaw and Patricia Wright Wood, made a proposal to the church’s corporation to explore the idea of using the land behind the church to start a community garden. The initial intention was to offer the land to Mission Nouvelle Génération, so they could plant, grow, and harvest vegetables for the benefit of local families in need. The Reverend Christopher Belle, the minister at St. Joseph’s Church, spoke to Stéphane Plante, the CEO of Mission Nouvelle Génération, about St. Joseph’s proposal and plan. A partnership was born.
In May 2021, things quickly evolved. Many members from the mission and St. Joseph’s were eager to work together and build a successful garden, and they met challenges along the way, learning from each setback and making plans for the following year.
In October 2021, I arrived at St. Joseph’s as an experienced gardener, and I was eager to join the garden community. By that time, we still had a supportive partnership with Mission Nouvelle Génération, but they were less involved in helping to maintain the garden. The produce was now used to support volunteers who helped in the garden and community members in need. As a team, we discussed our vision and set up short-term and long-term goals for the project. Some of our long-term goals included applying for a municipal grant, increasing the size of the garden, adding picnic tables and creating an inviting place for the local community, and adding flowers and fruit trees.
We were inspired to learn more about the vegetables we were growing, how to improve our technique, and how to reach out to our local community. When the weeds became overwhelming, we added mulch around the garden beds.
In our second year, we noticed that the quality of the soil made growing vegetables challenging, so we added composted soil to the existing soil. We branched out and decided to offer canning classes, teaching everyone how to use the ingredients in the garden to make homemade tomato sauce and preserved beets. We built a colorful “take a book, leave a book” box in front of the church. These initiatives allowed us to use the land and the soil around our church to increase our potential for growth and connect with our community.
Luke 13:19 “It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches”
At the end of 2022, we took a leap of faith and applied for a grant from the city of Brossard for our community garden. Pat, Mary, Gwen Mohamed and I collaborated on the grant application. We were excited when Brossard awarded St. Joseph’s a $2,500.00 grant in early 2023. The grant will enable us to add pollinator plants and fruit trees around the garden, upgrade our gardening equipment, and add picnic tables, chairs, and raised garden beds. To help with our expansion, we formed a committee to plan future projects for the garden, such as inviting guest speakers and holding community events.
Each person who has worked in the community garden has brought a special talent or skill, and we continuously learn from one another. New volunteers have joined our garden project this year through word of mouth and advertising on our Facebook page (St. Joseph’s Community Garden Brossard).
Having a garden behind the church and the share box for books in front has brought a lot of positive attention and curiosity from the neighboring community. We hope that the garden project will continue to nurture and feed our community, through sustenance and spiritual growth.
