June 23 in the Kitchen Garden

by Mark Pennington

“Look at that! It’s huge!  I can't believe it!”

The Kitchen Garden was swirling with energy and excitement and color this Saturday.  Just a short while ago, it seems, this riverview plot on the brink of the hill behind the church was a tangled mass of partially removed sod, yielding reluctantly to spades and rakes.  Over the course of a few weeks, a hearty group of gardeners from Roots and Wings and Cabrini Immigrant Services cleared grass, turned soil, and planted – a garden!  Small clusters of us have come out on Saturday mornings to pull out rampant weeds from the season’s abundant rains.  People come when they can, for as long as they can.  In moments, it has felt daunting. Then, tender new shoots emerged, barely bigger than the weeds.

Suddenly, the pace has picked up dramatically. Kathy Dean and Robin Larkins dialed up the energy.   E-mails went out to coordinate pairings of Roots and Wings and Cabrini families. Nature did its work. And a crowd appeared.  Parents and kids.  Gardeners from Brazil, Peru. Mexico, Korea, Pakistan, Hastings and Dobbs. Onlookers in colorful saris pointing and exclaiming. Animated conversations in several languages.

“Look! There’s another one!  Look how it’s all twisted!”

“Take them!  They’re ready!” Robin urged.  “That’s what we’re here for!”

Soon, a basket was brimming with cucumbers and zucchini.  People were talking about the meals they would prepare with them.  Looking forward to a bigger communal feast as the season progresses.  Inquiring about news from Korea.   Holding the weeds in check. Readying a new spot for carrots and cilantro. Thinking about how much better we can do next season, with a little more lead time. Better use of space. More clearly defined beds and rows.

The tomato plants are looking majestic.  The peppers are surging.  The swiss chard is resplendent. The potatoes are hiding.  The delicate asparagus is giving thanks for the stakes that protect its slow growth from the trampling feet of well meaning gardeners.

“Don’t pull up the whole thing!  Twist it, that’s right!”

“Not all of them!  We have to leave some to grow!”

“This is wonderful!”

Later, one of the kids proudly displayed his trophy zucchini to Susan de George at the Attic Sale refreshment stand, probably unaware that she was one of the masterminds of the garden.  And people are believing it, looking forward to more time together in the garden.

the Labyrinth Garden...replanted

photo taken by Cheryl Hajjar

we're in the news

Roots & Wings labyrinth garden was featured on Paul Stark’s blog and on the Dobbs Ferry Daily. Read below! 

This Is How Good Things Happen

South Church congregants Mark Pennington, Linda Herring and Chris Cole-

Olsewski work to create the garden labyrinth in Dobbs Ferry.

Photo credit: Kathy Dean

South Church in Dobbs ferry is digging up their front lawn and putting in “an edible, perennial, medicinal garden labyrinth.” It’s part of a local movement that’s about climate change, food justice, permaculture and feeding the hungry. I’m here because they’ve connected today’s project to Bill McKibben and 350.org, an organization that’s “building a global movement to solve the climate crisis.” 5/5/12 is one of 350.org’s global days of action, this one called “Climate Impact Day.” Since I’ve worked in the climate change trenches, I thought I’d take my junior journalist creds down to Dobbs Ferry and check it out.

What some of us forget when decrying the state of the world is that concrete steps toward a better world are made by committed people working in small, incremental local steps, consistently, over a period of time. They try different things, some work better than others, and they find people willing to work alongside them. Eight people on the church’s front lawn turning over the soil and planting young plants are one manifestation of thousands of examples all over the world.

“Solving the climate crisis” is a pretty tall order, and there tends to be a lot of overlap with work being done for other goals. Digging up your lawn to plant a garden, a movement that’s been gaining momentum over the last decade, does go some distance toward solving the climate crisis. No fossil fuels used to transport the food you grow, no petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides (assuming it’s an organic garden), encourages the eating of plants over animals (since meat production has a much larger carbon footprint). Lawn care is an enormous energy, time and attention expense, clearly a first world problem, and diverting those resources toward more planet-friendly endeavors can only help. Plus, there’s food justice, and 10% of the food grown will be delivered to their own food pantry, and it’s a visible demonstration of permaculture.

And it really is a labyrinth, a beautiful spiral laid out within the plantings. “People do come and walk the labyrinth,” says Kathy Dean, a quick-witted volunteer with an easy laugh, “and the kids seem to love it.” Susan DeGeorge, Associate Pastor for Study and Action, is the person to talk to about the spiritual meaning in labyrinths and the walking of them. She’s inside talking to brides preparing themselves for their upcoming weddings.

And today’s gardening is only a small part of what’s going on at South Church. There’s 17 families getting ready to put in a garden in the back, an effort in collaboration with Cabrini Immigrant Services to grow food and learn each other’s cooking traditions (“there’s families from Guatemala and Korea and from all over the world.”) There’s “Hungry for Change,” the monthly discussion group on food justice, and the film series (Economics of Happiness, Truck Farm, How to Boil a Frog, and The Last Mountain.) They’re participating in a sustainable living initiative that’s chronicled in their blog, “Roots and Wings.”

May 5 Work Morning in the Labyrinth

Come and help us replant the Roots & Wings Labyrinth Garden 

• WHO:  you!
• WHAT: Come and help replant the Roots & Wings Labyrinth Garden
• WHEN: SATURDAY MAY 5, 10 AM - 1 PM (leaving time for pizza)
• WHERE: South Church's front lawn, 343 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry
• WHY: well . . . we did this last year, didn't we  . . . but as you might know, the garden didn't really take off. This time around we loosened the soil, added more nutrients, and won't cover the garden with cardboard and burlap.

Our new vision for the Labyrinth Garden is that it will be fragrant, perennial and edible. Our plant list includes lavender, rosemary, echinacea, Veronica, hellebores, Swiss chard and strawberries.

Bring your gloves and small shovels and see you on Saturday, May 5 at 10 AM!

Kitchen Garden News

Hi everyone, 

I wanted to let you all know what is happening with the Kitchen Garden. That's the garden behind South Church.

The name Kitchen Garden indicates our hope of growing food! The area is sunny, the dirt looks rich, and Dave has put up a fence to protect the space from animals. 

hardy kiwi fruit

Sharon, Susan, Chris and myself (Kathy) are the leaders of this Roots & Wings project. Our hope is that it will be a true community garden with families/individuals from Cabrini Immigrant Center and families/individuals from South. Our intention is to garden together and share the harvest together as well as with the Food Pantry.

Last week a few of us planted about 12 or 13 asparagus plants around the perimeter of the garden. Currently there are two hardy kiwi plants and two blueberry bushes in the church office waiting to be planted. The anna kiwi (female) will go over the gate and the meandering kiwi (male) will go around the nearby tree to the left of the gate (inside the garden). 

Both Ethan Roland and Dave Jacke--two permaculture gardeners Roots & Wings has worked with--recommended the hardy kiwi. They need to be well drained and well watered, and produce delicious fruit.  

Watch for more news here,

Kathy

the spirituality of permaculture

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