Lorain, OH
Parishioners at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Lorain turned a vacant lot into an urban garden and are using their crops to not only nourish their neighbors, but also to bring them together for something positive.
Seed by seed and piece by piece, the group of community gardeners are growing a better Lorain.
“It actually started with a conversation about food waste, our community meals put out a lot of food waste, and we wanted to do something with them,” Father Alexander Barton, Rector, said.
Barton says church parishioners came up with the idea of starting an urban garden to do something about the waste, but also to grow fresh, healthy foods for their community meals program.
“We’re growing two different types of beans, radishes, cucumbers, rainbow chard, a bunch of different types of tomato, zucchini, and pumpkins, as of right now. We’re hoping to also start growing some stuff that will go into the winter, like onions and carrots and other greens,” Barton said.
And he’s hoping that this garden is just the first of many in the city, along with the beginning of a broader community gardening program. “We hope that we can use this to prove to the city of Lorain and also the community that not only is a community garden a healthy and good place, and it's good to have local food, but that it's also beautiful.”
*Text by Jade Jarvis, News5 Cleveland
