Rebirth and New Life in Community Gardens

Each spring the earth slowly unravels itself from the frozen, hard ground it has been buried under all winter. The first green sprouts push themselves above ground and add color to our landscape once again. One of my favorite parts of spring is watching new life grow from a barren space. Writer and activist Parker Palmer reminds us that in the “muddy mess” of early spring, "the conditions for rebirth are being created.”[1]  This past weekend, I was given the opportunity to nurture new life in a community garden. Maynard Jackson High School in Grant Park is in the process of cultivating their rooftop garden to provide fresh food to students and families in the Atlanta Public School system. I was invited to participate in the first garden workday by Taylor Spicer, the Assistant Director of Sustainability with Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives, who is helping to spearhead this effort. What I quickly learned is that an empty garden is ripe with possibilities for rebirth. One of our first tasks was creating raised bed garden plots that would later be planted with foods like collard greens, potatoes, and peppers. While some of us dug out the sides of the beds, others turned over the soil on top to loosen the dirt and help the weeds decompose into rich soil ready for planting. In a few weeks, out of the mess of dirt and weeds will come a bountiful garden that will sustain and nurture local families. In these cycles of death and rebirth, we are shown signs of hope and reminded of our call to protect the earth and cultivate it for new life. Gardening is one option for your congregation to be involved in the work of environmental justice during this time of social distancing and to make a positive impact in your local community. If your Green Team is interested in starting a garden or needs help with an existing garden contact Hannah Shultz, GIPL Program Associate, at hannah@gipl.org.  [1] Parker Palmer, Let your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2000), 103.