Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone is literally surrounded by public schools — R.J. Burch Elementary, Flat Rock Middle School, and Sandy Creek High School. Sensing a calling to serve these children and their teachers, church members have established two raised bed vegetable gardens — one behind Burch Elementary and one on the church lawn closest to Flat Rock Middle School.
The gardens do more than grow food for the hungry — they teach the hungry how to grow food.
Both gardens are designed to be educational, with Fayette Master Gardeners (including church members Tom Wilson and Sandy Golden) providing structured activities teaching children and their families how to plant vegetables and herbs, how to set up supporting pollinator gardens, and how to harvest, cook, and preserve food for home use.
Burch Garden was developed first, during the 2014-2015 school year, in response to a request by the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teachers so children could learn English while doing an outdoor activity.
A website for the garden was then created (burchgarden.weebly.com), providing information about garden activities appropriate to every subject area in the elementary school curriculum. Class projects in the garden are documented and posted on the website. The section describing methods of cooking and preserving fresh produce is still under development, waiting for input from any citizen with experience in those areas.
Reflecting on the impact of the school garden, Dr. Felecia Spicer, Burch’s principal, said, “The look on the children’s faces when they harvest what they’ve planted is spine tingling. It is the look of sheer awe in realizing that the food they see at the grocery store begins with rich soil, hard work, and adults willing to share their wisdom and time. We are evolving on Jenkins Road and redefining the meaning of community.”
One crop growing in Burch Garden this summer is cowpeas. Two varieties have been planted for harvesting, counting, and taste comparisons when the children return to school. The Tohono O’odham variety was originally grown by a Native American tribe in southern Arizona. The other variety, Iron and Clay peas, were carried in the pockets of Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. This one vegetable demonstrates how garden-grown food can enrich social studies lessons as well as teach counting, measurement and observational skills.
Hopewell’s Community Garden was originally designed to offer private garden spaces to families of children attending Burch. But it was quickly apparent that few people these days know how to grow their own food or how to manage a vegetable garden across a growing season. Consequently, in the months since the garden opened in April 2016, the focus has shifted toward education.
Raised beds have been set aside for students attending Flat Rock Middle School for projects related to biodiversity, ecosystem management, and sustainable agriculture. This summer Flat Rock beds are growing peanuts, popcorn, and sweet potatoes — highlighting important Southern crops as well as providing the goodies for a culinary feast.
Unassigned beds are available to families of students attending any of the schools on Jenkins Road. Instruction in vegetable gardening will be offered upon demand. Families or school groups interested in growing food in one of the 3’ x 12’ raised beds may contact the church office at 770-306-7537.
Hopewell’s garden initiatives will spin off two activities this fall. One is the Stop Hunger Now meal-packing event to be held in the Burch Elementary cafeteria on Saturday, Sept. 24. Donations from the community will purchase hundreds of pounds of dehydrated food which teams of volunteers will combine into nutritionally balanced family meals. A video describing this community-engaging activity is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2ryAYcjKaQ. People interested in making a donation and/or participating in the packing event should contact the church office at 770-306-7537 by Sept. 10. The total funds donated will determine how many meals they will be packing.
The second spinoff activity is a short-term Sunday afternoon program called Toxic Charity, focused on learning how to do good without inadvertently doing harm.
Beginning Sunday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m .and continuing for a total of five Sunday afternoons, the church will host a class studying Robert Lupton’s enlightening book Toxic Charity.
After a brief introduction, participants will break into small groups to consider his arguments and explore how they are relevant to Fayette County’s changing community. The five-week program is open to the public. Anyone interested in attending may contact the church office at 770-306-7537 or by email at info@hopewell-umc.org.
Hopewell is located at 351 Jenkins Rd., directly across from Sandy Creek High.
Burch Elementary School students harvest potatoes in the school garden plot provided by Hopewell United Methodist Church. Burch’s principal, Dr. Felecia Spicer, said the gardens and related activities have helped teach the children the process for growing and harvesting food, as well as the real meaning of “community.” Photo/Special.
