As the strange summer of 2020 winds to a close, our Grow Team is looking back fondly on the work that we’ve accomplished, the seeds that we’ve sown, and the community that we’ve built together in the gardens at Eglinton-St. George’s United Church. Over the past weeks and months, our team has been hard at work in the soil at ESG, working to foster the growth of not only fruits, vegetables, and flowers, but also of our own connections to our church, our faith, and our God. 

Besides the weeding, mulching, pruning, watering, planting, and harvesting, we’ve also been writing pieces of the liturgy, developing plans for our youth group in the upcoming year, envisioning steps to get more involved in our community, planning a fundraiser, building relationships with our neighbours, and much more. It’s amazing to look back at our time together and see that all of the dirt, water, and sun have helped us grow as much as it has helped the plants in the garden. Even though the coronavirus pandemic has made this summer a unique challenge, we have been richly blessed to have had the opportunity to spend it together in the way that we have, filling our days with life in all of its fluttering, crawling, buzzing, growing, laughing, caring and wonderful forms. 

Over the past few months, our little crew, composed of two members of ESG’s youth group (Miranda and Hayden) and one youth leader (Aidan), has grown into a team of 3 capable gardeners, landscapers, and leaders; this would not have been possible without the support of so many people. We cannot adequately express our gratitude to those members of the ESG community who have overseen and guided our work: we want to extend particular thanks to Arlene Duncan, Reid Robson, and Kate Littler, who dedicated enormous time and energy to setting us up for success week after week.  We also want to extend our thanks to the six wonderful community members who rented garden plots at ESG this summer; we had a blast getting to know them! 

We want to extend our deep and sincere gratitude to those organizations whose generous contributions have made the ESG Community Garden possible this year. Donations from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Scotts Canada, through Faith & the Common Good, have all been invaluable to our efforts to sustain every aspect of this ministry, from the beauty of the gardens themselves to the health of the community that has been built around them. 

 Find out more on our Garden Resources