Purpose

In continuing to explain the garden, I think it is extremely important that we all know and understand the purpose behind it. I would have to say that the main purpose behind this garden is threefold, service, community, and education.

Service: Obviously, as I have stated before, some of what is grown at this garden is for ourselves. I plan on bringing some of this produce home and eating it, (and I am very excited for that.) However, we have also made it clear that we want to utilize this garden to serve people whom otherwise would not have access to free fresh produce. That means, we will be giving them to places such as Manna on Main st, which selflessly feeds people twice a day seven days a week. Additionally, we all come in contact with people who are in need, bringing them to the garden and opening it up to them is an amazing way to serve them. Finally, the simple act of showing up and planting things in the garden, is the beginning of not only making service possible, but also serving all the people who may end up eating from the particular plants you plant. One final note that I don't believe has been mentioned before, is that in addition to planting food, we plan to plant flowers as well that can be given away for free. The thought behind that is that while the food can definitely serve peoples physical needs, in the right situation, the ability to bring flowers with the food, can begin to serve peoples emotional needs as well. It is just another fun simple way to love other people.


Community: Simply by spending time with people at the garden, people are going to grow in community with one another. We hope to have special days, (like the planting party) when we can have very intentional time of just hanging out and getting to know one another. Additionally, I think this garden has huge potential to grow community outside of the garden itself. If we can be intentional about bringing things from the garden to our places of work, or giving them out to neighbors, it is an awesome opportunity to grow or even start those specific relationships. This idea is especially close to my heart for the future as we hope to move the garden into Lansdale, as I believe it will serve as an awesome tool to grow the community of Lansdale even stronger.

Education: One of the quotes that has been thrown around a lot as we have been planning this garden is, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." This old Chinese Proverb is filled with wisdom and makes a lot of sense. I hope that through this garden, people simply learn how to garden. We learn how to cultivate this earth which we live on. Now if you happen to know me at all, I am by no means a super earthy person who has a thousand plants growing in my bedroom. Rather, I am still a student of gardening who knows very little about it. However, I believe so strongly in the two previous ideas of serving others and growing community, that gardening together became one of the most practical ways to live them out. Hopefully through doing this, people not only learn how to provide themselves with food, which is awesome, especially in the scary economy, but also learn the joy of serving others and growing community. If we can all truly learn that, this world will truly be a better place.