Magnolia UMC garden grows food for a good cause

In spring, the Magnolia United Methodist Church’s vision of dedicating a?portion of its property to use for growing food for the Ballard Food Bank? began to take shape.? The small congregation built, blessed, and planted the initial seeds.? All vegetables and berries harvested will be given to?the Ballard food bank for distribution.? Some space will also be used for?flowers to be used in Sunday services.
The initial effort is admittedly small, perhaps reflecting the size of the?congregation.? Two planter boxes have been built and planted.? But, the congregation has big dreams.? According to Pastor Michele Campton-Stehr, if?this effort is successful, the Church would like to build as many as 20 p-patch beds for use by other churches or individuals in Magnolia.? The only stipulation would be that at least a portion of the produce grown would be?donated to the Ballard Food Bank.

This mission of?feeding the hungry is consistent with the social justice? aims adopted by the Church.? According to Rev. Campton-Stehr, the Church?regularly collects food for the Food Bank, and members regularly volunteer?as a group to work at the Northwest Harvest warehouse facility in Kent.? “Growing food itself is a fun way for us to give back to the community that has been so good to us, and fits in well with our mission. Hopefully this?experiment will be a success and we will be able to expand our work in?future years,” she said.? The garden has allowed MUMC to donate several pounds of freshly grown and harvested broccoli, green beans and onions to the Ballard Food Bank.