The Giving Garden

POST FALLS — “The seeds are up! The seeds are up!” shouts one of the green thumb volunteers of Calvary Lutheran Church’s project, The Giving Garden. After close inspection, some of the seeds planted in the greenhouse, have just begun to peek above the ground, and according to garden organizer, Ralph Meyer, “everyone gets excited.” Work on the garden begins in March as the garden is planned. Over 20 volunteers are recruited. Crops of lettuce, string beans, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, spinach, and four to five different kinds of squash, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, corn, and tomatoes all will fill the 1-acre garden plot located on the Rathdrum Prairie at Dave and Linda Johann’s farm. “Flowers are also planted for their pollen which attracts bees and wards off insects,” says Meyer. In 2009, 19,360 pounds of fresh produce from the garden was donated to the Post Falls Food Bank according to Meyer, who took pride in weighing and keeping track each time a truckload of produce was delivered. If the garden produced more than what the Post Falls Food Bank could use, the remainder was donated to various free food kitchens around Post Falls. “Four things came together when we began to plan this huge undertaking,” says Meyer. First, the church has had a long standing relationship with the Post Falls Food Bank, and was instrumental in beginning the food bank many years ago. Second, the food bank often had enough canned goods, but never had enough fresh produce for the families they served. Third, senior church members remembered the Victory gardens during World War II, and how they helped feed those on limited budgets. Victory gardens were planted in the United States in wartime to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil morale booster, helping gardeners to feel empowered by their contribution of produce. “Finally,” Meyer says, “there were a large number of people in the congregation who enjoyed the exercise and fellowship of gardening.” Meyer has a long history with plants. He started his first vegetable garden at age 6. Fascinated with botany, he attended the University of Idaho and majored in forestry. Meyer and his wife, Marie, moved to Post Falls 20 years ago, and have had a large home garden over the years. “My whole life has been centered around plants,” says Meyer. The Giving Garden couldn’t exist without donations, according to Meyer. The Johanns donate the land, irrigation, tractor time, and their greenhouse. Church members donate seed, potting soil and, most importantly, the labor. This year volunteers have built cold frames. In cold-winter regions, like North Idaho, cold frames allow plants to be started earlier in the spring, and are used by gardeners for propagating vegetables, flowers, and for tempering, or hardening, plants to outdoor conditions before transplanting. “The goal is to keep the garden100 percent organic,” says Meyer. Meyer explains that organic means that only materials derived from living things such as compost and manures are used, and that artificially-synthesized pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are kept to an absolute minimum. Good tasting, healthy food offers the most attractive organic benefits, but there are important environmental benefits such as greater diversity of garden insects, birds, and animals, that otherwise would be affected by chemical pesticide use. For the first time last year, The Giving Garden entered its yellow squash, string beans, and peppers in the North Idaho Fair produce competition. “We won two blue ribbons,” Meyer says with a large grin.