Lady of Fatima gardens feed needy since 2007

It may be the end of the growing season, but you can still see tomatoes, zucchini, kale and onions in the raised garden beds across the street from Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church on Spokane’s South Hill.

The garden, run by volunteers, sends bushels of produce to the House of Charity all summer long. It’s overseen by Knights of Columbus member Jim Morlin.

“It’s not a job,” Morlin said. “It’s a joy.”

The garden was created in 2007 by the deacon and priest at the church at the time in response to the need for food in the community.

“We always knew the need,” Morlin said.

Raised beds were built for the garden and brick walkways put in.

“The walkways were done by Eagle Scouts for projects,” Morlin said. “I watched them do it. They did a great job.”

The garden is officially named the Dwaine Plummer Memorial Garden. Plummer was a Knights of Columbus member who helped start the garden and worked in it for years before he moved to Oregon in 2018. He died of Leukemia in 2019.

Morlin took over management of the garden two years ago. He started recruiting church members to help with maintenance tasks, including weeding. Many of those who stepped up are members of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization in the church.

“It’s so great to see them,” Morlin said of the volunteers.

Rose bushes and other flowering plants line the street in front of the garden. Those are maintained by some of the women in the church, who use the cut flowers to decorate the church altar.

The raised beds have either drip irrigation or sprinklers. Some of the beds are fenced and Morlin said they would all be that way if he hadn’t run out of fencing.

In the past, animals have damaged the vegetables and plants. There have been problems with birds and once a marmot cut down all the plants in one of the beds.

Turkeys are also a problem, volunteer Jim Sever said. Flocks of them roam the South Hill at will. As he spoke, two turkeys wandered through the field behind the church.

“Turkeys do like tomatoes,” he said. “They peck once or twice and then it’s ruined.”

A couple of raised beds are under construction and more are planned in an area that was just graded. Piles of soil sit ready for raking.

“We’re just taking and improving the garden to get the soil ready for next year,” Morlin said.

“This is just going to get bigger and bigger.”

This year the volunteers also grew string beans, peppers, beets and cabbage. The vines of several types of grapes grow near the front of the garden.

“They’re very tasty and very sweet, but they’re temperamental,” Sever said.

Sever isn’t able to do much physical labor in the garden, but he designs and organizes things. He also helped with the recent installation of a large wooden cross next to the garden.

“I do the fringe stuff I’m capable of doing,” Sever said. “I engineered the cross foundation. It’s basically the technical stuff. There are other people who do a lot more.”

The brick walkway was just expanded to reach the cross, and Morlin has plans to plant some grass around it. It might also be a good area to plant the trees he’d like to put in to grow fruit to be donated.

Several benches are situated throughout the garden to provide a place for people to sit and enjoy the space.

A couple of the benches will be moved to be closer to the cross to give people a spot to meditate or pray.

“There’s lots of places where you can sit and meditate and think,” Sever said. “It’s kind of like an island of tranquility.”

No one is sure how many pounds of produce have been grown and donated this year.

Volunteer Tom Prenger, a retired doctor, takes the produce to the House of Charity every day during the growing season.

Morlin said there have been weeks when quite a few 30-gallon bags have been filled and donated.

Nina Culver can be reached at nculver47@gmail.com.