By Christina Leslie | Correspondent
“The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.” ~ Luke 8:8
Parishioners in St. Denis, Manasquan, have joined forces with other Monmouth County faithful to feed the hungry while forging bonds amongst their faith communities. “Oma’s Garden,” a community giving garden located on the grounds of St. Denis Parish, is tended lovingly by volunteers from neighboring Christian communities who share their bountiful harvest with area food pantries.
Photo Gallery: Oma’s Garden at St. Denis Parish
The fledgling endeavor was created in the fall of 2016 as an Eagle Scout’s tribute to his grandmother, whom he called Oma. The member of Manasquan Presbyterian Church was told there was no room on church grounds for the garden, and the church’s pastor turned to area church leaders for help. St. Denis Parish pastor, Father William Lago, volunteered a small plot of land behind the convent for the garden’s first home.
St. Denis Parish and Manasquan Presbyterian Church are members of a collaborative entity known as the Manasquan Ministerium, a group of 13 churches hailing from the towns of Manasquan, Brielle, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights and Sea Girt. Other ministerium members include Manasquan United Methodist, Holy Trinity Lutheran, First Baptist Church and St. Uriel’s Episcopal Church, among others.
The garden expanded last year in the late spring; “it was one small square and we took it from there,” Father Lago said. “The Ecumenical Garden is such a great way for us to show our solidarity in the Body of Christ and to live the call of Jesus: ‘whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters you do unto me.’
“The focus is to take the food from garden to table for our brothers and sisters in need,” he continued, explaining the yield is sent to the Manasquan Food Pantry and St. Denis Parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry. Master Gardeners and about a dozen volunteers “work together for an awesome purpose. They work side by side; as the faithful of all the churches, we are disciples of Jesus reaching out to those in need,” Father Lago said.
Despite delays in planting during the rainy 2017 growing season, the Ecumenical Garden produced a hearty crop of about 640 pounds of fresh produce, harvested and delivered to the food pantries on the same day for maximum freshness. The summer 2018 season is on track to be even more bountiful, Father Lago predicted, for the plot was enlarged to nearly double its original size with the assistance of volunteers and the generosity of local lumber and plant vendors.
The fenced garden, measuring 28 by 47 feet, is replete with vegetables, fruits, herbs and beneficials, which are plants which both attract helpful insects and repel pests. Row after row, circle after circle, plants raised from seedlings creep along the ground or climb towers, seeking sustenance from the sun and rain and the tender care of those who love the land. The peaceful garden hosts a terra cotta statue of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the ecology, which stands quietly amidst the fruits of the earth.
The garden made its public debut July 14 as a stop on the Monmouth County Community Gardens Tour, providentially, the feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the patroness of ecologists and environmentalists. As Master Gardeners and volunteers staffed the information table, visitors read a welcome message from Father Lago printed there which reminded them of the purpose of all the tilling and toil.
“Our garden is a community of communities that tries to help by our love of gardening,” the pastor wrote, “a desire to grow hope, as well as vegetables; and by our working together through what binds us together – a love of God and love of neighbor.”