SATURDAY: Vegetable Garden Planting
Spring has sprung, and it is time at Good Shepherd think about vegetables and flowers!
On Saturday, April 20, we will meet at 10:00 am at church and spend about 1 hour going over the planting, maintenance and harvesting aspects of the vegetable garden and then install the plants. We also need to decide what we will do with our harvests. Unfortunately, the weather for Saturday looks iffy. We will let everyone know by NLT Friday at 3 pm if we are a go for Saturday or not. The rain date is the following day (4/21, Sunday) at 1 pm.
A draft planting plan for our vegetable garden is available here: http://goodshepherdny.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/church-garden-template-4-15-13.pdf
We will be trying the “square foot” gardening approach this year so each of the two beds is divided into 30, 1 square foot sections (total of 61 sections counting the small bed at the end of the pathway). Each individual square is numbered and you can follow the planting key as to what is planned to be planted where. Please feel free to send your suggestions along, this is just a draft. The garden is designed to provide a series of harvests in succession. Lots of greens this spring, early and late tomatoes in the summer and a planting in the fall. We need to put the tomatoes and peppers in containers due to the late blight which occurred last year.
All are invited to help out and be a part of the Garden Ministry. If you would like to join the Garden email list, please contact Bruce Barber (email Father Matt if you need Bruce’s email).
SUNDAY: Blessing of the Gardens
Sunday, April 21, is the Sunday before the Rogation Day and Earth Day. The church traditionally celebrates a blessing of crops at the end of April. This blessing is known as the major Rogation Day, and it is often accompanied by a procession to bless specific gardens on the church property. April 22 is Earth Day. On Sunday, April 21, we will offer some special prayers and hymns offering thanks for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. At the end of the service today, we will process to two of our church gardens and bless them. Pray for good weather!