Produce from HeavenEarth Church’s community garden in Whiteland is available to anyone in the community. This basket sits outside the church’s front doors.
Submitted photo
Whiteland residents looking for some fresh produce or garden therapy can visit a new community garden started by a local church.
Tucked back into the parking lot of HeavenEarth Church on Main Street in Whiteland sits a new garden full of tomatoes, zucchini, squash, basil, pumpkins and peppers.
The garden was planted by members of the church this summer, but it’s open to anyone in the community. The idea stemmed from the church’s So Summer Sunday in May when looking for activities for the church to do as a group, said Ross Stackhouse, pastor at HeavenEarth Church.
“We try to do something together to get our hands dirty, and kind of put our mission in action. And so we said, ‘well, let’s plant a garden,’” Stackhouse said.
So, after Sunday service earlier this summer, around 20 to 25 people stuck around to help plant the garden. They’ve built on it since then with people signing up for water and weeding schedules and the community participating. By late summer, tomatoes, squash, zucchini and peppers were harvested to share with the community.
A produce basket now sits outside the front doors of the church, next to the Blessing Box. Anyone is invited to take what they need from the basket, and anyone can come to the garden to pick what they want. Everything is up for grabs, except the pumpkins, which are still growing and are being saved for the church’s harvest gathering on Oct. 1. Neighbors who have their own gardens are also encouraged to drop their own produce off to share, if they wish.
“If you need some garden therapy, come on over,” Stackhouse said. “I’m going to put a couple of posts up on a couple of town chats saying, there’s fresh basil out there, go take some home.”
The concept of the community garden is just as much as a symbol as it is a practical need, Stackhouse said. A goal of his and the church’s is to expand beyond its doors into the community. Growing a garden is part of that.
“This is about trying to cast the vision of a different kind of church. One that is not isolated from the community, but really collaborative with the community,” Stackhouse said.
At their harvest gathering in October, they plan to have a free produce stand and give away their pumpkins for people to decorate.
“Are we going to feed 150 households with the garden? No,” Stackhouse said.
“We’re really trying to inspire our people, and also invite the community to come think of church differently with us and think about what we can do together differently.”
