Growing more than vegetables
Encounter at Catholic Charities
What can grow in a garden?
Maybe you picture beautiful, vibrant rose bushes neatly planted in a front yard or rows of tomato vines bursting with red and green fruit.
More than likely, a beautiful and sunny (but not too hot) day accompanies the image of your garden as well.
Yet there comes a time when the flowers have long since shed their beauty, tomatoes have been plucked off their vines, and the weather grows cold.
Then, a garden becomes unrecognizable.
When only the shells of flowerless bushes and empty vines may remain, these remnants are not what tells us what truly grows in a garden.
At Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri, we’ve discovered that it’s the people.
MU Extension’s Nutrition Program Associate Dawn Sebion has watched that growth firsthand.
“A big reason people keep coming back is because of the community they feel,” she said.
“[The Community Garden] becomes a knowledge bank. Some people are gardening for the first time, while others have been doing it for years, and they’re always willing to share what they know. People often meet outside of our scheduled [garden] classes. They care about each other and each other’s crops, and they’re always looking out for one another.”
That spirit of community comes to life through neighbors like Francis, who is now in his second year gardening at Catholic Charities.
He first learned about the Community Garden through our client-choice Food Pantry.
Gardening has been part of his life for as long as he can remember, with knowledge passed down from his grandparents to his mother and then to him.
Today, he’s passing that generosity along.
When another gardener was unable to bend over comfortably to prepare her raised bed, Francis quietly stepped in and cleaned it out so she could begin planting.
Throughout the season, he shares gardening tips with fellow participants, encouraging those just getting started and learning from others in return.
The vegetables he grows don’t stay in the garden, either.
He shares fresh produce with his family and preserves the harvest through canning and freezing, providing food that often lasts throughout the year.
His story is a reminder that the Community Garden isn’t simply about growing food.
It’s about cultivating relationships, sharing wisdom and ensuring that neighbors help neighbors thrive.
That sense of community grows stronger as the season goes on.
Dawn adds that participants who have been with the program since the beginning have become incredibly helpful.
“They volunteer to help people who aren’t able to tend their garden boxes, and they go out of their way to support one another. It’s important to them that everyone succeeds.”
With that collaboration, growth is seen in the garden itself.
“Thanks to Catholic Charities, interest in the program is expanding. We’re growing more diverse produce and looking forward to new additions, such as the greenhouse,” Dawn said.
“There’s so much interest from the community, and people come with every level of experience. Some know a little, some know a lot, but everyone has something to contribute.”
That connection doesn’t stop in the garden, either.
Local farmers from surrounding counties regularly donate fresh, locally grown produce to share with neighbors.
Along the way, we get to know them, hear their stories, and build relationships rooted in a shared belief that everyone deserves access to fresh, healthy food.
A garden is more than the eye can see.
It’s dedicated and intentional time, compassion and care.
It’s the work that happens before someone plants their first seed and long after they’ve picked their last vegetable.
It’s working in the dirt on gloomy days, sweating under the hot sun, and celebrating each small victory as new life emerges from the soil.
It’s neighbors working together. Volunteers lending their hands. Friendships taking root.
And if we dig a little deeper, we discover that gardens become reflections of ourselves.
As seeds grow, so do the people who plant them.
Confidence grows.
Hope grows.
Community grows.
Even after the final harvest has been gathered, those lessons continue to bear fruit.
That is what we’ve discovered at Catholic Charities.
Yes, we’re growing tomatoes, peppers, berries, flowers and countless other vegetables.
But more importantly, we’re growing friendships, confidence, knowledge and a community that continues to flourish long after the harvest is over.
Because what’s growing here is more than just vegetables.
It’s hope.
If you’d like to help more neighbors experience the dignity of growing their own food and the joy of belonging to a caring community, we invite you to support the Community Garden through a financial gift to Catholic Charities (cccnmo.diojeffcity.org/give)
Together, we can continue planting seeds of hope that nourish both body and soul for seasons to come.
