December 2024 Newsletter
Construction of Schmalz Elementary School Garden
18 garden plots built and ready to grow the next generation
We are excited to announce the completion of the garden at Jean and Betty Schmalz Elementary, our second partner school, as we continue to nurture our communities and fulfill our mission. This achievement marks a significant milestone in our efforts to expand our reach, increase access, and use the garden to benefit the next generation. The school garden will serve over 1,200 students each year.
The garden will be utilized for classes across all subjects, but more importantly, it will inspire children to explore and engage on a deeper level. Our goal is to create a space where creativity can flourish, enabling kids to thrive and discover independently. We are grateful for our partnership and look forward to hearing the wonderful stories that will emerge from the garden.
Meet a Board Member
Joyce Davis is a native Texan and a retired teacher from Katy ISD. She is a member of St. Paul’s and serves as the co-chair of their Outreach Commission. Growing up, her family always tended a garden, and she now maintains a small vegetable garden in her backyard. Joyce enjoys cultivating all types of plants, both indoors and outdoors, with a particular fondness for fruit trees, especially figs and citrus. Currently, she is nurturing a fig tree that is recovering from the freeze in 2021, as well as a new dwarf Meyer lemon tree and an established lime tree.
Meet a Gardener of TNGP
Cam’s journey with gardening began in her childhood, tending to a beautiful gardenia alongside her grandma in Vietnam. Those early moments ignited a lifelong passion for nurturing plants.
When her family immigrated to Houston, Texas, everything changed as she learned to adapt to a new life. However, her love for flowers remained constant. Once she began living independently, she picked up gardening again, and it became her escape. Her first apartment balcony overflowed with flowers and herbs, transforming the space into a little oasis.
Fast forward to today, and her family home is filled with vibrant roses and perennials, creating a haven for bees and butterflies. Over the past three years, she has expanded her gardening efforts by growing vegetables at the neighborhood garden project. This experience has been rewarding—not just for the fresh produce but also for the friendships she has formed with other gardeners and volunteers. There’s something truly special about connecting with people who share your passion!
Thanksgiving Celebration
As we approach the end of 2024 and look forward to 2025, we held our first annual Thanksgiving Celebration. We gathered the community together to enjoy delicious food and strengthen our relationships. Our goal is to continue being a place where people can find healing and hope, leading to a fulfilling life.
This year, we have much to be thankful for, including new friendships, partnerships, and a bountiful harvest. However, we have also faced challenging weather conditions that have affected some crops and the growing pains of building our local community. Despite these challenges, we are grateful for each lesson learned, which will help us foster even better community growth in the upcoming year.
Creator God,
in the beginning, you planted a garden and filled it with animals, birds, insects,
and seed-bearing plants. In the garden, you first met us, your creatures.
In the garden, Jesus agonized over the path of suffering love,
in the garden he rose to make all creation new.
And so we pray for this growing place and for those who will labor in it.
May it be a place not only of fertile soil, abundant food, and joyful labor
but also a place of learning to tend and keep, bearing the fruit of healing and hope.
Creator God, we ask you to shower down your blessings on these fields.
Amen.
The Rev. Nurya Love Parish, Executive Director of Plainsong Farm, Rockford Michigan
Sowing into the Garden
As we advance our mission across Texas, please join us in sowing seeds of change to transform lives through the garden. Sowing seeds today will guarantee a plentiful harvest tomorrow.
