2017 Harvest Community Garden Report

Harvest Community Garden (HCG) is a nonprofit organization that enables people from the community to come together to grow organic produce and donate half of it to a local food bank.

The garden is a member of Community Gardens of Carrollton (501c3) and is open to anyone. It is located on the south side of Redeemer Covenant Church’s property. There are currently 12 raised beds (20’ x 4’) and members of the community can adopt a whole or a half plot for a year. The garden also has an asparagus bed, blackberries, and a xeriscape garden which volunteers can help care for.

Donations: Harvest Community Garden donates half of the produce we grow to the food bank at Christian Community Action in Lewisville. This year was our highest yield to date at 961 pounds. We gave organically grown tomatoes, pepper of many varieties, a wide variety of leafy greens, many herbs, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, beets, carrots, potatoes, melons, radishes, beans, and many other things.

Gardeners & Volunteers: We had many gardeners and volunteers working in the garden in 2017. Over 15 individuals, as well as a church small group, a Girl Scout troop, and a Cub Scout troop worked in the garden.

The Harvest Community Garden’s Board: The Board is made up of the Chairman, Stan Basnett, two Redeemer members, two community members and a member of Board of the Community Gardens of Carrollton. Redeemer Covenant Church and Harvest Community Garden agreed in September 2017 to include Redeemer’s Missions Chair as an ex officio board member of the Harvest Garden Board.

Meetings: The Board meets several times a year and on an “as needed” basis to plan, organize, solve problems, etc. In the fall, the Board met to change the bylaws, add Redeemer’s Missions Chair (Warren Leonhardi) to the board, and discuss Phase 2 expansion of the garden. Representatives from the Board asked Redeemer for permission and funding to build Phase 2. Redeemer’s Council approved the building of Phase 2 and donated $8,500 toward that project.

There are three important meetings for all the gardeners:

Beginning of the Year Meeting to go over garden rules, commitments, and responsibilities.
Spring Garden Meeting to learn about organic gardening, what to plant for spring/summer, and other helpful information.
Fall Garden Meeting to learn about fall/winter gardening.

Garden Improvements Made in 2017: We received fresh mulch and spread it in the walkways a couple times this year. In March, we added hose stands, filled in the puddle area with dirt, gave a bag of compost to each half plot, and updated our website. We fixed the fence in April. We planted a Xeriscape garden along the west fence in the summer.