Due to the cruelty of the Trump Administration’s budget cuts, much of the funding for food pantries have been cut. Obviously, Jesus’ admonition to “feed the hungry” is lost to right wing “Christian” nationalists. Those of us at St. Anne’s who garden have been asked to “plant a row” specifically for our food pantry since the need will be greater this year.

We have planted a large bed of 6 Early Girl II tomatoes specifically the food pantry of Project Hope. Since the beds were installed late, I planted tomatoes that were almost three feet tall with little tomatoes and flowers! They are in red tomato cages and the bed is in the center of the garden.

I have dedicated the bed in Memory of Sr. Lorraine Menheer, whose visionary action beginning in the early 1990s formed Project Hope at St. Anne. Through the generous donation of parishioners, our House of Hope thrift store generates over a million dollars each year to help local people in need. We also have a food pantry that feeds many local families and individuals.

We will donate all the tomatoes from that bed to Project Hope as well as some of the surplus from the rest of the garden. That bed is labeled and will serve as a talking point to my grandchildren and others for us to be aware of poverty and hunger that exists even within the wealthy community of Barrington as well as throughout the world. It is our duty to feed people in need.

In mid-August, last summer, I gave up on my garden as it had been completely devastated by rabbits and other critters. Natalie and I didn’t even get enough vegetables for our own needs from our large garden, and there were none to give away. After all the work I had put in during the spring I was completely broken. I vowed never to let this happen again and decided that I would convert t the whole garden to raised beds that were out of the reach of the rabbits and other small creatures. If larger animals such as racoons and groundhogs became a problem, I could easily wrap the beds with 36-inch plastic fencing to keep them out.

The main part of the project was completed today with soil being loaded into the remaining beds and final planting being done. The installation of the mulch for the paths will come in the next week or so. It has been a much more difficult project to complete than I anticipated, but it is now done. I have installed 15 galvanized and painted steel beds, and 6 wooden planters. This will make my gardening a lot easier in the future as I can spray the mulched paths with RoundUp to control any weeds making it through the mulch. Planting and weeding will be easier in the soil that is half compost, and I will be planting denser to help control weeds. There will also be less bending. There is no longer a need to rototill.