Rooted in Love: The Crescent Parishes Garden

Dear Crescent Parishioners,

Reflecting on the bountiful blessings of the past year, my heart overflows with gratitude for the abundant growth and support of the Crescent Garden. With great joy, I share with you some highlights from our journey and unveil our exciting plans for the months ahead.

Love in Action
In its first year, the Crescent Garden, located near the back of the St. Saviour parking lot, emerged as a beacon of hope and nourishment for our community, donating over 1,000 lbs of fresh produce to food banks across Hamilton County. As lifelong gardeners, my husband Matt and I are deeply passionate about ensuring that healthy, nutritious food is accessible to all, especially considering the alarming statistic that 62% of Cincinnati's population lacks access to such essentials.

All produce grown in the garden begins as seedlings nurtured in our home greenhouse before being transplanted to the Crescent Garden. We are profoundly grateful to the Society of St. Andrew and High Mowing Seed Company for their generous donations of seeds this year. Additionally, thanks to St. Saviour parishioner Joy Landry, we forged a partnership with Last Mile Food Rescue, marking the first collaboration of its kind. Last Mile, a distinguished Greater Cincinnati food rescue organization, is committed to salvaging food and distributing it to those most in need. Following our harvests, Last Mile promptly collects our produce and distributes it to local food banks, ensuring our efforts directly benefit our community.

Each year, we diligently strive to refine our gardening practices, collaborating closely with master gardeners and botanists from the Mission of Mary cooperative in Dayton to optimize our soil composition for the most nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables.

A few months ago, The Catholic Telegraph reached out to us, expressing an interest in the Crescent Garden, and featured it in their articles spotlighting Love in Action throughout the Archdiocese. You can read more about the Crescent Garden and our mission here:  www.thecatholictelegraph.com/growing-together/94210

Day of Service with Summit Country Day School
We extend our impact by engaging with schools, fostering environmental awareness, and addressing food insecurity among youth. Just before Thanksgiving, 7th and 8th-grade students from Summit Country Day School embarked on a day of service at the Crescent Garden. They sowed seeds, harvested collards from the garden for Thanksgiving meals at local food banks, and constructed greenhouses over the beds. The greenhouses have proven to be invaluable, enabling us to cultivate a diverse array of vegetables for our food banks throughout the winter months.

Laudato Si Action Platform Series
Participation in the Laudato Si Action Platform Series meetings initiated by the Vatican has been a profound experience for me. These meetings, centered on promoting ecological sustainability and fostering social and economic justice, have garnered significant interest from parishes within and outside our Archdiocese wanting to learn more about the Crescent Garden. It has been a special blessing to share our knowledge and best practices with others to help promote the establishment of even more food bank gardens. As we expand the number of gardens, we exponentially increase our capacity to nourish individuals in need, ensuring that more people have access to fresh and nutritious food!

Vision for the Year Ahead
We eagerly anticipate embarking on a new growing season with several exciting updates:

• We plan to expand the pollinator garden. This specialized space features a variety of native flowers and herbs carefully chosen to attract beneficial pollinators like butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Their presence ensures improved pollination and ultimately leads to more bountiful harvests for the Crescent Garden.
• We are installing a new, stronger trellising system to support the produce.
• This year we we are growing 18 varieties of tomatoes, 13 varieties of peppers, green beans, sugar snap peas, garden peas, cucumbers, lettuce, blackberries, blueberries, and watermelon. 
• We plan to coordinate additional days of service for our youth and also assist in the distribution of the produce at our local food banks.

Supporting the Crescent Garden
We invite you to participate in our upcoming initiatives:

• Join us for an informational meeting on May 6th at 7 pm at St. Saviour to tour the garden and learn more about our mission and upcoming projects.
• Volunteer for the compost giveaway on May 11th at Hartzell United Methodist Church, a short distance from St. Saviour. We are asking for 2-3 individuals with pickup trucks to assist us for a few hours that morning to pick up the compost and transport it to the garden so that we can fill the beds. Please reach out to me if you can lend a helping hand at [email protected].
• Please join us at the Crescent Family Feast for a garden blessing!  We are excited to share a variety of seeds with all of you as well. 
• In addition, the Crescent Parishes is located within WeShare in the School, Ministries, and Outreach section on the giving page.

Your generosity and support sustain the Crescent Garden Ministry, enabling us to continue feeding those in great need and sowing seeds of hope within our community!

With Gratitude and Blessings,

Meg Anderson
Director of Stewardship & Outreach