In early 2021 I ran into a volunteer from the Common Good Gardens named Zoran, who oversaw the compost piles for the garden.  He mentioned that instead of just giving people the veggies they grew, why not give them tomato plants to take home and grow themselves?!  I said that sounded like a good idea, and he went on his way.  Once he left however, I had a small idea/vision pop in my head, for a garden to teach people how to grow their own veggies in raised beds.  Why raised?  Well, I think that was due to a random pastoral visit to a parishioner a year earlier who showed me their raised beds, something I had never seen before.  So the two stories came together for the idea.  But I also thought it would be a great opportunity to try to bring together all the community groups that share time and space at Grace Church, to work on a collaborative project.  So I looked to find gardeners and students from Grace Church and Common Good Gardens. I asked the Boy Scouts from our church Troop 51 if someone would help build the raised beds (one scout and his family took on the project for his Eagle Scout Project in 2022), and we spoke with SSKP to see if they could help find some other possible students who might benefit from learning to grow their own food. From there, volunteers and helpers popped up all over: from Dale Schneider helping to clear the initial space of weeds and invasives, to Julie Peace and Barbara Harms bringing input from the Common Good Gardens' perspective, to Mary Matthews and several other parishioners from Grace Church (as well as some organizations) who helped fund the project.  In addition, the Grace Church Building and Grounds Crew helped build the enclosure and the watering system. The crew included: Wayne and Barbara Harms, Fred Kmietek, John Kennedy, Tom Briggs, Peter Knox, Clyde Auger, Skip Fiorelli, Ken Soudan, Bill Sheahan, Bill and Julie Peace, and Dale Schneider. In addition, several other volunteers from the Common Good Gardens and random friends of the parish helped finish bits and pieces of the project along the way. It was literally a community effort, and I am so grateful for all the time, sweat, energy and resources that were shared during this project!!