We have beans coming up! 

Tomatoes are growing!

Check out the garden as it begins to grow.  We are still needing help with watering.  Check the water schedule and let Tim Lowke know if you can help with this portion of the ministry.

Good News Youth spent last Sunday moving compost, mowing, weeding and planting the First Fruits Garden for the spring 2010 season.  We planted beans and tomoatoes to provide fresh produce for the food pantry at Hill Country Community Ministries.  Thanks youth for all you hard work!

We are currently looking for members of the congregation to sign-up and help with our watering schedule each week to help the garden grow.  If you have a desire to serve, please contact Tim Lowke at 528.0717 or email tim.lowke@gmail.com to get a watering time.  Watering involves hand-watering the garden in either the morning or the late afternoon at a scheduled time during the week.  This service takes approximately 45 minutes and gives you time to be with nature and God and Holy Ground this spring.  Join this important community ministry at Good News!

Additionally, we are looking for donors to help with acquiring soaker hoses and tomato cages to benefit the garden.  If you can help, see Tim Lowke, Judy Rainey or Rana Baughman for details.

Planting Party Rescheduled

Join the tweens and youth for an extended youth time this week as part of a Service Sunday.  It was cold and wet last Sunday, so we are going to try again this week.  We will meet at Holy Ground from 3-6:30 pm to help launch the First Fruits Garden for the spring.  Come prepared to move compost, turn over garden plots, clean and help plant for our first crop of the year.  Bring gloves, shovels, rakes etc…  Anyone from the congregation or the community is invited to attend.  We hope to see you there!

For questions regarding First Fruit Garden Ministry, see Tim Lowke, Judy Rainey or Rana Baughman.

You are invited to join Good News Youth on Sunday, March 21st as part of a Service Sunday.  We will meet at Holy Ground from 4-6:00 to help launch the First Fruits Garden for the spring.  Come prepared to move compost, turn over garden plots, clean and help plant for our first crop of the year.  Bring gloves, shovels, rakes etc…

We have four goals for our congregation / community garden for spring 2010:

1. Improve our garden soil through composting.

2. Increase our vegetable production yield for Hill Country Community Ministries food pantry by concentrating on two core crops, tomatoes and beans.

3. Improve our watering system.

4. Complete the fence surrounding the garden with grant funds provided.

Come join the fun and fellowship on Sunday.  Questions?  Contact Tim Lowke, Judy Rainey or Rana Baughman.

Our first Planting Day in the First Fruits Garden at Holy Ground was a GREAT success despite a chilly beginning.  We have the full garden master plan of vegetable boxes completed and all but three planted.  Screening has gone up and we hope the deer of Holy Ground do not think we have opened a salad buffet for business!  Next time you are at church, check out all the hard work that has taken place the last few weeks and has resulted in a thriving minitry to support the Hill Country Community Ministry Food Pantry with fresh produce. 

Thanks to the 2009 Growing Season Sponsors:

Barrick Family
Baughman Family
Elmer Family
Good News Youth
Gustin Family
Hudgeons Family
Lowke Family
Luscombe Family
Maldonado Family
McDaniel Family
Rainey Family
Schmidt Family
Scott Family
Smith / Marsh Family
Way Family
Winslow Family

Thanks to Good News Youth for moving dirt and helping getting the garden ready for Planting Day!

First Fruits Garden Ministry will be hosting our first Planting Day on Saturday, March 28th from 8-12 noon at Holy Ground. Bring your gloves, trowels, rakes and shovels for a morning of planting our garden for the spring season! First Fruits will be providing seedlings for tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, beans and peppers for use in the Hill Country Community Ministries Food Pantry as our fresh produce offering. If an adoptor family or organization would like to plant produce beyond the list above, they are welcome to bring seedlings or seeds for their garden box.

Special thanks to Good News Youth who will be filling garden boxes with dirt on Sunday, March 22nd as one of their Service Sunday Projects!

Adoptor families and organizations are encouraged to “decorate” their garden boxes with garden ornaments, etc… Exceptions include no planting of morning glories or other invasives along with boxes staying paint-free. Adoptor signage recognizing family and organization gardens will be provided by the First Fruits Garden Ministry Team.

The First Fruits Garden at Holy Ground is a poison and pesticide-free garden that is organically maintained for the health of the clients at Hill Country Community Ministries and the congregation of Good News UMC.

For more information on the First Fruits Garden Ministry, visit http://firstfruitgarden.wordpress.com/

For questions or concerns, please contact Tim Lowke at tim.lowke@sbcglobal.net or call 528.0717

Our First Fruits Garden Build Day was a big success!  Thanks to all the volunteers who worked between 9am and 12 noon today (Saturday, March 7th) at Holy Ground to begin to get the garden in shape.  We continued to clear the site previously begun by Good News Youth and began construction of our first 4×4 growing boxes.  We hope to have dirt delivered this weekend so we can begin to fill the boxes and give them time to settle. 

About 20 Good News members worked throughout the morning laying out our master garden plan that eventually will incorporate twenty 4′x4′ growing gardens and four 2′x4′ elevated gardens for those who use a wheelchair or have trouble bending.  The plan additionally calls for the creation of the garden space with a main aisle forming a cross.  Eventually, we intend to have a large perimeter fence and cedar arbor for reflection and prayer.

As a congregation and as a garden ministry, we look forward to providing fresh produce to the food pantry of Hill Country Community Ministries and its clients in our community.

Special thanks to our 2009 growing season sponsors:

Barrick Family
Baughman Family
Elmer Family
Good News Youth
Gustin Family
Hudgeons Family
Lowke Family
McDaniel Family
Rainey Family
Schmidt Family
Winslow Family

If you haven’t adopted a garden yet, then stop by the First Fruits table before or after worship and complete and adoption form.  We will continue to sponsor adoptions until Planting Day in late March or until we have twenty sponsors for this growing season.

For additional information or concerns regarding the First Fruits Garden Ministry at Good News UMC, contact Tim Lowke at tim.lowke@sbcglobal.net or 528.0717.

Deuteronomy 26:1

 1 When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket.

Objectives:

• Provide fresh produce to the families of Good News UMC and to Hill Country Community Ministries to share with our brothers and sisters in our community.

• Provide an opportunity for the sponsoring families and groups to encounter the kingdom of God through the Biblical concept of “first fruits” giving described in Deuteronomy.

• To heed the message of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and “invest” what God has given Good News UMC for the building of the kingdom of God through the “talent” of Holy Ground.

Ministry Description:

The plan is to build 4’ x 4’ square garden plots surrounded with chicken wire that families and groups can sponsor to grow various fresh produce.  Each sponsoring group can keep 10% of what they grow and will donate the rest to HCCM. 

Garden Plot Adoption Options:

Self-Care / $60 the first year – $20 each year after establishment.      

The sponsoring group will have the enjoyment of preparing, planting, tending, and harvesting it themselves.

Ministry Care /  $100 the first year – $50 each year after establishment.   

All preparation, planting, tending, and harvesting will be done by the First Fruits Ministry Team.

Monthly workdays will enhance and expand this fledgling garden ministry.

To sponsor a First Fruits plot at Holy Ground, complete an adoption form at the information table.  Checks should be made to Good News UMC and write First Fruits in the subject line.

For more information regarding the First Fruits ministry, visit http://www.goodnesumc.org or contact any First Fruits ministry team member:

Rana Baughman

Tim Lowke

Judy Rainey