The Faith and Food Garden

The Faith and Food Garden at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Ann Arbor MI

WORKDAY 1

Day 1: GNARLY!

This is what the garden looked like when we first went to see what we were working with. The entire garden area was full of weeds. The seven wooden beds were barely visible through all of the plants.

Work in progress on the first day!

End of day 1: Two boxes cleared!

WORKDAY 2

Day 2: More Weeding

This is what the garden looked like before working on day 2. We continued to weed out the garden beds, and finished two more. We also raked up dead weeds from in between the boxes. Finally, we removed the chicken wire fence that was surrounding the garden.

Kayleigh weeding a bed

End of day 2: Four boxes cleared!

A couple days after day 2

After day 2 Dave P came with his awesome brush mower and weed wacker and cleared all around the garden and in the beds.

Starting to see the garden now!

WORKDAY 3

Day 3: More weeding!

On day three the garden was looking great! We used a tiller and a weed wacker to turn the soil and remove more weeds.

Many hands make easy and fun work!

Some of the garden volunteers from our parish

After day 3 the garden looked like this!

WORKDAY 4

Day 4: Tilling

On day 4 we used tillers to go through the beds once more while also pulling out weeds by hand. We cut wood to replace some boards that were falling apart. Lastly, we placed cardboard over the beds to help prevent weeds from growing back.

Cutting and replacing boards for the beds!

We put cardboard over the beds and put old rebar and broken boards over that to keep the cardboard in place.

End of day 4: Ready for planting!

WORKDAY 5

Day 5: Cardboard & Mulch

On day 5 we weeded a little since there were some new weeds growing. We placed cardboard in the walkways between the beds and then raked mulch over it.

Putting down mulch and cardboard on the beds

Some of us brought mulch for the walkways in wheelbarrows while others distributed it evenly.

End of day 5!

All the bed and walkway prep work was done in summer of 2020. The garden is located on our church property far from a water source. We want to install a sprinkler system connected to our building that is WIFI enabled so that we can monitor and control the watering. We have lots of curious deer and we need a deer fence to protect the garden. These plus seeds, compost, mulch, and maintenance means we need to raise $4,500 to be ready to plant in spring 2021. If you can help with a donation, please go to our garden GoFundMe page at xxxxxxxx. Thank you and God Bless!

Created By

Zoe Patselas

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