St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church of Downers Grove feeds the needy from ‘bountiful’ garden

Despite the recent heat, members of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church have been hard at work in the garden behind their church, which sits at the corner of Franklin Street and Saratoga Avenue in Downers Grove.

It’s something they have done since the early days of the pandemic when the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church asked its congregations to plant gardens to feed people.

In its fourth growing season, the Good News Garden, a name adopted by all Episcopal Church gardens, produces fresh vegetables that are donated to either the Downers Grove Area FISH, an all-volunteer, nonprofit food pantry, or the cupboard of the Downers Grove Public Library.

In 2023, the garden produced 375 pounds of vegetables.

“Fresh fruits and vegetables are the most requested of any item on our grocery list. The Good News Garden grows a plethora of produce like tomatoes, beets, green beans, chard, cucumbers, peppers and carrots. I see eyes light up when we put the garden-fresh produce out,” said Deb Aguzino, co-manager of the Downers Grove Area FISH pantry.

The St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church congregation truly embodies the phrase, “love your neighbor” and puts those words into action with its Good News Garden, Aguzino said.

“Amidst rising food prices, more families, individuals and seniors struggle with food insecurity,” she said. “The Good News Garden donations of bountiful, nutritious produce provide fresh, healthy options for our folks.”

The first couple of years there was some trial and error in the garden, said Elaine Cook, a longtime member of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

“Now we are really getting good at it,” Cook said.

There are a few garden teams that come out to the garden several times a week during growing season to divide up the work, which includes garden maintenance, harvesting and delivering produce.

“There is quite a variety” of vegetables, Cook said. “Last year, we added asparagus and rhubarb.”

Much of the crop begins with seeds except for tomatoes, which begin as new plants.

The group has learned how to save space by adding arching trellises to support bean vines. In addition, a church member added a drip irrigation system to the beds.

“We don’t have to water. It is on a timer,” Cook said.

At the end of each growing season as part of the Sunday service coffee hour, there is a harvest celebration.

Cook admits that prior to joining the committee she wasn’t much of a vegetable gardener. Now, she truly appreciates the growing cycle.

“It is really something magical. You plant seeds in the ground, and you get food from it. We are helping the natural world do what it does and making it available to other people,” Cook said.

“We get a lot of satisfaction, and it is a great use of that section of our property,” she said. “It takes work, but many hands make work light. It also is a great sense of collegiality.”

Families with young children are welcome on a drop-in basis to help tend the garden, Cook said.

“This gives kids a chance to experience gardening without the parents having to commit to a garden themselves at home,” she said.

Anne Nelson, St. Andrew’s children’s ministry director and a master gardener, provides pollinator seeds that Sunday school children plant to go along with lessons.

Nelson, a member of one of the community garden teams that tend the garden beginning in mid-July, said it is fun for families to join in.

It gives children the opportunity to “tend the garden and weigh the produce,” Nelson said.

Most surprisingly to the children, Nelson said, was the number of cucumbers that appeared to be “hiding” as well as the “amount of beans” produced each week.

The garden is just one of the ways St. Andrew’s is committed to feeding the hungry, Cook said.

The church also hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and provides meals as part of the Community Kitchen, the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton and DuPagePads.