Gardeners tending the 25 plots in the Viatorian Giving Garden are enjoying a bumper harvest, and it’s just the midway point of the growing season.
Associate John Dussman weighs some of his harvest
Under the leadership of Associate John Dussman, gardeners use a hanging produce scale to record how many pounds of vegetables they harvest — and which food pantry they donate to in the surrounding suburbs. For the month of July alone, the gardeners combined to collect 700 pounds of vegetables — so far — from the raised beds.
Their goal is to donate more than 2,000 pounds this year, which would equal one ton.
“Due to our great gardeners, great weather and great soil,” Dussman says, “we’re somewhere between 10 to 25% above where we were last year at this time.”
What started out as a small herb garden in 2010, on the grounds of the Province Center, has grown into a thriving community garden, with multiple families, organizations, teams and other faith communities participating.
Children of Abraham volunteers, Don Langenfeld, left, and Gina Vera plant vegetables at the beginning of the season.
One group which joined the ministry is the Children of Abraham Coalition, whose members work together to build understanding between Christians, Jews and Muslims of all ages. Nearly one dozen volunteers work in the two plots tended by the Coalition. Together, they raise tomatoes, peppers, onions, green beans and lettuce.
“I just like seeing things grow, and we’ve had real success,” said Don Langenfeld on a recent sunny afternoon. “I’ve taken some of the same plants home and they don’t do as well as they do here.”
It was Fr. Daniel Hall, CSV, and Br. Michael Gosch, CSV, who planted the seed for the garden, back in 2012. Right from the outset, they described it as a ministry, with its mission to feed the hungry by raising fresh produce for local food pantries.
“We, as a community, have been very blessed,” Fr. Hall said. “This is something we can do to help those around us. We see it as our responsibility and our mission.”
Onions are thriving in the garden.
Each year, participation has grown, especially during and after the pandemic, when interest in outdoor gardening blossomed.
Now in its 12th year. the garden has averaged nearly 1,000 pounds of vegetables for area food pantries. However in recent years, after doubling the number of beds — and drawing many more gardening partners — Viatorians produced more than 2,000 pounds of nutritious produce for hungry families. Its record amount was 2,580, a number Dussman hopes to beat this year.
Volunteers raise a wide variety of vegetables in the enclosed garden, including: zucchini, peppers, dill, lettuce, kale, basil, chives, cilantro, cucumbers, tomatoes, banana peppers and squash.
Sunflower plants tower over the plots, attracting bees, butterflies and birds, while improving the health of the soil.
Dussman has coordinated the garden for many summers and increasingly he has drawn members of the Arlington Heights community to join in the mission, including the Arlington Heights Garden Club, the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, the First United Methodist Church of Arlington Heights, as well as Saint Viator High School student athletes, and even its head football coach, Dave Archibald and his family.