A Bible Garden That Produced Much Fruit

“Pastor,” asked Anna Seidl, “could we start a Bible Garden at church and invite neighbors to help and then have some of the produce?” That question started a summer-long project on the grounds of Grace Lutheran Church, located on the west side of Madison, Wisconsin. Anna is working on a doctorate in plant pathology at the UW–Madison campus after graduating from Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, Minnesota. Most people think of a Bible Garden as a place to grow a collection of plants mentioned in the Bible, but Anna had a slightly different idea in mind. This would be a beautiful combination of vegetables and flowers where Biblical references to plants and the growing of food could be brought to life for the gardeners. The hope was to involve both church members and members of the community.
In the spring, Anna put down black plastic to kill the grass, planning that the garden would be in the shape of a cross. Marigolds and vinca were planted to form a border around the edge that would bloom all summer. All the popular garden vegetables were included, though often with a twist, as tomatoes ripened to shades of pink, yellow, orange, and purple-black and beans came in green, yellow, and purple. Other plants that did well were squash, eggplant, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, beets, and carrots. Tall red cannas were planted in the center of the cross with other flowers dispersed among the vegetables.
Integrated into everything were Bible passages, with a devotion on a different pertinent passage each week. One week, the gardeners sowed wheat that fell on good soil and on the path. The wheat grew until the rabbits found it, but it still demonstrated the parable Jesus told about the four types of hearing God’s Word. The week the weeds really started poking up, the focus was on Genesis, where God said that we would always battle thorns and weeds to produce our food. Another was on patience as the gardeners waited for the tomatoes to ripen, another on blight and mildew, mentioned in Deuteronomy and present on the zucchini, and another on God’s bountiful providence.
The gardeners took home as much produce as they wanted, and other vegetables appeared at various church functions. Sun Gold cherry tomatoes were enjoyed by all for the rally Sunday potluck with sliced onions and tomatoes to add to the hamburgers. A Bible Garden Vegetable Medley appeared for the Harvest Festival/Mission Festival Sunday and Bible Garden Hot Dish, featuring eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions, and homemade tomato sauce, was shared at the young people’s Bible study dinner.
The Bible Garden caught the attention of the neighbors that live around the church, and they enjoyed the flowers and picked some of the fruit. Two long rows of carrots, tucked behind the now-frozen marigolds, are waiting for the gardeners to dig them up and find the delicious (though perhaps almost too abundant) “treasure in the field.” We all need to eat more carrots! This first year was fairly successful, but was still a year of getting started. The hope will be to encourage involvement of more members of the community to ultimately share the Gospel with them.