What’s Growing at Asbury?
Lydia Jatau faithfully and cheerfully oversees plots for special African produce.
Creation care is a hot topic these days. The passage of time and the degradation of our landscape and general health makes the grandchildren of the Baby Boomers keenly aware that Christians must join in proactively investing the talents God left in our charge. We have been burying them for far too long, perhaps under the false assumption that we would all be raptured out of here before it really mattered.
Kofi Amoateng, a three-year-member of the Small Business Incubator, shares his experience with newcomer Emmanuel Jatau.
In this spirit of awareness and collaboration, several years ago Dr. Tennent and Dr. Elliott commissioned a team to create a community garden for the seminary. What was once a denuded hilltop laid waste by construction became a bountiful garden of more than one and a quarter acres of growing space with 34 individual-sized raised beds, 18 community-sized raised beds, 10 small business incubator plots, 31 row mounds, and additional space for growing field crops. We are even beginning to add small livestock, bringing even more life .
Elizabeth Peterson and her little helper
Clayton Cooney inspects his hives.
From Malaysian youth preparing to enter their first year of university, to the president of a Nigerian seminary, to the mothers of tomorrow’s leaders; you will find them all taking part in the garden. This year, we decided to invite neophyte gardeners to partake free of charge, with seeds, plant starts, and mentoring included. So many students and spouses took us up on the offer that nearly all of our individual plots went to the effort. International families clamored for space to grow and have taken the helm on all the larger beds.
Lalven Sanga provides protection for his pheasants.
The Office of Faith, Work, and Economics started a Small Business Incubator project that gifts a start-up fund to students interested in learning how to run a small business and more effectively minister to the needs of businessmen in their churches. Through their enthusiasm and experience, bees are making honey for us, chickens are sharing their eggs, lavender will be perfuming the air, and pheasants will be filling our stomachs.
Seth Neckers tends his flock.
As we continue to refine our work, we see an ever-widening global reach with members returning to their home countries, sharing what they have experienced. Kofi Amoateng of Ghana, eagerly garners every new technique that he can in preparation for return to his home country and mission organization that educates farmers on ways to improve their work and provide a better income for their families. From the Manipur region of India, Lalven Sanga joins us, bringing with him vast experience and entrepreneurial ingenuity. With a half dozen row mounds of various Asian crops, a personal plot, laying hens, pheasants on the way, and visions of catfish filling our pond, we have a beautiful exchange of ideas and vitality.
Anita Mahendra lovingly manages plots for favorite Asian vegetables.
CJ (Chi Jing) Leow passionately pursues farming though no one in his family works in that field.
If you are reading this right now and are feeling left out of the fun, please join us on our Asbury Seminary Community Garden page on Facebook. Share your creative solutions to our environmental ills. Post resources you find on the web. If you are experienced in these areas, come for a visit and teach a workshop. We would love to have you lock arms with us and be a part of investing the talents of creation that God has put in our charge.
A search on “intensive gardening” can produce much useful information. Our back yard garden both cuts our expenses and improves our nutrition, enabling us to give more.
Douglas, thank you for your comment and suggestion! 🙂 Happy to hear you are having good success with your own garden.