Contact: Toni Wurth or Sarah Hirsh.

The St. James Church Communal Garden has been in operation since 2011, growing and sharing produce with parishioners and neighbors. We partner with Kansas City Community Gardens who serve as advisors and a valuable resource for seeds, plants and other supplies.

The vegetables, herbs and flowers that are raised in the Garden are harvested and distributed – free – to parishioners after Mass on Sundays.  Any extra produce is donated to the Bishop Sullivan Food Pantry. 

Our no-till, organically-based Garden is maintained by volunteers from the parish and surrounding community, with volunteers ranging in age from 6 to 76.  Volunteers are given a thorough orientation by the “core” Garden Gang members. They are then welcomed to work in the Garden on a schedule that is convenient for them, whether that be during the week, on Saturdays, or even on Sundays, before or after Mass. 

Volunteer tasks include planting, weeding, watering and harvesting organically-grown vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, kale, sweet potatoes, peppers and eggplant.  The range of tasks is suitable for gardeners of all ages and physical abilities!

Work in the Garden also qualifies as Community Service for our St. James youth and other friends and neighbors seeking credit for community service.

The Garden season runs from mid-March (spring greens planting) through October (sweet potato harvesting) with lots of opportunities to get involved along the way.  Those opportunities include:

Special work sessions, such as:

• spring clean up
• spring and summer planting
• caging the tomatoes
• sweet potato harvest
• garlic planting

Regular “maintenance” tasks that keep our Garden growing:

• weeding 
• watering 
• harvesting 
• distribution of produce after Mass

And our “Adopt A Bed” program, where volunteers can take charge of one of the 12′ x 4′ beds and tend it on their schedule.

The St. James Communal Garden is a wonderful way to get in touch with nature, and with each other.