Yard-long purple beans hung like streamers from an arched trellis in the raised beds at St. Columba Camp and Retreat Center last season. They tasted like regular green beans, also grown in the one-acre fenced garden, but with a pop of color.
Nurtured and prepared with care, guests may never know how many hands came together in acts of service to bring those beans to their dinner plates.
Groundwork
Funded by the Minkler Howell Grant from Camp Kanuga in 2020, constructing the garden kept employees busy during the pandemic. Staff spread out and completed the effort in sections. Since the area stays consistently saturated, heavy equipment got stuck until a gravel service road was laid to reach the site.
Experienced hands got to work. They harvested cedar posts from the property, peeled off the bark for longevity and secured them in the ground. They ran small gauge wire fencing eight feet tall to surround an entire acre of flat ground in full sun. They installed a water line from the closest pavilion and constructed gates to keep out the critters.
Right when funds depleted, the world opened back up, and all hands returned to hospitality.
For three growing seasons, the garden lay dormant, but all the while God was at work. Honeysuckle vines grew to reinforce the wire fencing. Passion flowers entwined with berry brambles. A cluster of persimmon trees came up volunteer, creating an alcove of shade.
Preparation
Progress continued over a series of youth retreats: a day of adventure fun paired with a service project. In 2023, Mud Camp Jr. High counselors-in-training laid a mulch path down the center, from gate to gate, to provide tread for the tractor to deliver railroad ties.
Last spring, St. George’s Independent School seventh graders worked together to build eight raised beds and an herb spiral. A hands-on lesson in sustainable gardening, they constructed the beds, lined the interior with cardboard for weed control, filled them with limbs and sticks, layered with fallen leaves, and topped with soil.
Just in time for the beginning of camp season, last year’s counselors-in-training interplanted each bed with marigolds and basil for natural pest control. Over the summer, campers and retreat guests stopped in sporadically as the free seeds provided by the Memphis Public Library sprouted and flowered.
Fruition
Young hands got to learn. They plucked cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas, tasting them on the spot. They crushed cilantro and parsley leaves between their fingers, smelling the difference. They dug for worms in the ground and added them to the garden beds.
As midsummer brought forth beans, squash, tomatoes and herbs of all kinds, the new head chef curated menus to feature the St. Columba produce grown in season. By fall, Memphis University School ninth graders helped with harvest, laid fresh mulch and cleared overgrowth along the fenceline.
That first crop of beans, green and purple both, put out until the leaves of the surrounding forest started to turn. Several pods dried on the vine and were picked to save over winter. The tiny beans inside will nourish the next season of visitors, people who may never shake hands with those who built the fence or filled the beds or sowed the seeds in the garden. And that is the true meaning of service.
Tarry There
If you have a passion to serve in the garden or find peace with your hands in the warm earth, all help is welcome at St. Columba. Seed start, bed prep, plant, weed, water, harvest. There is always work to do. But feel free also to sit in God’s presence.
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