Prayerful Hands Garden
The Garden will not be selling plants this year.
Thank you for your past support.
A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. ~Liberty Hyde Bailey
Nowhere else in the world was such splendour to behold. The garden was His delight, and He knew that to keep it flourishing, an earthly caretaker was necessary. And so, in His wisdom, God appointed Adam as the gardener (Genesis 2:15).
Lovely flowers and landscaping that catch your eye when you come to St. John Neumann is the result of a pleasant pastime becoming a Project. Father Lewis' hobby has developed into a lovely landscape that has involved and helped many and intends to broaden its scope to a socially responsible site for both feeding body and soul.
The most beautiful gardens exist on the eastern section of the property at the rectory. Father Walter Lewis' love for flowers has grown from a pleasant pastime with some daylilies and a birch tree to a vast expanse of flowers, shrubs and herbs.
Today the garden has expanded beyond a little get-a-way: there are dreams and hopes for the future here. Father's dreams will work towards the projects below. We at St. John Neumann hope you will consider enjoying the beauty of the garden and considering joining us in any of these projects.
For more information, or to volunteer, please contact the parish office.
GARDENING ANGELS
The Gardening Angels are volunteers who maintain the church garden areas and Columbarium.
FROM GARDEN TO TABLE
specific gourmet lettuces, mushrooms and herbs available for sale
STONE SOUP
an herb and vegetable garden focusing on soup suppers for the needy
GO GREEN
projects for children
FLOWERS FROM THE HEART
crafts such as sachets that are currently being made from our flowers and delivered to homebound parishioners
PLANT AND SEED EXCHANGE
parishioners expand their own gardens and learn propagation methods with fellow gardeners
DEMONSTRATION GARDEN
options for the community to consider for their own yards, opportunities for experimenting with new varieties etc.
Nowhere else in the world was such splendour to behold. The garden was His delight, and He knew that to keep it flourishing, an earthly caretaker was necessary. And so, in His wisdom, God appointed Adam as the gardener.
~Genesis 2:15Volunteering
Opportunities include:
filling containers
transplanting seedlings
helping to care for the plants during the growing season
sorting plants for pre-orders
assisting with on-site plant sales and scheduled pick-up days
As the saying goes: "Many hands make light work." With your assistance, Prayerful Hands Garden can be a great success and provide a tremendous service to our community. Thank you!
If you are interested in information supporting this group or have questions, please use the contact information button below.
Support the Prayerful Hands Garden ministry by volunteering, donating, or purchasing quality garden items.
Items available for purchase are: quality vegetables, herbs, fruits, berries, and flowering plants.
The History of Father Lewis' Garden at St. John Neumann
It all started with Father's first pastoral assignment in Bristol, Virginia. His first and favorite plants were the blueberry bushes. They provided him with two quarts a day. Then he bought a home two tons of rock for the yard which left just a few flower beds. Although he avoided having to cut the grass, Father admitted that it was more work than mowing, but he loved flowers and so he kept adding more.
Father's excitement rose when SJN decided to build a rectory: now there was a clean new start....he thought before engaging in Powhatan''s infamous red clay and quarry sediment.
First, Father's garden was for pleasure. Initially, it was small but proved great relaxation and a pleasant setting for entertaining. Then Claudia from Dirty Hands designed more beds. Father's enthusiasm for the garden skyrocketed when a new parishioner, Svetlana Weimer entered the picture taking cactus from the woods, developing new plants, and placing gravel on beds instead of conventional mulch.
Soon parishioners were volunteering in Gardening Angels and were offering to share and exchange plants and Father's garden had new daylilies, iris and field ageratum.
Father's love for unique plants, native varieties and special trees continues to grow (no pun intended) and his first 10 foot river birch is now 75 feet tall. More recently a willow tree caught his eye and has begun to grow on the property.
And so, the initial beautiful pleasure garden for Father has turned into a naturescape with an aim to feed both the body and soul of all who visit.