Houston Community Newspaper
Article by Kimberly Poore
Local gardeners and parishioners are giving something back to the community in the form of freshly grown produce.
Shepherd's Garden is a local donation garden ran by a core of volunteers who plant, grow, pick and maintain produce year round.
Established in 1996, the 1/3 acre garden had 30 raised beds planted with seasonal vegetables. Each year the garden yields in excess of 3,000 pounds of produce which includes lettuce, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, squash, green beans, and cantaloupe.
"The Garden was originally started on the property of a parishioner of Christ the Good Shepherd, " said Sheila Haskins, Shepherd Garden volunteer coordinator. "CGS and its parish members sponsored a 'Lenten Project' to fund the Garden's initial start-up costs for equipment and planting materials."
The garden currently donates 100 percent of the produce from the garden to serve the food pantries of several local organizations including, Northwest Assistance Ministries, Casa Juan Diego, Holy Name Catholic Church, and St. Anne's Catholic Church in Tomball. The garden not only supplements but improves the diets of families who subsist on canned goods and dry staples.
"Food pantries are the recipients of our produce," Haskins said.
Volunteers coordinate the garden from maintenance, to planting, to picking. All is done on a volunteer basis with people from all over the community, including local girl and boy scout troops. More than 24 hours a week is dedicated to the garden and its produce.
Klein Collins High School's agricultural science department participates by planting tomato seedlings for transplant each spring.
Primarily the garden produces tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and peppers in the summer and potatoes and onions in the fall.
"We do plant year round but yield more in the summer," Haskins said.
Christ the Good Shepherd parish offers an operating budget and the garden receives grants and donations from individual gardeners for supplies and equipment.
Shepherd's Garden is located directly across from Christ the Good Shepherd's parking lot on Klein Church Road. Shepherd's Garden is a ministry of Christ the Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
