About the HCBG Ministry

One of the ministries of the

Holy Cross Coalition for a Beloved Community.

Our parish garden ministry - now the Holy Cross Backyard Garden (HCBG)  has three roles:

• To provide an opportunity for parishioners and our neighbors to 'rent a garden bed' for the season, to grow vegetables for their home use.
• To work together to grow, tend and harvest vegetables that we donate to Catholic Charities' Durham Community Food Pantry.
• To build fellowship. Our new ministry name - Holy Cross Backyard Garden (HCBG) - refers to the garden's location in Holy Cross's back yard - and the backyard-style fellowship that grows along with our garden plants. We hope to incorporate some fellowship opportunities for our gardeners this season.

Garden Beds to Rent for the Growing Season

• We have 19 4-ft x 8-ft planting beds available for a seasonal 'rental' fee of $35 per garden bed, up to two garden beds per household. The 'rental fee' helps cover the cost of gardening supplies. Vegetables grown in these garden beds are for use by the gardener. 
• We also have 10  10-ft x 4-ft 'Mercy Beds' where all gardeners help to grow and harvest vegetables for delivery each week to Catholic Charities' Durham Community Food Pantry. All garden beds are labeled with the garden member's name or the Mercy name

All are welcome to join this ministry (including non-parishioners).

But why garden?

 Click here to 'Dig Into' the Benefits of Gardening.

Click here to sign up for a garden bed.

Ready to join the Holy Cross Backyard Garden Ministry this year?

Click here to sign up via Flocknote.

Click here to make your $35 donation per garden bed via Holy Cross's

Online Giving platform or bring your donation to the parish office,

in an envelope with Holy Cross Garden Ministry in the check's memo line.

About our Garden Name

Why the new garden name? To emphasize the fellowship aspect of gardening and our garden's location. Our garden is in our church's back yard, where we often gather as a community for fellowship ... so, we are incorporating some of that fellowship into our gardening time, too.

And what about that saint? As Christians, we have a close relationship with those whose ministries provide role models for all of us. 

St. Fiacre of Breuil has a unique story with a gardening connection.

Click to read his story in the Harvard Magazine.

All of us who have been part of the Holy Cross garden for a while have walked past the little statue of St. Fiacre dozens of times, but may have missed him, as he stands at the base of the mailbox near the garden entrance. We will be posting a sign naming the garden in his honor soon, using funds that were donated a while ago by a parishioner for naming the garden. The statue of St. Fiacre was donated by Lorie and Eric Crump, two of our initial garden members. Their son dug the first garden bed.

A few ground rules (No pun intended).

• All garden volunteers and garden bed renters are asked to help with garden maintenance tasks, at least once a month. We will have a task signup list available. 

About the HC Backyard Garden (HCBG)

This ministry began about 11 years ago, with one small garden bed dug as a school project by one of our then-young parishioners. When Deacon Phil and Anna Rzewnicki joined Holy Cross, someone asked what they liked to do. Gardening was their response and the parishioner walked them over to that small garden bed and asked what they thought. First suggestion was to add some soil, and then to plant some collards. That single garden bed yielded enough collard leaves for the Durham Catholic Charities (CC) Durham Community Food Pantry staff to provide about a dozen families with collards for their Thanksgiving diner.  The garden has continued to grow over the years, with parishioners and others from the Durham community 'renting' garden beds for their own use. In time, nine 4-ft x 12-ft CC Mercy beds' were added, providing a significant source of fresh vegetables for clients of Catholic Charities Durham Community Food Pantry.

A Few "Ground" Rules (no pun intended)

• All garden bed 'renters' keep their garden beds weeded and harvested regularly throughout the growing season, and 'put their gardens to bed' by clearing out weeds and mulching for the late fall and winter seasons.
• Walking paths within and between garden beds need to be weeded regularly. Volunteers are invited to help.
• All garden bed renters (and other volunteers) take turns helping with our nine (Catholic Charities) Mercy beds. This includes planting and weeding during the week and weekends, and harvesting on Monday mornings and packing for delivery to Catholic Charities Durham Community Food Pantry (DCFP) on Tuesday morning. 
• A Flocknote DCFP Harvest signup link will be sent to our registered gardeners, asking for at least two gardeners to help with the harvest once a month. This will be an open group; others can join as helpers throughout the growing season.
• If a garden bed renter will be away for awhile, he/she should arrange for someone to harvest what ripens while they are away and notify the garden coordinator, providing the sub's name and contact information.
• Vegetables left unattended for a period of time (and at risk of spoiling) will be harvested and donated to the DCFP before they expire, so as to not waste the food.
• Harvested vegetables can be stored in a home refrigerator from Monday evening until the Tuesday morning delivery date, and should be brought to the DCFP delivery on Tuesday.
• The kitchen counters and refrigerator need to be wiped down, and the counter sanitized after use in preparing the vegetables for delivery.
• We will try to schedule a few 'field trips' to other community gardens in the area to share experiences.
• We will utilize services provided by the NC Extension Service, including soil testing to determine what if any amendments are needed for our garden soil.

Volunteers are invited to help with the Mercy beds. If interested in helping as a volunteer, send an email message to garden@holycrossdurham.org.

We have a community approach to our gardening: meaning, all gardener members take turns helping to plant, weed and harvest the nine Mercy beds, as well as tending to their own garden beds. We will use our Flocknote network to sign up gardeners and volunteers to help maintain the 'sharing beds;, keeping them weed-free during the growing season, and to take turns harvesting from the Sharing beds and preparing them for delivery.

We will begin preparing the soil and planting on June 10, weather permitting (or as soon as possible after that). Contact Phil or Anna Rzewnicki via garden@holycrossdurham.org

Click here to sign up via our HCBG group in Flocknote.

Each Tuesday morning, vegetables grown in the Sharing beds are harvested, rinsed, bagged and delivered to the Durham Community Food Pantry whose clients really appreciate the fresh produce. This is one of our gardener's Mercy opportunities.