E-I-E-I-O
May 24, 2022
Because of a wonderfully generous gift of land from attorney and SBC statesman Frank Ingraham (23 acres to go with the 7 we purchased), Redemption City Church (SBC) in Franklin, Tennessee has the opportunity and mission to farm (“Hope for the Hungry”) as well as congregate in our soon-to-appear new building. We’ve already distributed around thirty tons of food in the community and beyond, even as we’re finalizing plans for construction (with groundbreaking anticipated late this year).
Last week, we were enduring a long stretch of dry weather, and our “executive farmer” Cilla Vandercook was concerned that recently planted sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cabbage weren’t getting enough water. So the call went out for a Tuesday afternoon intervention. About ten of us hustled out there to: 1. Shovel a mixture of mulch and manure from the back of Cilla’s pickup into flexible buckets; 2. Build a four-handful mound around each plant, so that watering would channel moisture to the roots; 3. Water the plants. And so we did for about an hour and a half.
Here you see some of our crew and rows of freshly encircled plants. In our assembly were a retired corporate IT manager, an accountant, a math teacher, a manufacturer’s rep, a corporate executive, and a young single man whose occupation I missed, along with this broken down old prof and his child bride. All told, over a hundred attendees at church have spent time planting, weeding, watering, harvesting, and distributing a wide range of vegetables, including potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, peppers, pumpkins, okra, and melons. E-I-E-I-O.