The Hyde Park Community Garden

The Story of the Community Garden

The Hyde Park Community Garden is a project that was very much in the “planning stage” for many years. St. James’ longtime parishioner and community advocate, Allelu Kurten, envisioned using the unused ball field behind the rectory for such a purpose.

“Grow vegetables and donate them to the Hyde Park Food Pantry,” Allelu told Deb Belding, executive director of the garden.

Members of St. James’ wanted to honor and recognize Mrs. Kurten for her many years of service, since she was planning to leave Hyde Park and St. James’. What a great surprise for her when on April 15, 2012 the congregation gathered to dedicate the first area of this garden as “Allelu’s Garden” a day before her 82nd birthday!

A few weeks later a small but dedicated group of volunteers from St. James’, The Hyde Park Methodist Church, Regina Coeli/St. Paul’s and a local Boy Scout Troop came together to begin the process. Out came shovels, hoes, and rototillers, putting down the necessary compost and putting up the very necessary deer fencing. After many weeks of planting, watering and weeding, we started seeing the results of our labor!

By 2021, the Garden has grown to a 90’ x 180’ plot with 28 gardeners, ranging in ages from 5-70, who have donated countless hours and thousands of pounds of garden produce. Deb Belding estimates that 125 families were the beneficiaries of a bountiful harvest this year. In addition, donations and grants help provide fresh produce to these families throughout the remainder of the year. The Annual Fall Harvest Blessing and Dinner, which features dishes made with produce from the Garden, is the culmination of the summer’s work.

Local businesses donate fruits, whereby parish volunteers whip up jams and holiday pies to be sold at the local farmer’s market. The profits from these sales go to fund the Church’s Outreach work. Collaborative efforts, such as these, help to make Allelu’s Garden a self-sufficient undertaking.

Allelu’s generous spirit and kind heart, along with Deb Belding’s tireless efforts and dogged determination, have benefitted many who experience food insecurity, as well as the gardeners and nature alike. For example, children are encouraged to become gardeners by participating in education projects such as building bird houses and helping to create pollinator gardens for the birds, bees, and
butterflies.

The gem that is the Community Garden is what makes Hyde Park and Saint James’ Church a great place in which to live and worship.