The Servants allotment (garden), having kept us supplied with fresh vegetables and introduced us to some wonderful people over the past two years, has come to an end. Or rather, it’s been taken over. It has merged with the neighbouring plot to become the Southall Community Garden.
Many times I looked at that empty overgrown plot next to ours and thought “Couldn’t we do something with that?” Last year I even contemplated taking it on myself and trying to interest families from the estate in it, but soon realised that one allotment was already more than enough work.
Then in the spring of this year our friend Kailean from A Rocha (also based in Southall) began looking for a project that could bring together people from different faith groups around a common cause, and also encourage environmental awareness. The idea for a community garden was born, and the ideal place for it found – next to the Servants allotment!
Kailean and his wife Kim began clearing the long grass in April, and in May we held our first open day. Amazingly, well over fifty people turned up, and threw themselves cheerfully into digging. A large group of young people from a local mosque came that day with their teacher and planted several rows of potatoes. Some of them returned in October to harvest the crop, exclaiming excitedly as they unearthed the buried treasure.
Open days have been held most months, and a core group of gardeners, some quite new to the idea, have come more regularly to weed and water. The crop was good, and has been shared by everyone involved. A community garden recipe book is now being planned, to celebrate our diverse cultures and promote healthy seasonal eating.
This little story speaks to me of many things. The value of small beginnings, our deep need to connect with the earth, and the fruitfulness of working in partnership with others. I’m happy to let go of our own patch and see it become part of something bigger.
Claire and I recently attended a day workshop with Servants elder Dave Andrews. He spoke about neighbourhoods being transformed through quality relationships, and the potential impact on everything from crime to mental health. We examined models for forming relationships, for example the star – reaching in all directions but slowly burning out – and the pyramid, bound up with control. Healthy self-sustaining networks, we decided, were what we really needed.
A few days later, as I watched people chatting and working together at the community garden, learning how to make chapattis on a camping stove or digging up worms (the children!), I realised that I was seeing something like that growing in front of my eyes. And I sensed the Spirit at work in it.
[Daniel is a member of the Servants community in Southall, London and an avid gardener.)
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