GREENING SYNAGOGUES RESOURCES

Gardens

Adapted from the COEJL Program Bank:
“Starting an Urban Garden:
Peah Gardens / Corner Plots”

The two parts to this program -- (1) the actual setting up of a synagogue garden and (2) advocating, through the synagogue, for urban gardening in your area -- are basically independent of each other, although a synagogue with its own garden tends to be a more effective advocate for urban gardening. (Note: A nearby church or other institution might be interested in doing this project cooperatively, thus easing the burden on both groups.)

In either case, the tradition, from Leviticus (19:9-10), of leaving the corners of fields unharvested to that the poor can gather fresh food in dignity is in important underlying motivation for a synagogue’s involvement in gardening. You may wish to study this text, or Mishnah Peah, before starting on a gardening project, and a sign with a quote from Leviticus designating your garden as a “Peah Garden” is a wonderful way to publicize your garden.

1) Starting a Synagogue Garden

If your synagogue owns any unpaved land, you have all you need to start a synagogue garden. Before planting, you should plan on how food harvested from the garden will be distributed. Will synagogue members carry the harvest to a local food pantry? Is the synagogue located centrally enough so that you can invite poorer members of your community to harvest what they need directly? Does the synagogue run its own food pantry or have plans for starting one in the near future?

Next, access your human power resources. Will students from your schools be involved in a regular basis? (Make sure they study the text from Leviticus!) Is there any teacher or other staff person willing to supervise the students’ gardening efforts? Do you have any gardening experts in your congregation?

Finally, draw up a realistic budget. How much will you be able to spend on seed? Soil? Fertilizer? Mulch? Garden equipment? Water? A representative from a local gardening store will most likely be happy to come out and speak with your gardening committee to recommend appropriate plants and equipment.

Once your planning is complete, you should have a reasonable idea of the size of garden you want to start with and the difficulty of crops you want to grow. (Remember that you can always expand next year if your garden is a success!) Try to emphasize organic pest control (e.g., using ladybugs) and, whenever possible, tie the garden into synagogue composting efforts (see ”Compost” program).

When you are ready to harvest and distribute the food from your garden, you might think about contacting the local Jewish and secular press – synagogue gardens typically receive very positive coverage. Assess your successes and failures.

2) Promoting Urban Gardening

As satisfying as a synagogue garden can be, it is sometimes even more satisfying to be part of an effort to promote urban gardening in your area. In an urban garden, a city, some other governmental entity, or a private donor lets interested people, typically poor residents, use a plot in a designated piece of land to garden. Urban gardens typically turn the eyesores of vacant lots into sources of neighborhood pride, even as they help poor families improve their nutrition and save money.

To promote urban gardening in your area, first find out what efforts are already under way. If an effective coalition of civic groups and local government representatives is already in place, you may simply want to join in. If no such coalition exists, you may want to find allies, such as churches in predominantly poor African-American or Hispanic-American neighborhoods. Environmental Justice groups also may join your cause.

To be truly effective, the designated piece of land must first of all be easily accessible to its target audience. It must be large enough to give small plots to all, or at least many, interested people. The land should be appropriate for gardening; it should receive proper amounts of sun and shade, and the soil itself needs to be relatively free of toxins found in some urban soils. Finally, there must be some relatively easy way to water the plots.

Some urban gardens have faced theft problems. Again, the Levitical tradition can help. Many gardens put up a fence around the plots of the gardeners. Some land lies outside the fence; everyone who has a plot has to donate some time to working this communal land. A sign is posted on the communal land explaining the tradition of leaving the corners unharvested and inviting all who are in need to take what they need from the communal land.