On Sunday, March 8th, Shepherd’s Table held our very first Garden Day to expand our urban garden. The garden was originally a small project started by our chef, Christina Moore, with hopes to reconstruct and transform the unused space behind our building into something more useful. According to Christina, having a small garden would provide us with a supply of fresh herbs and produce, which help improve the free meals that we serve to the community.
Joining us that day were Debbie Boger and Dean Cooper, two members of our Board of Directors. Around noon, Debbie kicked off the day by briefing the plan, assigning tasks, and dividing the volunteers into smaller groups, while Dean helped supervise a group of youth volunteers in assembling the garden tables. Dean also helped collect most of the materials donated from local businesses, which was a major help for our event.
The event was a major success, with the participation of over 50 volunteers from Master Gardeners, Silver Spring United Methodist Church youth groups, Boy Scouts and the community. At the end of the day, the volunteers were able to clear all the large plants from the back area and replanted them inside the fenced-in area in the building’s front. We also cleared all the debris from the garden and assembled all the garden tables for future planting. Our volunteers shoveled and planted non-stop from noon until 4 PM.
These were no small jobs and we would not be able to accomplish this in a day without the help of our amazing volunteers. On top of completely transforming our site, we got to connect with multiple groups in our community, planted some great smiles and good spirits all around.
Everything harvested from the garden will be used to better serve our free meals to the community, and may one day be used to train clients in gardening and landscaping skills. We would like to thank Meadow Farms Nurseries, Ruppert Landscaping, Kensington Strosniders, Old Takoma ACE Hardware, and others for your donation of items.
This project will help us to better serve our meal guests experiencing hunger and homelessness. We are truly thankful for all the hard work that every volunteer put in that day, and are excited about the future.
ES 
EN