A PLACE OF HEALING

Gardening has always been an important part of Ramona Burns’ life. The church has not. “I am an army brat. I moved a lot. Church was okay for a time, but after a while, I found it to be very judgmental.” As an adult, Ramona was invited to attend Christ the King, and found a place where she belonged. “Chris Kinnaman was the first person to welcome me. I felt accepted immediately. One of the great things about Christ the King is if you want to wear your rags to church, you can wear your rags. No one is judging you by your clothing.”

When Christ the King discerned the need for a community garden to help feed our neighbors, Ramona was asked to use her gifts and knowledge to help it get off the ground. “I learned vegetable gardening from my grandparents. Gardening is hard work, but it is good work. My grandparents made gardening fun.”
Ramona has helped create the kind of environment that she was looking for in a church. “The Community Harvest Garden is a place where people from different backgrounds come together and are welcomed into relationship. They share what is happening in their lives, give advice, help each other, tend to others’ gardens when they can’t be around, share pictures of their kids and grandkids, and find they have a lot in common.” 

“The garden is a place of healing. It is relaxing. It is comfortable. It can be very religious, working in the earth and working with others. New gardeners are really getting into it. They are helped and welcomed by returning gardeners who share what they have learned,” Ramona explains. “A garden that started out with a shared garden plot and four guest gardener beds has grown to a garden with 25 guest beds. Last year we harvested over 1,300 pounds of organic produce to share with the food pantry. That doesn’t include what our guest gardeners take home.”
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The Community Garden is a place of rest and peace for Ramona. “I come to the garden about 7 pm and sit and watch the shade as it grows and covers the garden. It is so calming. I’ll sit and look at the patches of bright green. It is a relief to relax. I feel that relief. I want other people to experience that same peace.”