The St. Francis Sustainable Garden Project supports the hungry, at-risk children and their families in our area. We use a garden plot in front of the St. Francis rectory where we grow and harvest herbs, vegetables and flowers. In past years each harvest has produced over 180 lbs. of produce- all delivered to the pantry at Foundations Preschool of Ann Arbor, - child care center for at-risk, low-income families.

The St. Francis Grounds & Botanical Gardens: Several gardens surround the St Francis of Assisi campus of buildings, including, but not limited to, the church, school, rectory and/or parish offices. These gardens need to be a beautiful expression of hospitality, in particular, the entrances, to our fellow parishioners and visitors as well as reflect a statement of our appreciation for God's creation and nature.

Questions? Contact: Scott Wright (734-821-2121)

New Initiatives - St. Francis Sustainable Garden Projects


Feed Hungry Neighbors, and new this year:
Support Michigan Native Plants Initiatives.

St. Francis Sustainable Garden Projects
       Annual Seed Sale:  Saturday April 6th and Sunday April 7th, 2013, after 5pm, 8:45 and 10:30 am Masses (find our table near the PAC entrance).  We sell organic seeds from the garden or other local sources.    (Annual Seedling/Plant Sale:  May 18-19, 2013)  Sale proceeds are used to fund supplies for 2 on site gardens.  One garden provides fresh organic produce and herbs to Perry Nursery School Families, a program for children of low-income single parents.  
An additional brand new initiative is our Michigan Native Plant Garden,
part of our Sustainability Project.
Donations and volunteers are also welcome.   Come learn about gardening!  Interested? Please contact Erich Jensen at: erichjensen@msn.com or (734) 771-8511.



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St Francis of Assisi Sustainable Gardens Projects: Information and Notice to Volunteers

Dear Garden Volunteers,

Happy Spring (I think!)!

We welcome your good thoughts and prayers for gardening with us at St Francis of Assisi. Although it's cold today, we have longer daylight hours! and have tentatively planned this garden season events and now need your help. 

So please mark your calendars AND give us a call or email response to one or more of the following activities and dates:

Events ... Our Sustainable Garden Project Sign-up Form Here!
  • Apr 5 (Fri) @ 10 am for ~ 1 hour:  Meet Erich and Rose to prepare one bed in the rectory sustainable garden to plant cool crops (e.g., spinach, peas).

  • Apr 6 (Sa) & Apr 7 (Su) at 5pm, 8:45 am &/or 10:30 am: Vegetable, Herb and Michigan Native Plant Seed Sale at PAC. Check out Forum tomorrow (Palm Sunday) for information or perhaps Easter Sunday, too.  Rain or shine.

Our Sustainable Garden Project Sign-up Form Here!
  • May 18 (Sa) 9am: Meet at St Francis sustainable gardens to prepare remaining garden beds, setup rain barrel, turn over compost bins, dig up herbs for plant sale, and possibly, plant seeds/seedlings. Bring shovels.  NOTE: Bring seedlings (or consider other plant donations) for garden planting and/or Seedling Sale (see next item)

  • May 18 (Sa) 5pm & May 19 (Su) at 5pm, 8:45 am &/or 10:30 am: Vegetable, Herb and Michigan Native Plant Seedling Sale at PAC. Rain or shine.

Other Information

  • New Initiative: Michigan Native Plant Sustainable Garden:  An unused bed across the parking lot on the hill south of the Parish Office will become the home for some native Michigan perennials to serve as source and education on the importance of these plants with our parishioners.  We hope this garden will provide plantings for other parts of the parish property, altar decorations, and/or education initiatives for the parish school children.  We hope to include these plants in future seed and seedling sales with local nursery donations already being requested.
  • New Initiative: Potato Project:  This garden is in the planning stages with Andrew Comai, a parishioner, to involve parish and community partners to grow more potatoes and share part of their harvest with Perry Nursery School and Food Gatherers.  Another unused bed (as described previously) may be used to grow more potatoes on the church property, too.  Stay tuned.
  • Donations: Joan Meagher and Erich Jensen have been diligently soliciting vendors for donations of plants, seeds and other garden supplies including but not limited to local nurseries (e.g., Lodi Farms), hardware stores (e.g., Ace Hardware), and native plant/wildflower suppliers (e.g., The Native Plant Nursery LLC) and associations (e.g., members of Wildflower Association of Michigan).  A grant has also been written by Joan and submitted to Meijer's.

Other upcoming volunteer needs
  • A donation of 3 blueberry bushes and 3 huckleberry bushes awaits us compliments of Mary Ann's Michigan Trees and Shrubs, 28092 M 40 Hwy, Paw Paw, MI 49079Are you able or do you know anyone headed west to or past Paw, Paw MI in the next 6 weeks to pick up these plants, please call Rose, Erich or Joan?
  • Please save your clear plastic vegetable and fruit containers for garden harvest deliveries to Perry Nursery School.  Drop off at Scott Wright's parish office or Erich Jensen's house (near church on Crestland Street).  Please call first.
  • Please consider or share a day of the week (~1 hour commitment) from Jun to Sep to water and weed the gardens as well as turn the compost bins. 

Thank you for reading this long message, and thank you, in advance, for your volunteer time and/or donations.      Our Sustainable Garden Project Sign-up Form Here!

In Christ,     Erich Jensen, Garden Coordinator   734.771.8511

Rose Sherry, Garden Coordinator  734.657.0197

Joan Meagher, Fundraising Coordinator    734.546.6221

Scott Wright, Director, Parish Service and Justice   734.821.2121
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