Directory of Gardens
Dominican Sisters Community Garden
| Location | South-central Houston |
| Main Purpose | Donating vegetables to the hungry |
| Established | 1995 |
| To Visit or to Volunteer | Call Urban Harvest for contact info |
The
Dominican Sisters Community Garden is located on the grounds of the Dominican
Sisters Convent on Almeda Road in south-central Houston. We grow vegetables,
potatoes and herbs that are donated to the hungry at Manna House and Well
Springs. Since the first harvest in l995, the garden has produced over 4
tons of vegetables and fruits for the food pantries in the Houston area.
We are an Urban Harvest site. The garden is a place of growing and harvesting and planting and also a place of rest and contemplation. The project was undertaken by the Dominican Sisters' Ecology Committee in April, l995 with a two-fold commitment: the donation of our garden produce to food pantries in order to help relieve hunger, and an ongoing program of education so that others may carry the knowledge of organic gardening to their places of residence.
We have worked hard to have a clean tool shed, good soil, and ample produce from the garden as well as learning that the garden is a metaphor for life in general.
Sister Clement Johnson, was the chief gardener and manager of the project for nearly ten years. We mourn her passing in 2004. Sister Clement was a whirlwind who considered everything possible. Instructing and teaching came easy to her. In addition to planting, growing and harvesting vegetables for the 3rd Ward’s Manna House, she also collected clothing and household goods for the residents in her community.
Other volunteers at the garden include Isabelle Chapman, who made a bench with a beautiful mosaic of hands working to harvest radishes from the garden. Volunteers include the Dominican Sisters, such as Heloise Cruzat, their friends, contacts through Urban Harvest, the Shell Oil group, Baylor College of Medicine volunteers, the Boy Scouts, Catholic Squires of the Knights of Columbus, University of Houston volunteers, St. Agnes Academy students, neighboring grade schools and various other civic groups. Corporate sponsors have also supported the project.
Here are some of the things we have learned from working in the garden:
- We cannot solve all problems, but we can dig for the solutions and plant with care, water, and hope for the best.
- Sometimes no matter what we plant, it doesn't turn out the way we expect.
- Bugs are everywhere, ants work well together and pill bugs are destructive.
- Being tucked in is wonderful for protecting plants and keeping moisture in - hay works.
- There are helpful and not so helpful bugs and insects, and it is good to know the difference.
- There is a world teeming below the soil and just because something is not seen, it doesn't mean it isn't there. (Garland Kerr, another regular, wages war on the ever-present nematodes with cedar chips, sugar, plants, etc.)
- One never finishes in the garden.
- Overwhelm is a constant state in a garden.
- It is best to label because you often forget what you thought you would always remember.
- Even with the best of intentions, there is destruction in the garden…and death.
- Rebirth and regeneration of all of life's cycles are evident.
- Change is constant.
- Harvesting is not the only good part of working in the garden.
- There are surprises everywhere if one just looks.
- Seeing new growth peeking out from nestled hay is beautiful every time.
For more information, visit the Dominican Sisters webpage.
