During the Sundays in August, please bring your extra garden harvest to the tables at the back of the St. Luke sanctuary: for a free will donation, other members of your faith family will have a chance to enjoy the blessings of your garden–and the proceeds will go to pay down the St. Luke mortgage!
We asked Kathy Kersten, who helped come up with the Gardens for Growth idea, to share a gardening story and recipe. Sharing your harvest is a way of sharing love in a real and tangible way. Thanks to all who help make this happen!
Kathy’s Garden Story
I have many gardening stories since I have had a garden of some sort for most of my adult life, and I am 76 years old. But here is one I remember well:
It is a warm August day, 2001, as Don and I and daughter Kelle, who is visiting us for a week, await the arrival of Brian, a professional writer in Chelsea, and Andy, professional photographer who lives a few miles from us in the Township . They have come to interview and photograph us for a feature story “Country Garden” in the summer issue 2002 of LIVING THE COUNTRY LIFE. What an exciting few hours that day!
We had lived here in Sharon Township for only 6 years and I was so pleased to finally have an organic garden patterned after a French kitchen potager. Not as fancy as the name sounds, but well-planned with raised beds, intensively planted with a large variety of vegetables and herbs; annuals and perennials bordering the fenced area.
Brian interviewed us first, and then Andy took pictures of us, the garden, and showing some of the canned goods we process, as well as noting the drying and freezing of the harvest. It is amazing how a photographer, who knows what he is doing, could capture our little plot and make it look good enough for a magazine feature.
Don and I left Ann Arbor when Don retired, building our home and giving me the ultimate place to garden. It has been a joy and a blessing. We thank and praise the Lord each day for this gift to us.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11
Kathy’s Recipe to Share
Here is a recipe for all that extra zucchini we have some years:
CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE
3 squares unsweetened chocolate 3 C sugar
3 C flour 1 ½ C vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp baking powder 3 C grated zucchini
1 tsp baking soda 1 C chopped nutmeats
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
Melt chocolate over hot water. Let cool. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 10” tube pan.
Sift flour with baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside. In large bowl, at high speed, beat eggs until thick and light. Gradually add sugar, ½ C at a time, beating well after each addition. Add oil and cooled chocolate; beat until well blended.
At low speed add sifted dry ingredients. Add zucchini and nuts. Pour into pan.
Bake one hour, 15 minutes.
