CHURCH GARDEN TAKES ROOT IN LOT

Microfarm is joint project of Episcopal Church of the Redeemer and Gateway Pharms

A new crop of vegetables is growing with a combination of compost, hard work and charity on vacant land in Lorain.

The microfarm is a joint project of Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 647 Reid Ave., and Lorainbased Gateway Pharms.

The goal is to grow food the church could use for its weekly community meals on Wednesdays.

The Rev. Alex Barton, church pastor, and grower Jim Goforth joined forces earlier this year to make the concept a reality at the corner of West 12th Street and Lexington Avenue.

Goforth began his agricultural career in 2018, earning certificates in specialty crops and permaculture design from Lorain County Community College.

He began his own urban farm in his backyard, selling vegetables at a farmer’s market and to local restaurants. Now cultivating produce is his day job on plots in Lorain and South Amherst.

This summer he has started his own farmer’s mini-market, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays at 860 Oberlin Ave.

Goforth said he began investigating how to turn vacant lots in Lorain into tiny farms.

This year, he and Barton connected online and their project took root.

Landowner Max Schaefer of Lorain donated the parcel with a two-year agreement with the church.

“The goal wasn’t to make money, but to see a benefit to the neighborhood, the people who depend on Church of the Redeemer for healthy meals and the community of Lorain as a whole,” Schaefer said. “I’m glad to play a very small part in what will hopefully be a huge success.”

More land for growing was enticing, Goforth said.

He started a GoFundMe online giving campaign that generated $1,115 — more than their initial goal of $1,000 to cover costs of supplies. The Ohio Environmental Council also contributed to the project.

They broke ground June 24 with about 20 volunteers and a number of starter plants.

Barton said the vegetable patch is a start. He and Goforth have ideas on how to grow a larger gardening program to teach people about the art, science and therapeutic value of raising plants for food.

“Part of it too is just so much that is good in Lorain, people need to see it first, often, before they’re really going to believe it’s possible,” Barton said. “I thought, you know, we’ll step out there and try it and see what it’s like and how it happens.”

Their planting coincided with the July heat wave. Volunteer Robert Hewitt of Lorain has become the chief water bearer, filling containers in Lake Erie and trucking the water to sustain the vegetables, when not at work.

A “wannabe gardener,”

Hewitt said his family members are longtime growers with land in Penfield Township near Wellington. On July 29, he, his cousin, Steve Hewitt, and Steve’s son, Ashton, 4, were among the volunteers for the continuing work of planting, watering, weeding and, eventually, picking.

“I like to see progress,” Bobby Hewitt said. “Sometimes progress is slow, but it’s progress.”

On July 29, Goforth said they were pleasantly surprised to find so much green on the land. There were tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, squash, beans, radishes, Swiss chard, yarrow, sunflowers, calendulas and black-eyed susans.

On Wednesday nights they go to work with garden tools, friendly banter and occasional theologiat cal questions for Barton, least from one volunteer who brought his infant son.

The workers filled raised beds with compost and Goforth directed some seeding for eventual cooler weather greens for the fall.

“It’s been my experience that when you have enough publicity and you’re doing something that is in fact good and healthy in Lorain, people show up,” Barton said. “Even though there’s a lot of people who like to complain about Lorain, when something good is happening, people really show up.”

“And I find there’s just really good people around agriculture in general,” Goforth said. “Everything is green and lush and the weeds are staying at bay. Tomatoes are starting to ripen. Greens are getting big enough to harvest.”

PHOTOS BY RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL The Rev. Alex Barton, left, pastor of Lorain’s Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, contemplates the tomato plants as grower Jim Goforth creates a string trellis for one on July 29.

Volunteer Albert Trent reaches for a splash of water as Duane Weedman refreshes the plants at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer’s urban farm during a Wednesday evening work session on the land at West 12th Street and Lexington Avenue in Lorain.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Volunteers John Gulas, left, and Robert “Bobby” Hewitt, of Lorain, load a wheelbarrow with compost to fill raised beds at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer’s urban farm on July 29. The vacant land microfarm at the corner of West 12th Street and Lexington Avenue, grows food for the church’s weekly community meals.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Lorain grower Jim Goforth, left, and volunteer Albert Trent prepare a flat for seeds for cool weather fall plants on July 29, at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer’s urban farm at the corner of West 12th Street and Lexington Avenue in Lorain. Goforth and church pastor, the Rev. Alex Barton, joined this year to develop a vacant land microfarm that grows food for the church’s weekly community meals.