Caring for God’s creation and for one another 

Kathy Dudley had no idea when she started the Garden Club at Butler Catholic School that it would become such an important activity for families spending extensive time together at home during the pandemic.

“I wanted the students to know where food comes from—not just the grocery store—and to succeed in growing their own food,” said Dudley, the school’s development director who grew up on a commercial vegetable farm.

“It’s also important for children to learn the miracle of the growth process that God has given us, and how fortunate we are to be able to help that process along,” she said. “Families have started home gardens and are growing plants in patio pots.”

Fifth grader Jackson Jungling loves being in the Garden Club, which has 48 members.

“When I was little, my grandmother had a lot of plants in her house,” said Jackson, who became a certified Junior Master Gardner last year. “Garden Club is really fun.”

“The club involves our whole family,” said Jackson’s mom, Missy Jungling. “We help with a variety of different plantings, tilling the soil, spreading mulch, weeding, watering and harvesting.”

Garden beds outside the school are filled with strawberry plants, herbs, lettuce, carrots, beets, spinach and radishes. The boxes have cold-weather covers, extending the growing season.

Butler Catholic students not only follow the church’s teachings to care for God’s creation, they are serving others by donating fresh fruits and vegetables to the food pantry at St. Vincent de Paul Society and selling plants to support the club. One family is raising bees and selling the honey, while kids have made their own lip balm from the wax.

Seed sales are growing rapidly nationwide as people find new ways to pass the time and ensure a supply of homegrown produce this summer.

For more ideas on how to protect the planet, click here.

Photo: Jackson Jungling shows off Butler Catholic School Garden Club’s prize-winning cabbages at the 2019 Butler Farm Show.