In the heart of the rapidly expanding city of Kent, new roots are being planted. IRC's most recent community garden, located at St. James Episcopal Church and funded by King Conservation District, opened its arms to the community in August 2019 after nearly six months of site preparation.

Despite opening late in the season, several committed refugee growers got straight to work at the garden, planting rows of mustard greens in 6 of the 35 available plots. One of those dedicated gardeners is Gadul, a refugee from Bhutan who has grown food his whole life. “Back in Nepal and Bhutan we would grow food year-round,” he remembers. “We garden at St. James because we can grow year-round there too. The garden never closes.”

ALT TEXT
Volunteers construct a fence to help protect & demarcate the garden at St. James.
Photo: IRC Staff

Gadul prefers to grow food for himself and his family, rather than buy it at the store. “When you are putting in work to grow food for you and your family, the food is better and fresher," he says. His plot is one of the six filled with mustard greens, known as saag in his native Nepali language. He is looking forward to growing potatoes and more, as the summer approaches.

The refugee growers are not the only people who benefit from community agriculture. The Reverend Joyce Parry-Moore has high hopes for building community and strong relationships around the garden. Known in her church community as “Mother Joyce” or “MoJo”, the Reverend strongly believes in advocating for refugee and immigrant communities, which are common among Kent’s diverse population.

Since coming to St. James in 2017, Mother Joyce has continued the church’s longstanding commitment to community organizing around immigrant issues. “The issue of immigrant quality of life is close to my heart; we are a nation of immigrants, after all,” she says. She also believes in the power of connection to land and pursuing food justice through farming. “People are able to heal faster and more sustainably when working on the land,” Mother Joyce says. The community garden provides space for refugee and immigrant communities in Kent to grow food and meet their needs by connecting to land.

When asked about her hopes for the garden, Mother Joyce is excited. “I hope the garden will become a place where people can connect across cultures, as well as to the earth and their own histories,” she says.

On a surprisingly sunny Saturday during the last weekend of February 2020, over 40 volunteers joined gardeners and New Roots staff to help get the garden ready for the growing season. The generous people at Construction for Change and LDS Issaquah helped to build a protective fence around the new garden plots and prepare the garden beds for the imminent growing season. The turnout for the event exceeded New Roots' expectations, allowing for a very productive day with volunteers harmoniously working alongside gardeners. By the end of the day, volunteers, staff and gardeners had built over 400 feet of wire mesh fencing, tilled soil, cleared pathways and put down wood chips.

The garden is now ready for refugee and immigrant farmers to plant seeds and grow a bountiful harvest of crops. Thank you to the volunteers, gardeners, and community members that came to help make their dreams of cross-cultural connection and improved food access among South King County’s most vulnerable populations a reality. 

Interested in helping with future garden projects? Email [email protected] to get notified about upcoming work parties!