Plant Share

As a celebration of God’s gift of so much natural abundance, we held our second annual Plant Share outside St James’ Church after the 10 am service on 1st June. We invited the congregation

to bring any spare plants along for others to take home and enjoy. Seasoned vegetable growers shared their glut of seedlings, while others brought common, easily propagated plants as well as those growing too big for the windowsill.

By the time the service started, four large tables were crowded with houseplants, perennials and annual flowers for the garden, pots of herbs and lots of young plants to grow edibles like

strawberries, courgettes, tomatoes, squashes and cucumbers. A lot of fun was had browsing, exchanging growing tips, and learning about plants we hadn’t come across. It was particularly satisfying to see people being encouraged to grow things for the first time: to try growing tomatoes, and enjoy fresh herbs from the windowsill or plant flowers for pollinators. Several children took a plant home, having never looked after one before.

Thanks to the fine weather, there were also plenty of interactions with passers-by: A couple, visiting from Wales, just wanted to cast their eyes on the church where they were married 31 years ago. They went home with a ‘Mother-in-law’s tongue’ as a souvenir of the occasion. A student was on her way to a run on the Common. She returned later, choosing a pot of basil and a house plant. A man who lived in Shirley for 60 years stopped to share his dream of seeing the clock face of the church repainted. He declined the offer of a plant, but we were able to inform him about our Restore and Renew project. A young man regretted he didn’t have a garden, but asked what might be suitable for his balcony – he found the right match and went home satisfied.

The plants that were left were divided between two schools for their community gardens. In summary, hundreds of plants changed hands encouraging folk to have a first experience of

growing things as well as expanding the range of seasoned growers or filling those gaps in their garden beds. Most importantly, lots of conversations were had, connections made, community built, and the joy of plants and God’s creation shared.