Love Life Church, New Volunteers, and the Saturday That Had Everything

by | Jul 12, 2025 | Garden Party Recap | 0 comments

Holy smokes, what a day! If you weren’t at the Eastpointe Community Garden today, you seriously missed out on some next-level community magic. We had 32 volunteers show up, harvested over 25 pounds of fresh produce for the community, and somehow managed to get a ridiculous amount of work done before the storm clouds rolled in.

The Love Life Church Crew Brings the Heat (Again!)

Shout out to Pastor Kevin and the dozen volunteers from Love Life Church who showed up early and absolutely crushed it with their annual volunteer day. These folks are the real deal – they tackled over 100 feet of fence line cleanup, reorganized our entire pallet storage area behind the shed, cleared out the garbage corral so we could refill it with yard waste bags, pulled bindweed from 5 different rental beds, and even set up our new wood chip holding bin with cardboard and a tarp so our next delivery doesn’t get mixed up with the soil.

Here’s a fun fact for you: Pastor Kevin was actually one of our original champions when we were just a crazy idea back in the early days. He believed in the vision before anyone else could see it, and back in 2012, our long-term goal was even to create a community garden on his church property too. Turns out the Eastpointe garden kept us plenty busy, but hey – maybe someday!

New Faces, Same Amazing Energy

We had some incredible new volunteers join us today, and man, do they fit right in! Lindsay found us through Facebook and has been following along, really appreciating the content we’ve been putting out. She finally decided she needed to come check us out in person, and we’re so glad she did! She and Shay were painting rocks in the shade under our shelter, and Lindsay even told Shay she’s coming back next week to finish her project. That’s exactly the kind of enthusiasm that keeps this community growing.

And then there’s Jody from Roseville, who also found us on Facebook and loves our storytelling. She finally decided to check us out. Good thing she did, because this woman is a gardening machine! She single-handedly cleaned about 50 feet of fence line, then went back through and broke up all the branches AND bagged them into yard waste bags. I swear, the entire time she was there, she was moving from project to project, making the rest of us look like we were taking a leisurely stroll through the garden.

The Day That Had Everything

While Love Life Church was handling the heavy lifting, the rest of our crew was busy making Saturday magic happen:

  • Bill and Jen were the early birds, arriving at 8:15 AM to start harvesting in the giving garden. These two are absolute legends – they also helped re-string tomatoes and attached those hand-painted bed numbers we’ve been working on (until the storm cut that project short).
  • Kat went above and beyond today, hitting up the grocery store and coming back with bags full of food to make individual subs for everyone. Because nothing says community like making sure everyone is fed while they’re feeding the community.
  • Craig helped clear out the front section in front of the wall, and everybody’s always excited to see Craig because he’s what a true community advocate looks like. This guy embodies everything we love about community spirit!
  • Shay captured some absolutely stunning photos of the fairy garden, including some magical shots with a custom doll her sister made in Arizona. She also painted a beautiful rock with flowers that’s going to be perfect for the fairy garden.
  • Jeff and Rory (yes, Rory the dog always gets a mention) were part of the pond project brainstorming session with Lisa, Coley, Bill, Jen, Molly, Nick, and Tim. Talk about teamwork!
  • Steve was on his own special mission today – and I honestly don’t know what he was doing half the time! He’d pop up in the front of the garden, then disappear to the back, then show up again somewhere else entirely. But I do know what his mission was: total squash bug annihilation! Every so often he’d circle back to those of us hanging out in the shade, proudly showing off the squash bugs he’d found or their eggs, info-dumping about the best ways to get rid of them. Whatever he was doing out there, I can guarantee Steve was having an absolute blast doing it.
  • Nico, Glen, and Katie were running the free produce stand by the sidewalk, and get this – 17 families stopped by to get fresh produce today. Seventeen! That’s what we’re talking about when we say community impact.

Our First Apple! (Yes, You Read That Right!)

Hold up – I almost forgot the most exciting news of all! Our fruit tree officially has an apple on it! For years, people have been asking us if we have any fruit, and we never had the opportunity to grow fruit trees. If I remember correctly, about 3 years ago, Lisa harvested over 200 pounds of apples from the trees at her house and donated them all through the garden. Since then, she’s been figuring out how to get some fruit trees onto our property.

She helped plant some in whiskey barrels that were cut in half a year or two ago, and we officially have an apple! I asked Lisa earlier today when she thought we’d get a “real” harvest, and she said she wouldn’t be surprised if it took around four more years. But regardless, this apple is special! It’s proof that patience and persistence pay off, and that we’re literally growing the future of our community one apple at a time.

Speaking of Community Impact…

Let’s talk about today’s harvest, because these numbers are absolutely incredible:

  • 1.75-pound cabbage (our first of the season and first time growing in netted frames!)
  • 2 pounds of beets
  • 1 pound of cucumbers
  • Over 2 pounds of kohlrabi
  • 1 pound of peas
  • 7 pounds of zucchini
  • Almost 11 pounds of turnips

That’s over 25 pounds of fresh, free food that went directly to our community today. And thanks to Nico, Glen, and Katie, we know exactly where it went – to 17 different families who needed it.

The Snowball Effect is Real

Here’s something that’s got me really excited: Molly (one of our newer volunteers who started with the flower garden and is now getting pulled into more projects – because that’s how the garden works, it sucks you in!) went to the City of Eastpointe’s concert series at the Children’s Garden this week to promote our community garden. She was there passing out flyers and enjoying the music when she met a couple of elderly ladies who then stopped by for their first visit today.

Bill gave them the full tour, and they hung out for at least 30-45 minutes, absolutely loving everything they saw. That’s exactly the kind of organic growth that gets me pumped about the future of both the Eastpointe Community Garden and our new South Warren Community Garden.

Racing the Storm

The weather tried to cut our day short, but this crew knows how to work efficiently! Coley cleaned up giving garden beds 1, 2, and 3 and replanted cucumbers, zucchini, and beets. Jen took down pea trellis string and rerouted beans onto the cattle panel arch, plus did some serious tomato trimming. Everyone pitched in to fill rain barrels and get everything safely put away before the storm hit.

What’s Next?

Saturday mornings at the Eastpointe Community Garden are 10 AM to 2 PM, and we’re always looking for more awesome people to join our crew. No experience needed – we’ve got folks who love to read under the shade trees, others who dive into the physical work, and some who are all about the creative projects. There’s literally something for everyone.

Come hang with us next Saturday and see what all the fuss is about.

3,773 lbs.
Total pounds of fresh produce donated directly to the community!

Donate to the Eastpointe Community Garden

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Join our thriving community garden where everyone is welcome, regardless of experience level or time restraints. Whether you want to dig in the dirt, read in the shade, or simply connect with neighbors, there’s a place for you at the Eastpointe Community Garden every Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM.