A local church is celebrating its first harvest of a mission ministry dedicated to a late lifelong member of its congregation.

Ruby’s Garden, the church’s ministry, is a community garden set up in honor of Ruby Pippin, a lifelong member who passed away in March. Pippin, who grew up in the church, was an avid gardener and did so well into her 90s before she passed away, according to church members. The church purchased the piece of land adjacent to its property and from a vision of one of its members, Margaret Hudson, the garden was berthed in Pippin’s honor, said AUMC Pastor Jim Reid.

“When we thought of the community garden aspect, Ruby is the first one we thought of and doing something in her memory,” Reid said. “We wanted to put the land to use in some way or another so this is one of the ideas we had. She (Pippin) was never idle. She was just of that generation that had a strong work ethic and a strong love for her church, and she was a faithful attendee.”

In its first year, the garden contains three low maintenance crops — sweet potatoes, string beans and okra, Reid said. So far, the garden has harvested over 100 pounds of string beans, most of which has gone to the Zion Shelter and Kitchen, a homeless shelter that feeds 20 to 25 people per day. The garden also partners with distributors like Eagles Wings, the Salvation Army and the Food Bank of the Albemarle, Reid said.

“God has just multiplied,” Reid said. “You plant a dollar’s worth of seed and this is what you get — that’s God’s bounty. It is a real blessing.”

Reid said volunteer members of the church have played roles in the formation of the garden. One member plowed the land, one brought his tractor and made the rows and through a collective effort, the garden was planted, watered regularly, fertilized and kept up the maintenance. Mission coordinator June Robertson and her husband Billy have advised the congregation on how best to care for the garden, Reid said. Another member of the church created a hand-painted sign for the garden that reads “Ruby’s Garden.”
“It’s been a real exciting thing to watch,” Reid said. “They (the Robertsons) were kind of our gardening experts and helped get us started. They knew about all that needed to be done, and they have pretty much kept us on task there and been the ones to call everyone together when we need to water it or pick vegetables.”

Reid said today at 1 p.m., the church will host a first harvest dedication, in which Pippin’s entire family will be present to take part in the harvest of the garden. At the dedication, Pippin’s family and various members of the church will come together to weed, water and harvest the garden. Reid says the church hopes to expand the garden and develop the community garden concept by applying for grants from the Duke Endowment, which aids rural Methodist churches in starting up ministries.

“What we would really like to develop is the community garden concept where people would come out and maybe take a section, cultivate it and all the proceeds would go to missions. We know it’s not going to feed everybody, but it’s part of a link in a continuing chain of things in this community. We wanted to be apart of that.”