What can you do with a plot of land that's empty and full of weeds? Plant a garden and start composting with your neighbors! St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Gridley, with the help of generous grants from the Episcopal Foundation of Northern California and California Alliance for Community Composting, has transformed the lot next door to the church at 450 Jackson Street into a garden and composting center for the community: a place to grow food or learn how to garden, a drop-off site for compostable kitchen scraps, and a peaceful outdoor space for people to enjoy.

The Garden at St. Timothy's opened to the public in May 2023 with 20 newly-built and filled garden beds for rent in the following sizes:  5' x 6' (30 sq. ft.) at $15 per year, 5'x 8' or 4'x 10' (40 sq. ft.) at $20 per year, and 5'x 10' (50 sq. ft.) at $25 per year. Each bed has drip irrigation. The yearly enrollment price includes both water and irrigation supplies, which are provided by St. Timothy's church. The system is on a timer and waters automatically so that gardeners don't have to worry about daily watering. To rent a plot, please email st.timothygarden@gmail.com or call 530-218-6636.

The idea for a community garden at St. Timothy's began back in 2015 with the Gridley Community Roots Garden, which closed in 2018. In addition to the individual garden plots for rent, the church's relaunch of the garden includes a teaching garden which doubles as growing space for food to give away to the community, a children's garden and mud kitchen (for messy outdoor play), an outdoor sink and potting area, and of course shaded seating and pleasant surroundings for those who gather.

The Drop in the Bucket composting program at St. Timothy's started in August of 2023 with generous help from Butte Environmental Council (BEC). Anyone in the community may sign up to drop off compostable kitchen materials, for example: fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, paper napkins (no meat, bones, fat, oil, or dairy).

The composting program at the garden is expanding thanks to a grant from California Alliance for Community Composting (CACC) funded by CalRecycle. St. Timothy's currently composts about 75 pounds of kitchen scraps weekly, with the capacity (and goal) to triple that amount, significantly reducing the amount of organic waste going to the landfill. All compost produced at the garden will be used in the garden or shared with those who donate kitchen scraps.

To sign up to bring kitchen scraps to The Garden at St. Timothy's, go to Butte Environmental Council - Composting and scroll down to find the links to Gridley. When you sign up, you can request a complimentary 5-gallon bucket with a lid.

The Garden at St. Timothy's is part of a larger effort by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California (and the Episcopal Church across the U.S.) to return its unused property to agrarian uses. Plenty of grant money is available for garden and farm projects. Locally, St. Timothy's Church wanted to offer Gridley a garden that is both useful and beautiful, to encourage people to grow food with their neighbors, and to increase food security in the community.

With faith that the grant funds would come through, St. Timothy's began preparations for the garden in July 2022: cutting weeds and clearing rubbish, grading and leveling the ground and solarizing the soil to kill weeds. The church paid for a new chain link fence on the alley side of the garden.

By the fall of 2022, volunteers were digging trenches, repairing existing piping, and installing new in-ground irrigation pipe and sprinkler valves for the watering system. Old lumber left over from the first garden was repurposed to build a potting bench, outdoor sink, and mud kitchen for children.

In March of 2023, new redwood was purchased to construct the garden beds, and many volunteers showed up to tackle the job of filling the beds with soil and compost. Pathways between beds were covered with donated wood chips.

The newest addition to the garden is an 8' x 16' greenhouse that is currently under construction. Other plans include comfortable benches and a small fountain at the center of the garden, espaliered fruit trees, a rainwater recovery system, and a redwood deck at the front garden entrance.

Gardeners and volunteers at The Garden at St. Timothy's get together monthly to learn more about gardening and preserving food while enjoying each other's company. All are welcome to attend the meetings which take place in the church offices.

You don't need to be an experienced gardener to get started at St. Timothy's. There are lots of resources and support (everything from tools to seeds), as well as guidance from UC Master Gardeners of Butte County! A recent seed-starting event at the garden attracted a friendly mix of new and experienced gardeners and volunteers who had fun planting seeds in flats (for transplanting outside later this spring). Other recent events included free public talks about composting and the 1,000 Acres More program by Amy Roseman of Butte County Local Food Network.

Butte County Local Food Network has donated a “Free the Food” stand to The Garden at St. Timothy's, so that gardeners can share their produce with the community, and the community can bring food to share with others as well: fresh, whole vegetables and fruits are welcome. The food stand will soon be located in front of the church at 410 Jackson Street.

Volunteers are needed for a variety of projects at The Garden at St. Timothy's, ranging from garden maintenance and composting to building projects, publicity and social media. If you would like to learn more about what's going on, volunteer to help, or donate to the garden, email st.timothygarden@gmail.com.

The Garden at St. Timothy's is growing, thanks to the many gardeners, volunteers, and other folks who have provided ideas, effort, enthusiasm and support. There's plenty of room in the garden and it's always open…come and take a look!

The Master Gardeners' Spring Workshop Series has begun! There will be 15 more workshops on a variety of topics (including composting) between now and May 22. For information about the workshops, and to register, go to our website.  All workshops are free, but registration is required.

UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system.  To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area visit our website.  If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu or leave a phone message on our Hotline at 530-552-5812. To speak to a Master Gardener about a gardening issue, or to drop by the MG office during Hotline hours, see the most current information on our Ask Us section of our website.