By 2008, the garden committee had expanded to include church member Marion Steiner and Sandra Avilez, who was both a church member and on staff at the Monroe Street Neighborhood Center (MSNC). Sandra gently suggested that the primary purpose of a garden should be to feed people. While retaining its original sunflower-inspired design, the garden’s focus gradually shifted from exclusively children’s programming to broader community engagement and food production. A split rail fence, garden kiosk and chicken coop were added with help from the Lucas County CITE Program and the plastic pools were replaced by wooden raised beds planted with seeds and plants from Toledo GROWS. Key volunteers during this time included Jerry Charles, Dick Vollmer and Sarah Twitchell as well as kids in the afterschool program and the church’s Bridge Ministry, part of MSNC. Produce grown in the garden supported the Bridge food pantry (and continues to!). Eventually, additional beds were offered to church and community members to garden for themselves.
Over time, the garden grew substantially in both size and infrastructure. It now covers approximately 10,000 square feet and includes raised beds, raspberry plantings, herbs and perennials, a hoop house, composting area, storage shed, drip irrigation system and reinforced deer fencing to deter animals. The garden has also hosted experiments with vertical gardening, chickens and bees. Volunteer power also grew with Sue Thayer, Cookie and Nathan Chambers, Liz Nixon, Deb Simko, and Ron Mellgreen showing up regularly being supplemented by numerous community groups each year.
