PERRYSVILLE, IND. — If the bountiful cornfields surrounding West Liberty Church of Christ just east of Perrysville are any indication, the soil where the building sits is fertile and perfect for growing crops.

So why not plant a vegetable garden and share the harvest with the congregation?

That’s exactly what five members of the church’s Ladies’ Ministry decided to do this year.

“We felt that there was a need,” said Carolyn Lloyd, one of the initiators. “We set it up to help out the members of our church.”

The recession has hit many of the church members hard and the women, who are all avid hobby gardeners, thought a vegetable garden would be a good complement to the church’s already existing food pantry.

“Some families are out of work and they really appreciated something to make up the difference,” said Coleeta Cash, who helped spearhead the project. “We even had enough (crops) that some people canned tomatoes out of the garden. God’s been good this year.”

Cash, together with Lloyd, Becky Powell, Sandy Shaw and Pam Abernathy, started preparing the garden in the spring. Bonnie Plant Farm of Crawfordsville made a generous donation of cabbage plants, and the church’s Ladies’ Ministry funded the rest of the seeds and plants. Before long, the garden was filling up with cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and green beans.

“Everything we planted this year was successful; we had no crop failures,” Lloyd said. “Some of our cabbage heads were 15 pounds. We had to cut them in half.”

When funds started to run low and the garden needed some fertilizer, the women passed around a “noisy bucket” in the church, raising $96. That was enough not just to cover the soil materials, but to pay for the seeds for next year. “One thing about this church is that when there’s a need (the members) give,” Lloyd said.

Every Friday or Saturday throughout the growing season, the women came out and picked, washed and bagged the produce for the Sunday service. Some weeks, other members brought in produce from their own gardens to share. Lloyd estimated that 80-90 people took benefited from the garden this year.

“We had some people who work for minimum wage take advantage of it. We also have a lot of older members who used to have their own garden but aren’t physically able to garden anymore.”

“For someone who doesn’t have a garden it was wonderful,” said Patty Green, who enjoyed the fresh produce from the church.

“My tomatoes didn’t do well, so I appreciated getting some from this garden,” added Bonnie Abernathy, another member of the church.

“Somebody said it was like Jesus with the loaves and fishes, it just kept giving,” Lloyd said about the garden.

Spurred on by their success, the women have already decided to plant a garden next year, twice the size of the current one. “We’re adding late turnips, cucumbers, squash, onions and maybe early peas,” Lloyd said. “It’ll be easier next year because we’re not starting from scratch.”

Lloyd noted that the interest in gardening is growing and said the support for the community garden at West Liberty Church of Christ is strong “It’s here to stay, hopefully. We’ll just have to find some young people to take over.”