Anathoth Community Garden & Farm

The story of Anathoth Community Garden & Farm began in 2005 as a response to a murder which occurred down the road from the garden site. Cedar Grove United Methodist Church held a prayer vigil for healing and peace at the site of the murder. Mrs. Scenobia Taylor (a black woman) was present at the vigil and had a vision that she was to donate 5 acres of her land to the (predominately white) church for the healing of the community.

With Mrs. Taylor's vision and that of Pastor Grace Hackney, the skill and dedication of our first Garden Director, Fred Bahnson, and the amazing efforts of neighbors from all across the region, beds were dug and planted and the vision became a reality. Since 2005 Anathoth has been dedicated to growing and sharing healthy food. But the Garden has never simply been about growing food. Its goal has also been to grow community and build relationships across racial and economic barriers.

We are committed to cultivating peace by using regenerative agriculture to connect people with their neighbors, the land, and God.

We are supported by a 150-member CSA program called HarvestShare which strives to make good food accessible to a diverse community. Half of the HarvestShare participants donate a share and half of the participants receive a share. A share includes a wide variety of vegetables and small fruit, and bread that we bake in our brick oven.

"The Garden" comprises four different gardens: a bio-intensive garden in the shape of a Celtic cross, a small-scale market garden that we manage with a walk-behind tractor, a native plants garden, and a forest garden. "The Farm" comprises our commercial-scale gardens which we manage with a four-wheel tractor.