Cathedral/Sacred Heart hosts home gardening workshop

On Saturday, September 27, as part of our year-long Jubilee of Hope, we celebrated creation with a Home Gardening Workshop at Nelson Street Boys’ RC School.

Cathedral Administrator Fr Martin Sirju began the workshop with a prayer and spoke briefly about the importance of appreciating those parts of creation other than human beings—plants, animals, seas etc—referring to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’.

After his remarks, Jameel Phillip, founder of Green Thumb Gardens, began his presentation. The participants benefited from Jameel’s ten years’ experience of helping families, schools, and communities grow their own food.

Jameel spoke to the participants about various aspects of home gardening such as choosing what plants to grow, the tools and equipment needed, maintenance of the garden and the use of compost. His passion about making safe, nutritious food accessible to everyone was evident as he explained the steps necessary in growing a successful garden.

The participants asked many questions and shared experiences about home gardening. Jameel listened and gave advice on the best approaches in making the experience of home gardening a successful and enjoyable one. The workshop ended with a heartfelt thanks to Jameel for taking the time to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. Then seedlings were distributed to the participants. Thanks also to Fr Sirju, members of the Cathedral Parish Jubilee Committee, the principal of Nelson Street Boys’ RC and others for making this possible.

To fully celebrate the joy that hope brings not only means having meaningful connections with one another but also with the created world around us. Let us learn to appreciate, nurture, and protect nature as given to us by the Creator as gift. We wish the new and experienced garden enthusiasts God’s blessings and success. —Story and photos courtesy Alvin Peters