Wednesday, August 1, 2001

'God's Little Acre' is big on love

Corn, potatoes, watermelon and roses will soon be sprouting at Christian City thanks to houseparents Kit and Darryl Elliott.

Self-described fledgling gardeners, the Elliotts have taken on the garden as a summer project. If it gets as much tender loving care as their 12 children, they will get a bountiful harvest.

"It's something I've wanted to try for a very long time," says Kit Elliott. "One of our goals is to help the children gain confidence by seeing a project through from the beginning. Each child gets to choose their own fruit and vegetable and they have to research it and give the information to me."

The garden project started in mid-April and is just sprouting. Elliott decided to establish the garden as a form of physical and spiritual therapy for the seniors and for the kids. Nearly 25 plants, vegetables and fruits are being planted and Elliott's daughter, Tegan Elliott, 13, has been helping.

"There were plants and weeds so we had to take out weeds and the dead plants and then fertilize it. Then we had to pick plants and vegetables we wanted," says Tegan. "We still have more to plant."

Ruth Banks who lives in Moore Manor walks every day and has seen the children working in the garden. Banks' sister used to maintain a garden on the same spot.

"It's a job to keep the weeds out but it's good that they are doing this," says Banks. "You appreciate more if you have to work for something."

Elliott hopes the garden will serve as a meeting place for both young and old.

"It's very new, and we don't have a lot of adult participation yet so we are hoping that more will get involved. Come and bring your experience and stories, and we will bring the energy and enthusiasm," Elliott says of anyone that wants to get involved.

Two children's cottages with 20-24 kids are participating in the garden project. Each child has to learn a about a plant or vegetable and research and prepare a recipe.

"I'm doing corn and it says it tastes better when you grow it than when you buy it, that's what I read," says Tara, 9. "I didn't know about corn at all except that it's yellow."

Twelve-year-old Lee, an aspiring zoologist, has been focusing on the bugs in the garden and hopes to catch a praying mantis for the garden so it will eat the aphids that destroy the roses. He deposited a lizard in the strawberry bed to eat bugs.

When asked when she expects to see the fruits of her labor, Kit Elliott cries, "We don't know when the harvest party iswhen everything is ripe! We hope before the kids go back to school. We want to have enough to have a party but don't want 80 squash crops to be ready on one day."

"Our dream is to have a gazebo and picnic tables. The retirees can sit in the shade while the kids are working in the garden. And then the kids can sit down and start a conversation with them and a relationship can be developed," says Kit Elliott.

The Elliotts haven't picked a name for the garden but are thinking about naming it "God's Little Acre ." They hope that through this project the kids will learn about community responsibility and charity according to Ephesians 4:28.

"We are working to reclaim the land. The beds were in bad shape and the kids have worked so hard to get them back. They have been pulling, whacking weeds and tilling, and they have worked hard," says Elliott. "Right now this is a dream, and everything we have intended we might not see this year but it will come."

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