Farms and gardens can take many shapes and forms. Often, it is size and function that determines a plot's status as a garden or farm. Recently, GOD's agricultural program shifted its title from Hopewell Farms to Hopewell Gardens. This change reflects a shift in intent for the space. As Hopewell Farms, much energy was invested in the productivity of the space as it pertains to fruit and vegetable quantity and quality. While this effort generated a lot of creativity and allowed for some unique methods of cultivation, it also caused a sort of immobility into the Farm's purpose to be an educational tool for all the many communities of need that GOD serves.
As Hopewell Gardens, it was not just the change in name that took place, but also a reworking of the infrastructure and layout of the space. The intent behind this was to increase the garden's capacity as a learning environment. As a farm, we claimed to practice biodiversity in the crop arrangements and crop rotations practiced. However, as a garden, the space has the freedom to facilitate an environment that is not only biodiverse regarding field crops, but flowers, perennial shrubs and trees, and a dynamic setup of not just raised beds, but meandering paths and purposed landscape design.
To be explicit, the garden is divided up into two primary sections: row cropping food production on the southern half and a sort of "adventure" garden on the northern portion. Having these two distinct sections allows for the educational elements of the garden to broaden--the opportunities for various types of demonstration become possible. In the south portion, we can demonstrate growing methods in similar ways as were possible when we were a production (market) farm. However, there is more freedom to test and experiment, for example, with different types of mulch, irrigation, weed management, crop cultivation methods.
The northern side of the garden is truly exciting because it is not structured in a high efficiency production sort of way. It has edges and curves, and pathways that, when planted out, will lead visitors from one area to the next, each providing a unique presentation of a cultivated landscape with both productive and beautiful elements. A new myriad of demonstrations become possible as we let some parts of the garden go a little more wild, or allow native species to take over, or try to cultivate a crop usually grown in other regions of the world.
In sum, the structure of Hopewell Gardens is such that its ability to present, or demonstrate, God's created order has expanded. The space is more dynamic, arguably less structured, allowing for a renewed focus on being a wealth of knowledge and a place for students to apply not just agricultural food production principles, but ecological and human environmental considerations.
As the spring progresses to summer, the space will fill out, in faith, into something wonderful to look at. In the meantime, we are in the thick of the planting season and enjoying the sporadic rain of the season.
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