Spaghetti squash rounds out the vegetables God's Garden grows and donates during the summer months. (Courtesy God's Garden)
NONPROFIT
Michael and Lorraine Streeb co-founded God’s Garden, which o cially became a nonpro t in 2016. (Claire Shoop/Community Impact Newspaper)
God's Garden Nonpro t feeds the hungry through growing community garden G od’s Garden, a Christ-centered community do so in time for the winter growing season. “We started with one row,” Lorraine said. “We were able to plant that winter and grow some vegetables to get to the food pantries.” BY HUNTER MARROW
Cucumbers are a common vegetable grown and donated by the nonpro t. (Courtesy God's Garden)
WHAT’S ON SALE?
garden in Missouri City, may have begun in 2016 when it earned its nonpro t status, but co-founders Michael and Lorraine Streeb had been community gardening long before then. The Streebs rst grew a 10,000-square-foot community garden at All Saints Lutheran Church in Meadows Place starting in 2000, and it was designed around meeting a basic need: A lot of people could not a ord to buy fresh vegetables, Lorraine said. At the church, the couple grew a variety of vegetables, including sorrel, Vietnamese melons, Indian cucum- bers, rosemary and bu alo gourds. “Our mission is to basically grow vegetables free of charge and give them to the food pantries,” Lorraine said. “We do this so that it can help with the food insecurity in the area.” Eventually, the couple searched for property for a new garden after their church closed in 2019, Lorraine said. The couple started a new garden at 1125 Hwy. 90A, Missouri City, in June 2019 thanks to a 6.5-acre land donation by the property owner, Michael said. The nonpro t needed to clear out trees and scrub brush to make room for a garden, but it managed to
God’s Garden donates di erent vegetables for the spring/summer and winter seasons. Here is a roundup of some of its spring and summer o erings: • Cucumbers
With Michael’s and Lorraine’s experience working the land since their youth, the nonpro t has signi - cantly grown its annual yield of fresh vegetables donated to its partners, including Second Mile Ministry, East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry, Richmond-Rosenberg Helping Hands and Mamie George Community Center’s Trini’s Corner Market. God’s Garden gave 5,440 pounds of vegetables to local food pantries in 2017—an average of about 1,088 meals. By 2021, when the garden expanded to more than 15,400 square feet, the nonpro t had donated 17,447 pounds of fresh vegetables, Lorraine said. Vegetables including butternut squash, spaghetti squash, delicata squash, cucumbers and some okra are some of the spring and summer donated vegeta- bles that go to partners. “That growth really says that there is a lot of food insecurity in the Greater Fort Bend area,” Lorraine said. “I’ve seen people get food from the di erent food pantries, a lot of packaged foods, but they don’t always get fresh.” Claire Shoop contributed to this report.
• White squash • Yellow squash • Okra
• Delicata squash • Spaghetti squash
God’s Garden 1125 Hwy. 90A, Missouri City 281-499-5625 www.godsgarden.us Hours: 8-11 a.m., Mon.-Sat., closed Sun.
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Sugar Land Opens June 1! 3219 Highway 6 / 281.720.6540 www.CordovanArtSchool.com
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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • MAY 2022
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