Local Catholic parish provides fertile ground for Viroqua community garden

IT’S ONE OF those hot days in late May which could be a game changer for the spring and a forecast of things to come for the summer.

On such days, memories of crisp April mornings disappear as quickly as morning fog burnt off by a blistering midday sun. On this day, mild spring weather yields to a humidity usually reserved for late August, the sun blazes down from a bleach-white sky, and a brisk wind blows in.

But high temperatures and sultry conditions do not deter the 21 people gathered on the slight rise of land on the northeastern side of Viroqua. In sunhats and shirtsleeves, they work in scattered bands on a shadeless 60-by-30-foot plot of dirt gouged out of a vacant lot in an industrial park.

Despite the heat, the plot of earth holds on to its moisture. Tucked between industrial-size pole sheds used for storage and commerce and a local veterinarian’s office, the soil is as rich, dark, and dense as chocolate cake.

Up one end of the plot, a group works a grueling choreography of stooping and squatting as they pull weeds and rocks from the field. Down the other end, grabbing shovels, rakes, and pitchforks, another group of workers gather in clusters as they prepare to lay slate-grey rolls of paper mulch.

Most of the 21 participants are Roman Catholics—and all of them are passionate about farming the land and/or feeding the hungry.

It’s only in its first stages, but by the day’s end, this rectangle of rocky, weedy loam will begin to take shape as the Garden of St. Isidore, the community garden sponsored by the Parish of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary—or, as most people around here know it, St. Mary’s.

< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 > >