In a few weeks St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Ballard will launch a community garden project, which may impact the people of Afghanistan.

St Luke’s Episcopal Church is offering 30 100-square foot plots on NW 58th Street for growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

The lot on 2025 N.W. 58th Street has stood empty for decades, said Gary Linden, owner of Linden Landscaping and the resident gardener at St Luke’s Episcopal Church.

“We’ve got 5000 square feet for about thirty plots and hope to build a shed,” he said.

The lot is surrounded by apartment complexes and Linden said he hopes to get the community involved. An informational meeting will be held at the church on Saturday, February 19th at 10 a.m. for anyone interested in renting a plot.

“It will be great for the neighbors to have a place to put their hands in the dirt. To grow vegetables and some flowers,” Linden said.

The community garden program will be modeled on Seattle’s P-Patch Program and overseen by St Luke’s members and neighbors.

In preparation for the community garden, the ground has been tilled about six inches deep. With the help of the men from Victory Outreach, a Christian rehab program adjacent to the church, the weeds were hand dug and removed and winter rye, crimson clover and other hardy ‘green manure’ cover crops were planted.

These are the first steps of the biointensive approach to gardening as developed by John Jeavons. This methodology (growbiointensive.org) has grown to have world-wide impact since Jeavons’ book was first published in 1974. Gary Linden will teach a course on this eight-step system at St Luke’s in late February or early March.

Linden said biointensive gardening may be the most effective gardening or mini-farming method to help feed the world in the future.

“It is truly sustainable and amazingly productive,” he said.

Linden is a firm believer in this approach and intends to teach it in Afghanistan to help communities provide for themselves.

Linden lived in Afghanistan briefly prior to the Soviet invasion in 1979 and since has made four additional trips to the country. He witnessed the Taliban rule in 1999 and in 2005 he worked on an agricultural development project in Istalif, north of Kabul in the Shamali plain.

The Afghan Department of Agriculture recognized the project for introducing Thompson Seedless Grapes to the country which are grown with a drip irrigation system powered by solar panels.

“Out of the four dozen countries I’ve been to, Afghanistan is one country that fixated me,” Linden said.

Nutritious food is critical to Afghanistan as it has the second highest infant mortality rate in the world.

“I’ve been keen to make a contribution in a positive way,” Linden said.

Linden hopes to introduce the Ballard community to this method of productive gardening but said that people are not limited to applying this method in the community garden.

Financial support is needed to reestablish the water system on the property and Linden said he’s hoping to get donations for a shed and tools as well. Tax deductible donations can be sent to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Community Garden Fund. 5710 22nd Ave. NW, Seattle, WA 98107.