The Jill Stone Community Garden at Temple Emanu-El was founded and became a Master Gardener project in 2012. Its mission is to provide fresh vegetables to the Vickery Meadow Food Pantry, part of the North Texas Food Bank. The garden is 100% organic, and all of the harvest is donated. One of the Master Gardeners serves weekly at the pantry and acts as a liaison between the pantry and the garden.

This PlantTAGG-enabled garden is in the northernmost stretch of land on the Temple Emanu-El campus and encompasses 13,500 sq feet. There are 41 raised beds, trellises, additional farmers’ rows, and a greenhouse. In 2020 the garden contributed just over 2.5 tons of produce and in 2021, donations are expected to exceed 3 tons. As a certified Monarch Waystation, the garden has several beds with flowering plants to attract and feed the monarchs and other pollinators.

One Master Gardener team member is employed by the Temple preschool and uses the garden as an outdoor classroom for an early education nutrition and farm-to-table program. A core group of about a dozen certified Master Gardeners enjoy sharing their knowledge with other Master Gardeners, interns, and novice gardeners from the community.

Each volunteer has the opportunity to contribute and to learn about best horticultural practices in greenhouse management, plant propagation, soil amendments, growing vegetables, drip irrigation, water-wise gardening, composting, and planting for pollinators.

The Jill Stone Garden is a beautiful, peaceful place to gather with fellow gardeners. We work year-round and get sweaty and dirty, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything. We want to invite all to learn with us, meet friends, and help grow more food for our neighbors! We always have a team there on Wednesday and Sunday mornings from 8:00 am-11:00 am. Please join us!