Market Garden

Austin Spry :- During June and July the market garden of St. Michael's Church compound was greatly expanded. In previous years, thanks to the hard work, skill, and dedication of the compound's resident farmer - Arun Chatterjee - the fertile soil of the Market Garden has produced bumper crops of potatoes and other field vegetables. This year the decision was made to take the Market Garden to a new level, with the addition of fencing and the planting of a variety of fruit trees.

The Market Garden serves two purposes, to make the St. Michael's Church compound more sustainable through it's ability to produce its own food, and to provide an educational opportunity for the children at the Durgapur Child Development Center. The addition of various fruit trees to the compound gardens will diversify crop production, and provide additional nutritious foods for compound residents. Fruit trees also have the added bonus of yielding their bounty year after year, while only needing to be planted once! Children, residents, guests, and everyone connected the St. Michael's community will be enjoying nature's gifts of guavas, bananas, pineapples, papayas, jaam, coconuts, and lemons for years to come!
The expansion of the market garden has been made possible by the support of Bishop Probal, the generous gifts of fruit trees by guests Akino Ogawa and Emma Dalby, and the hard work the boys at the Durgapur Child Development Center. In particular, the St. Michael's Compound is blessed to have Arun as a resident farmer: there are very few farmers who show such knowledge of both animal husbandry and horticulture, and even fewer who are so ready to impart that knowledge to the next generation! Not only will the children of St. Michael's Church Compound be able to enjoy the fruits of their labours, in the future they will be able to produce these fruits themselves!