It’s one of my favorite harbingers of spring in southern Connecticut: the friendly, informative email from organizers of Common Good Gardens, alerting volunteers and followers of what needs to be done in next in their vegetable garden behind Grace Episcopal Church in Old Saybrook. 

This isn’t your typical vegetable garden. Last summer, volunteers harvested over 7,000 pounds of vegetables — from peas, beans, kale and Swiss chard, to tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash — off of barely one-half acre of what has got to be the best garden soil around. All of the produce goes to Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries facilities on the shoreline, providing fresh ingredients for meal sites from Clinton and Chester to Old Lyme and organic produce for food pantries from Westbrook to Niantic.

“It’s not just your everyday garden,” says Barbara Standke, CGG’s newest volunteer coordinator, who lives in Chester. “For anyone who likes to learn new things, it’s an exciting place. There are interesting people there, anyway, from all walks of life. You learn on a variety of levels.”

Started in 2001 as part of the Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Food Pantries on space donated by the church, Common Good Gardens continues to evolve with its membership and the needs of the communities it serves. About six years ago, CGG became its own non-profit entity with its own board. Since then, it has helped spawn and encourage other gardens that produce food for soup kitchens and pantries in the region: Food for All Garden organized by Margaret Larom at the Episcopal Church in Clinton, and gardens at Valley Shore YMCA in Westbrook.

The CGG effort has become an institution over the years. There’s retired submariner Mark Lenhart’s multi-bin system for cold composting clippings and leaves donated by the town into an incredibly healthy, rich and robust soil, its organic matter chock-full of beneficial microorganisms and nutrients for plants. The planting committee has meticulously charted which varieties of cool and warm season crops do best and what integrated pest management techniques work on the site. A recipe committee printed cards with kale, Swiss chard and squash recipes and preparation tips for patrons. Multiple Master Gardener students have completed their summer internships helping in the gardens.

“It’s this ongoing science project. If you like to garden, you’ll always take back something new,” Standke says. “If you like nutrition, or you’re just thrilled by the science of nature, we’re always learning new ways to feed the soil, which feeds the crops."

The success of the operation is in its volunteers, not all whom have to have a green thumb or even like to garden.

“We need drivers to deliver the produce to the soup kitchens and food pantries. If someone can’t get down on their knees or doesn’t have the back strength to flip mulch, they can do Facebook postings or help with the website,” says Kate Wessling, CGG president. “We welcome people who like to give talks about what we do, or write news stories.”

While the majority of volunteers aren’t needed until planting, growing, watering and harvesting activities kick in, they stay in touch through a year-round email update and a Facebook page. This Saturday morning, current and new volunteers are welcomed back with a pre-season pot-luck brunch at Wessling’s home in Higganum, where they will hear plans for the coming year. This includes the planting committee picks of what crops to grow. Seeds are donated by Chas. A. Hart Company in Wethersfield, Wessling says, and warm weather seedlings are donated by Riggio’s Garden Center, Essex, Smith’s Acres in Niantic, and Old Saybrook High School classes.

“The pantries and soup kitchens are a resource for those who couldn’t otherwise afford fresh produce,” says Standke. “We organize our work crews around the schedules of these facilities, so we’re picking and delivering the produce in time to be packaged or used as ingredients in heat-and-eat meals.”

When the growing season kicks in, garden volunteers are asked to commit to help one day per week — early Tuesday and Saturday mornings, or Thursday afternoons. Each of SKKP’s five pantries give out three days’ worth of groceries, and each of the eight meal sites serves one hot meal a day per week. See schedules and locations at shorelinesoupkitchens.org.

To learn more about CGG or sign up for Saturday’s pot-luck brunch, see Common Good Gardens OS on Facebook (facebook.com/CommonGoodGardensOS ) or email commongoodgardens@gmail.com 

Suzanne Thompson writes Local Dirt columns in The Day and hosts her weekly CT Outdoors radio show on WLIS 1420 AM, Old Saybrook, and WMRD 1150 AM, Middletown and on wliswmrd.net.