Community Gardens

Tabernacle Community Garden

Nestled in East Marion, at the corner of Clark and Baldwin, the Tabernacle Community Garden (TCG) will celebrate the beginning of its fourth year in April of 2021. The Tabernacle Community Garden is more than just fresh fruits and vegetables for the food insecure, it's building relationships, building bridges, and building hope. 

Future Plans

We are looking to expand the garden by offering raised beds for rent, a walking path, benches, picnic tables, and a fire pit. These additions will create an atmosphere perfect for relationship building while offering a place to take a walk, get some fresh air, and reconnect with nature. 

Growing Food For Our Community

Our biggest feature will still be the large main garden focused solely on growing food for community donation. Neighbors have worked together since 2018 to grow food in our garden to share with local shut-ins, local food pantries and soup kitchens, the Marion FD, shelters, WIC, the Box of Love project, and many more.

Satellite Location

In 2019, the garden expanded with a satellite garden annex located at Fat Boys Burritos. This second location gave the garden additional room to grow a variety of vegetables and herbs.

Garden Details

The garden's entrance is located on Clark Street. The Tabernacle Community Garden is open from Sunrise until Sunset. During the growing season, neighbors and community members are invited and encouraged to work in the garden, planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting. Workers may share in the bountiful harvest, but most of the food grown in the main garden is shared with the needy in our community.

More Than a Garden

The Tabernacle Community Garden is helping to fight food insecurity in Marion. This was the original idea for the garden, but it became much more. The TCG has created a sense of community. Neighbors are working together, getting to know one another, caring for each other, building relationships, and creating a more unified community. Volunteering in the garden will help us continue this dream of fighting food insecurity in Marion. No one should go to bed hungry!

Contact Information

To volunteer or for more information, please email Niki Palmer, Garden Coordinator. You can share your experiences of the community garden on social media by using the hashtags #feedingmcdowell and #communitypartnershipsmatter. If you'd like to connect with Niki directly, her cell is 717-526-8728.