Plainville Parishioners Plant a Garden to Share, Cultivate Community

Story by Karen A. Avitabile

During the summer and fall seasons, Gary Vincent uses his gardening skills for the benefit of parishioners at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Plainville.

“I’m helping the church but the parishioners mainly,” he says. “I like to do things that put a smile on somebody’s face.”

On an acre of church grounds, Vincent keeps the “lost art” of gardening alive by (in no particular order) composting, planting, fertilizing, installing weed control fabric, trellising the tomatoes and harvesting a variety of vegetables for parishioners to enjoy.

Now that the season has come to an end, Vincent is rototilling the church garden with his tractor and harvesting the seeds. He will begin growing plants next March, utilizing his own portable greenhouse on his Plainville property.

“I look at a little seed, and I like to watch it grow,” Vincent says. “I’ve been gardening all my life. My father taught me how to plant when I was 12, and I haven’t missed a season yet.”

Vincent, who has received an Archdiocese of Hartford St. Joseph Medal of Appreciation with his wife, Laurie, is a lifelong parishioner of Our Lady of Mercy Parish. He pours his heart, soul and resources into the garden.

“I like to plant what people want the most when they go to the grocery store, tomatoes,” says Vincent, who is also well known for growing prize-winning pumpkins for competitions.

At the church garden last spring, he planted some 450 tomato plants consisting of a wide variety of types. Complementing the tomatoes were eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, Nardello sweet frying peppers, shishito peppers and radishes, in addition to a patch of zinnia flowers.

“We plant everything about 28 to 36 inches apart for good air circulation,” Vincent says. “There’s a lot of tricks to the trade.”

Father M. David Dawson, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, credits the parish volunteers for their commitment to the garden. “The parish garden is operated by a very small but dedicated crew of volunteers, to whom the parish is greatly indebted to for their service,” he says.

“In a time where the bare necessities have gotten so very expensive, the parish is blessed to have these green thumbs helping so very many people. They produce thousands of dollars’ worth of vegetables. Hopefully, we will have an influx of volunteers to continue to make it possible next spring.”

Plainville resident and parishioner Leona Bisson is one of those volunteers, who started helping Vincent more five years ago. “I started talking to Gary and I wanted to help,” she says. “He’s a master gardener. He knows everything about growing.”

Bisson even recruited her 19-year-old grandson, Ryan Whitehead, to help her pick vegetables, pack them in boxes and carry them into the church.

The boxes with vegetables are displayed on tables at the church’s two entrances for the parishioners to help themselves after weekend Masses.

Bisson makes sure the boxes are refilled after every Mass. An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, she brings fresh vegetables with her when she visits homebound parishioners. Some vegetables are also donated to the local food pantry.

“We get so excited over these vegetables, to watch them grow and to think of how many people will enjoy them,” Bisson says. She adds that volunteers harvested about 10,000 tomatoes during the 2024 growing season. “People appreciate it so much.”

Vincent says he finds joy in gardening. “I feel I am accomplishing something,” he says.

To help with the garden next spring, call the parish office, 860.747.6825.