Planting More Than Trees at The Refuge Community Garden in Kokomo

On May 2, 2026, fruit trees and berry bushes found a permanent home at The Refuge Community Garden on North Waugh Street in Kokomo.

Through Gordon Gives, our nonprofit branch, Grow With Gordon donated a diverse collection of food-producing trees and shrubs—including apple, pear, plum, apricot, aprium, serviceberry, currant, elderberry, and honeyberry. Together, these plants can grow into a lasting source of fresh fruit for the garden and the community it serves.

But the day was about more than adding fruit to a garden. It was also an opportunity for young people to put their hands in the soil and learn how a community food garden grows.

One of the most meaningful parts of the day was seeing the young people actively participate. They took turns digging holes, handling the plants, and settling soil around the roots. The adults offered instruction and helped when needed, but the children were given a real part in the work.

That is what made the day special. The Refuge community was not only growing food; it was teaching a younger generation how that food begins.

Years from now, these children may return to find mature trees standing where they once dug small holes with their own hands.

By then, the shovel will be theirs to pass on—along with the knowledge, responsibility, and care for the land they received here—to the generation that follows.

Strong Plants Ready for a New Home

The donated plants were remaining nursery stock from Grow With Gordon’s 2025 planting season. After overwintering outdoors in Indiana, these plants had already hardened to local conditions. Their healthy return in spring was clear evidence that they were strong, locally acclimated and ready for a permanent home.

Through Gordon Gives, we brought the plants to the Waugh Street garden and joined church members, community participants, and young people to plant them.

Grow With Gordon has occasionally helped The Refuge since last year, and this planting day continued that relationship through Gordon Gives.

The new trees and shrubs expanded the edible landscape surrounding the garden’s established raised beds and growing spaces. The Refuge community already turns its harvest into food for local people. As these perennial plants mature, they can extend that work—producing fruit year after year and helping the garden feed even more people in the community.

The trees were small on planting day, but what was planted alongside them—knowledge, participation, and a connection to the land—can continue growing too.