ZELIENOPLE — A community garden continues to grow in produce and involvement.

The garden at Oak Grove Lutheran Church plans to expand in its third year of service by installing an orchard and building a 20- by 30-foot pavilion, the latter of which will be constructed with a $15,000 grant.

“We’ve grown so much that it’s important that everyone pitches in and maintains what we have growing,” said community garden President Tom Applequist, a New Sewickley resident for about 35 years.

The orchard will have about eight trees to grow apples, peaches, cherries or plums.

The pavilion will be called a “covered open space” for grant funding purposes and will be built by volunteers. Applequist said the pavilion will be built by June.

The garden last year saw 36 plots grown using 25 volunteers About 2,200 pounds of produce was donated to the Salvation Army Food Bank. The garden group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The goal for this year is to have 45 plots grown with organic produce only. Each rentable plot measures 10 feet by 20 feet. It’s up to people what plants they want to grow in their plots. People can either donate their produce or keep it for themselves.

Applequist said people “usually” donate half of their food and keep the rest.

Plants that have been grown each year include beans, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, watermelons, corn and potatoes among others.

“It was a simple idea, but then it became its own creature,” pastor Nathaneil Christman said. “To actually see this come into reality has been truly amazing.”

The garden began in 2015 after talks between Applequist and Christman before a Sunday morning service. It was Christman who first proposed the idea.

“The crazy thing was he (Applequist) wrote down the idea a couple nights before,” Christman said.

About 2 acres was mowed and reserved for growing produce. About 25 people showed up to the first meeting.

“We got everything in place our first year,” Applequist said. “I’ve learned not to underestimate the members of the church.”

The first year was successful, with about 1,200 pounds of produce donated to the food bank.

Applequist also said the garden received aid from Tom Brenckle, owner of Brenckle’s Organic Farm & Greenhouse, who grew beans and plowed the area. A shed and water lines were also built.

The garden also has two active beehives, which were built last year. Applequist said about 10 jars were filled with honey and frozen. The honey will be used to help feed the bees.

However, a third observatory hive funded by a grant will be created this season and honey may be extracted for consumption. A pollinator plot will be installed to attract bees.

“They (bees) made it through the winter and it looks like we’ll be good to go,” Applequist said. “This year might be a good year for us to gather honey.”

One aspect both Applequist and Christman said have added to the garden’s success is involvement from community members outside the church. They said more than half of the people who use the garden are not church members.

“We have people who have never gone to church before,” Christman said. “We also have people who are Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and non-denominational.”

Both said this may be because people are searching for a sense of community.

Applequist said the garden has enough materials to accommodate more plots if needed.

For more information on the community garden, including how to volunteer and set up a plot, visit www.oakgrovelc.org or call 724-774-6410 or e-mail communitygardenatoglc@gmail.com to request a contract.