From Coincidence to Providence

As many of you know we are developing an urban farm in the heart of Buffalo, New York. Last June we moved into a house that had been vacant for a number of years and has been a lot of work to renovate and make livable. It still has a lot of work to go. We didn't own any of the land that we would like to farm but this winter we purchased the vacant lot next to our house.

With no resources and no preparation of the soil last fall we hatched a plan to plant the veggies needed to make a pasta sauce. This way we will have a non-perishable product that we can distribute to low-income families and use to generate support for the farm from churches and non-profit organizations. We mentioned this plan to some church folks we met that recently retired from operating an apple orchard. They offered to grow 150 Roma tomato seedlings for us – Miracle 1.

Knowing that we wouldn't have any extra resources or time (full time job, new baby, commitment to being a good husband/father) we have been trusting that God would provide. However, the growing season in Buffalo is fast approaching and prospects for getting 50 cubic yards (a.k.a. 50 tons) of nutrient rich compost to our farm have been few. We need this compost to plant the tomatoes because of the poor quality of the urban soil.


Cancel tomatoes?

Trusting God.


Miracle 2 – After several prospects ended unsuccessfully we asked our neighbor's boyfriend (Christian? Not even close.) if he had access to a commercial dump truck. He did and said that he would make the trip to the suburban municipal composting facility to pick up the compost for us on the opening Saturday of the season – May 2nd.

The municipal composting site sells compost for the very low price of $16/cy. This is great but 50 cy at $16 each is a lot more than we have on hand.


Cancel delivery?

Trusting God.


Early in the week we hear that the dump truck is in the shop and it may not be ready for the planned delivery.

Trusting God.


Late Friday we get the message that the truck is out of the shop and the delivery is on. My goal for delivery day: a huge pile of compost to be turned into rows at a later date… preferably before Memorial Day (a.k.a. planting day in Buffalo) but definitely in God’s time.

Delivery day – We get to the composting facility and learn that there is a 10 c.y. daily limit this early in the season. We would only be able to get 20% of what we had planned. Load 10 c.y., leave $160 rubber check with the clerk and head home with 20% of our plans almost fulfilled.

Trusting God.

Mini-miracle 1 – It had rained the night before. Not a lot, but enough. While backing onto our property the truck, with a 10-ton load, dug an 18-inch rut in the grass between the road and the sidewalk. This is 120 feet from where it needs to be dumped. Now, 120 feet isn’t far to walk but it is far to wheel 10 tons of soil in a Lowe’s “Homeowner” wheelbarrow. A second try with one set of tires on the neighboring properties walkway and a little more momentum and we were in the lot.

Miracle 3 – The in-laws live around the corner and have renovation work of their own going on. The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg had a service day on May 2nd and sent a small team to help Ric and Leigh Anne with their house. They tried to cancel because their daughter and two granddaughters from Denver were flying in that afternoon. They were unable to cancel and the team came to help. With several people helping around the house, a couple with little to do, and a mound of compost freshly dumped on the farm, Ric brought Duffy Smith over to see what we might be able to do.

Miracle 3 continued – Duffy is an experienced corporate executive with a strong work ethic and no fear of manual labor. Duffy’s degree is in plant biology and he has spent most of his career in the food industry. In fact, Duffy was in charge of growing all of the tomatoes for Campbell’s soup. God is so awesome and funny in the way (s)he chooses to confirm, affirm and lead us in service. Needless to say, we had a great conversation and experience working alongside each other on a beautiful spring day.

Mini-miracle 2 – Duffy and I spent the morning cutting rows in the grass and preparing to fill them with the compost that was delivered by our neighbor. Remember the rain? It was just enough to soften the soil for cutting in garden rows and not too much to keep the truck out of the lot! God is great!

Mini-miracle 3 – We got four rows cut in and mostly filled. We thought that we would need at least 12 c.y. of compost to fill the 4 rows but with the rows roughly half full we have about 75% of the compost pile left. Loaves and fishes anyone?

Around noon the work team had to leave and Duffy and I exchanged contact info. I hope our day was as much a blessing to him as it was to me.

The family finished the day by welcoming my sister-in-law and her two girls to Buffalo to visit our new son barely 4 weeks old.

Like most, Sunday is our Sabbath and we spend the entire day with our kids. We have church on Thursday night so Sunday is a true day of restful enjoyment. Sometimes I will work on a fun project during Ashland’s nap and then play with him when he wakes up. Last week I built a small sand box for him and we spent the afternoon playing in the box. This week I built a planter box complete with Plexiglas top so Ash can plant his own crop of greens and “trees” (a.k.a. broccoli).

Miracle 4 – As I was finishing Ashland’s planter I received a call from a friend that runs a community development organization in the neighborhood. He said that he had a lot of left over fruit trees from his organization’s weekend project. He wanted to get these trees planted because he had to return the auger he rented on Monday morning. Within 20 minutes he rolls around the corner in his bobcat and digs 5 holes for 2 peach trees, 2 plum trees and a pear tree. I spent the next couple hours planting the trees and in a matter minutes doubled the size of Queen City Farm’s small orchard. We now have 3 apple trees, 3 pear trees, 2 plum trees and 2 peach trees in addition to the 3 mature cherry trees that were on the property when we moved in.

Mini-miracle 4 – The total cost of the developments this weekend was the $160 “rubber” check that was left with the suburban compost facility. A quick check of the savings account that some of my paycheck goes into for fixing our house: balance = $165.


Sunday night, feeling exhausted and ready for bed I couldn’t help but laugh and praise God for bringing everything together in good time. I couldn’t have planned or orchestrated the events of this weekend any better than they happened. If I could have planned it, there wouldn’t have been room for God to wow us and send our little community into praise for the wonderful gifts that God has given. I can’t wait to see what else God is pulling together for this little group of broken believers.