07/03/2026
When Antrica Feaster imagined the concept for a community garden at Words of Faith AME Church in Mableton, she was surprised by how quickly she and garden volunteers were able to bring that vision to life. Throughout its first year of operation, Faithful Fields Community Garden had produced enough to donate 1,300 pounds of food to the church food pantry.
So far, the garden’s trajectory for this year looks even more promising. Antrica attributes that to a special sauce of divine intervention and support from the community. “Every time I need something, it's like it just happens. It's kind of cool that you do something you just started last year, and now you get to take in the community in a different way. We have people driving by offering the wildest things to us. There's a guy around the corner that has a commercial kitchen, and he's like, ‘you could come by any time and host classes here.’ The community is really rallying behind us, hoping we're successful.”
Food Well has been part of Faithful Fields’ community of support over the past year and a half. This year with Food Well’s Garden Forward Grant, they’ll install an irrigation system and a greenhouse. Cooking classes are also in the works. Antrica says all three will be game changers for providing more consistent plant hydration, extending growing seasons, and teaching gardeners how to prepare the food they’ve grown. “I think the worst part of growing food is that people don't know what to do with it. You put all that work into it and you didn't even get a chance to eat it. There are beautiful ways of making food that is delicious and nutritious, and that's what our focus is.”
Antrica encourages anyone considering a donation to Food Well to visit a local farm or garden and talk with the growers who are producing the food. What would she tell you if you came by her place? “It’s because of someone's selflessness who said, ‘You know what, I can donate $100,” that I'm able to buy seeds or soil or fertilizer to make sure the ground is ready to receive a seed and grow food. I can, in turn, gift my community to make sure that they're nourished, and that's amazing to me.”
Donate today to help support the work of incredible local growers and connect more Atlantans to the places where their food is grown! Right now, your donation will go twice as far thanks to a $2,500 matching gift from the Johnson Ohana Foundation’s All At Once match.
Read Antrica’s full story: https://www.foodwellalliance.org/blog/antrica-feaster-faithful-fields-community-garden
Donate: bit.ly/summerharvestfwa
