Post by: Gretchen Legler, current MDiv student 

Editor’s Note: I encourage all prospective students, whether MTS or MDiv, to explore the Field Education Program at HDS. Some MTS students write off field education entirely because it is not a requirement for their program, but it truly is a fantastic opportunity to design an internship of your own during your time here. Gretchen’s field education placement is only one of many creative examples possible here at HDS. If you are interested in learning more about field education, the Field Education Handbook provides a comprehensive overview.  

My field education job title for the summer of 2019 is Garden Goddess! My joyous duties include coordinating a team of students, faculty and staff to plant, tend and harvest produce from the Harvard Divinity School’s organic vegetable garden. Our twelve raised beds behind the Dean’s house on Francis Street were inaugurated in 2009 by staff and students passionate about ministering to the earth and to their fellow humans. We grow everything–peas, lettuce, chard, tomatoes, basil, beans, eggplant, broccoli, potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, herbs, nasturtiums, marigolds, petunias, and even sometimes okra! We harvest and deliver twice a month to Faith Kitchen in Cambridge for their community meal. The HDS garden isn’t big enough to ever provide all of the veggies needed for these meals, but every little bit of what we grow helps that ministry flourish.