Benison Farm

Key Events:
Benison Farm Board of Directors Meetings: Sat. Oct. 3rd, and Dec. 5th at 9:30 a.m.
Canterbury School Seniors Service Project, Tuesday Oct. 14th 8 a.m. - Noon
Cub Scout Project, Saturday Nov. 14th
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service Jan. 18th, 2027 9 - 11:30 a.m.

Eagle Scout Project at the Farm

Life Scout Stuart Hine is working toward attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. For this Eagle project, Stuart designed and built the Benison Farm Community Blessing Box. This is a mobile, weather protected stand. This will give our neighbors in south St. Petersburg free, self-service access to fresh produce grown on the Farm. Built to roll-out for open hours and will be stored securely against the building when not in use. This box will feature a dedicated cooler bay for fresh farm eggs, shelving space for non-cooling food storage, and allow for fast transport.

SATURDAYS ARE WORKDAYS AT THE FARM!

Benison Farm is a partnership between St. Thomas' and St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church. The purpose of the farm is to provide fresh produce to south St. Petersburg and to engage a diverse group of people in serve in the community.

Benison Farm is the center of many life-giving, reconciling activities. We are about so much more than farming. Through mutual work and learning, groups from various ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds learn to respect each other and work together to support our community. Sadly, St. Petersburg is still racially divided. We do not always live together, but the dream is that we will serve together and that service will lead to love, respect and caring. Benison Farm is a place where racial reconciliation is taught and lived out, and a place where racial reconciliation blossoms into the broader community.

Benison is an old English word for blessing. Our hope is that Benison Farm will be a blessing to all.

A Collect for Benison Farm

Providing God, source of every harvest and healer of barren lands, we entrust Benison Farm—an oasis in the midst of a food desert—to your tender care. We ask that you bless its soil and its stewards with abundant courage and wisdom, that their labor may sow seeds of food justice and provide hope throughout the community. Grant that every tender shoot and ripening fruit becomes a testament to your unfailing grace and a promise of nourishment for those who hunger. May this garden flourish as a sanctuary of equity, transforming parched neighborhoods into spaces of abundance, dignity, and community. We pray all this in the name of your enduring love, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Benison Farm is 8 years old!

We were founded in 2018 with the help of a grant from the United Thank Offering of The Episcopal Church. Our mission is to provide fresh produce to an area of St. Petersburg which is considered a food desert. We have chickens on the farm and will again offer an egg CSA once our flock has increased. We offer monthly Morning Prayer at 8 am on the 3rd Thursday of each month.

This summer is a rebuilding time for us. After 5 years most of our raised beds need repair or replacement. We'll explore new ways of planting and consult with some of our neighbors to see which methods work for them.

Look for more news to come as we also plan for our first Open House/Market of the season in September!

We always love to see you at the farm! Please join us if you'd like to help.
Thank you for your support!

Deacon Martha
[email protected]
727-639-2123

Blessing

Harvest

Prayer

For those who tend the land, who raise crops, who study and protect the environment, and all those who care for your Creation. We lift up Benison Farm and the volunteers from the St. Augustine’s and St. Thomas’ parishes who in partnership labor there. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

Morning Prayer: Schedule for 2026
Oct. 15th,
Nov. 19th, Dec. 17th

Green bench monthly article