Volunteer interns Robert Maddox and Elijah Williams, along with director Colin Batten, (left to right), tend to the new Restoration Orchard at the Wesley Foundation in Kalamazoo. ~ photo courtesy Lisa Batten
Michigan Conference | November 6, 2025
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — As a Millennial, Colin Batten has grown up among a generation of people who are very anxious about climate change and the destruction of nature. The problem is now so prevalent, with alarms sounding at every turn, that we cannot escape it.
He’s also a person of practical faith who takes the stewardship of God’s creation and the call to address food scarcity in our communities seriously. Colin’s beliefs align with the 2020/2024 Social Principles, which discuss how our care for God’s creation impacts the flourishing of all.
Instead of allowing the doom and gloom to paralyze him, Colin has put his faith into action by designing and starting a new sustainable garden around the Wesley Foundation’s building in Kalamazoo.
With the assistance of three interns and project support from the Michigan Conference’s Seed to Harvest ministry incubation program, Restoration Orchard launched earlier this year and hopes to provide students at Western Michigan University with an ongoing source of hands-on education and sustenance.
“Part of what made this project really fulfilling was having a positive outlet, a tangible outlet, for the anxieties of seeing some of the effects of climate change and wondering what I can do,” says Batten, reflecting on the creation of Restoration Orchard.
photos courtesy Colin Batten
When the Wesley Intentional Living Center was built in 2016, ideas for utilizing the land around the building began to emerge, eventually culminating in a summer annual garden that students maintained. The parking lot that was once there was transformed into arable land, and the garden took off. However, there was an idea for further developing a more sustainable solution.
As a student at Western Michigan University and later as an alumnus and volunteer at the Wesley Foundation, Batten was aware of this seed of an idea to do something more lasting. Summer, the best time to grow vegetables in Michigan, is not ideal for most students.
“For a campus ministry,” notes Batten, “it may not seem obvious at first, but college students go away for the summer. It’s very hard to have a traditional-style garden at a campus ministry because nobody’s there to take care of it. So, what can we do with that if we’re talking about having landscape design?”
Batten spent the summer of 2024 volunteering at Growing Community Garden, a perennial garden started at Sunnyside United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo. He got inspiration for a permaculture-inspired edible landscape from tending that garden, and is primarily self-taught. However, he does credit the gardening mentoring he received from Rev. Scott Marsh, an elder now serving at Coldwater UMC, who was co-leading the Wesley Foundation when Batten was a student there several years ago.
Campus ministries are innovators in ministry, often taking risks and trying new things. Andrew Stange, the director of the Wesley Foundation at Western, learned about Colin’s work at Growing Community Garden and approached him with the idea of developing the garden area around their building. The idea of a permaculture-inspired edible landscape felt right for this campus ministry and its mission.
photo courtesy Colin Batten
As the project began to coalesce, Batten decided to go through the Michigan Conference’s Seed to Harvest program. He needed assistance to ensure that there were leadership and organizational structures in place to carry it through, preventing it from being just a good idea that never got off the ground. Seed to Harvest helped Batten refine his idea, giving him a crystal-clear concept that he could share with others. He also received an initial seed grant to fund the start-up. And the monthly cohort provided peer support to maintain momentum.
This led to the hiring of a youth intern and two young adult interns to implement the project in 2025. Earlier this summer, shovels went into the dirt, and Restoration Orchard was born.
Batten explains the project design in detail: “Permaculture is a catchall term for something, usually perennials, that will come back year after year, so that you don’t have to keep turning the soil over. We’re doing an edible landscape design that is tailored for plants that are native and cooperative with each other in that area to produce food. So, we decided to create something called fruit tree guilds, which is one fruit tree surrounded by a bunch of plants that help either feed the tree or deter pests that break up the soil or put specific nutrients in the soil.”
This year, Batten and the volunteers planted peach, elderberry, and paw paw trees, with companion plants surrounding them. They continue to grow annual vegetables, now planted in raised beds to make them more accessible, which are then used for the campus ministry’s weekly community meal.
photos courtesy Colin Batten
Restoration Orchard is designed to be climate resilient, low-maintenance, and accessible to the campus community. The project engaged student interns and volunteers to help establish the garden, which aims to provide a visible ministry and address food scarcity issues. Overall, the project represents an innovative approach to campus ministry and sustainability.
Although Batten has moved on, he hopes the garden will continue with help from the Wesley Foundation and in cooperation with the Office for Sustainability at Western Michigan University. He would like Restoration Orchard to serve as a model for churches and other campus ministries, providing inspiration and showcasing what permaculture can look like.
“I think a lot of people picture a jungle,” says Batten, “but there are very urban-friendly, city-friendly designs as well.”
The environmental concerns are real, but he encourages those interested in doing more to take heart.
“If you are thinking about doing something like this,” he says, “just know that you are not alone, because there are so many organizations that want to address something specific to food scarcity and resiliency to climate change. They’re already doing it, and those people are the type of communities that want to see other people succeed in their mission. So, you’ll be in good company if you decide to take something like this on.”
Are you interested in learning more about what it’s like to participate in the Seed to Harvest program? If so, review this web page to learn about upcoming cohorts and events.
James Deaton is Content Editor for Michigan Conference Communications. This article is republished with permission.