BYRON — Lined on two sides by sapling fruit trees, the vegetable beds stretch out in tidy rows behind the Spanish-style parish church.

Except for a lone rose bush in one plot and a clump of marigolds brightening the corner of another, the 32 rectangular wooden planters are all but barren now.

But as sun and water coax life from the soil in the months to come, there will be many more welcome gifts for families in need.

The garden is the handiwork of a small group of volunteers at Byron's St. Anne Church who this spring answered one parishioner's call to compassion.

For years Robert Sanocki had done what he could to help others, both as a part-time hospital chaplain, collecting food donations for a charitable nonprofit, and making lunch on Sunday for the hungry who walked through its doors.

And so even though the Discovery Bay electrical engineer was out of work himself, he was still thinking of others when he noticed the approximately 1.5-acre parcel abutting the church parking lot.

A shortage of funds had stalled St. Anne's plans to build a school there, and Sanocki envisioned another use for the property until the church could afford to build.

After getting the priest's blessing, he began pitching his idea in the church bulletin and talking it up to fellow parishioners.

"I just stirred the pot a little bit and got people interested," Sanocki said.

About 20 responded, agreeing to donate a sizable

Some did it for the satisfaction of watching seedlings emerge from the earth and flourish.

Others wanted to bless families struggling to put meals on the table.

"I'm beginning to see how much people are doing without food and "... I felt it was time to give back," said Ernie Zuccato, a Discovery Bay parishioner.

The team set about building 4-by-8 raised beds and a tiled gazebo using wood that a Byron construction company had donated along with a small tool shed.

In addition, members also worked 10 cubic yards of organic fertilizer into the soil and sold See's candy to raise seed money — literally. They also used the proceeds to rent a rototiller, buy shovels, and all the components of an irrigation system.

Then the crew of all ages and abilities really got busy.

There was K.C. Cook, who brought her 6- and 2-year-old daughters along to show them where supermarket produce comes from.

There was Justin O'Brien, a 17-year-old Heritage High School senior who dumped wheelbarrows of mulch around the beds and raked the weed barrier over the ground.

There was Kenny Lee, a scientist by day and in his free time an avid rosarian who also studied to become a master gardener.

And there were retirees like Zuccato, 73, who cheerfully admits that the only yard work he's ever done has been to dig the occasional hole for his wife.

Moreover, he was skeptical when he heard about the project because none of the volunteers he knew had any experience growing crops.

"I said to myself, 'Hell, this ain't never going to work. This could be a disaster.' "

But Zuccato decided to lend a hand anyway, and by July he and the others were finally ready to plant.

It was already late in the season and they had an ambitious number and diversity of seeds: There was celery, cucumbers, green beans and eggplant, okra, zucchini and other varieties of squash.

One woman filled her plot with the ingredients for salsa — tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro.

Strawberries also were part of the mix, as were honeydew and watermelons, pomegranates and pumpkins.

And if that weren't enough, workers planted seven kinds of fruit trees that are expected to start producing next year.

People dropped by as time permitted: Cook and Zuccato were among the hard-core regulars, staying after Mass four mornings a week to water and collect whatever was ripe for the picking.

The sweat equity they invested ultimately yielded handsome dividends.

At the peak of harvest, Sanocki estimates the group was donating 200 pounds of food a week, an abundance that made a believer of Zuccato.

"The results were overwhelming," he said. "It was amazing that (a garden) that size could produce that much."

He and Cook delivered the cornucopia to St. Vincent's distribution center in downtown Brentwood, and Zuccato supplemented it with locally grown corn he bought on his own — 432 ears every week for four months.

With the summer crops now a memory, the gaggle of green thumbs last month began planting for winter.

"The idea is to have something growing all year long so we can deliver to the poor all the time," Sanocki said.

This next harvest promises to be even larger: Cook drove to a Stockton feed store this week and returned with enough seed to sow four 100-foot rows on an additional half-acre adjoining the garden.

The expanded menu will include spring beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, red and yellow onions, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.

Project participants also point out that low-income families typically receive donations of canned food; what St. Anne Church gave away was so fresh that some insist it tasted better than store-bought produce.

As far as Lee is concerned, knowing that he was making a difference in someone else's life, however small, made the hard physical labor all worth it.

"This is the type of thing humans should be doing for other humans," he said. "I may not be as charitable as I should be, but I'm trying my best."

Reach Rowena Coetsee at 925-779-7141.