Songbirds fly between feeders as they feast on sunflower seeds and other treats in the backyard of Sister Grace Blum and Sister Karen Krebs in Shaler on a sunny Sunday afternoon. They share the house with four other nuns from their order, the Sisters of St.Francis of the Newman Communities.

We met the night before at the Hearts and Hands Gala held at the Sisters of St. Francis Mt. Alvernia Campus in Millvale. I was pouring wine for patrons and walked back into the kitchen to find some ice for someone. Much to my surprise the two were excited to see me, and we started talking gardening right off the bat. Then told me about recently planting garlic in their 12' x 15' vegetable garden. But there was a problem I told them after I heard their story, they planted supermarket garlic. Since store bought garlic sold for eating is often sprayed with something that retards sprouting and might not be hardy over the winter, they needed "real" seed garlic. The garlic they planted might be OK, but the real stuff is a safe bet.

So while making a nursery run the next afternoon looking for flowering kale and pansies to plant, I picked up a few heads of seed garlic at Hahn Nursery and gave the sisters a call. I wanted them to benefit from growing garlic (like me) and I also was excited to see their garden. After meeting them the night before, I knew there would be a story to tell too.

The two have gardened there for five seasons and have a wonderful working relationship as Sister Grace explains with a laugh, "she does the grunt work (referring to Sister Karen), she does the hard stuff. But they are a team for many jobs in the garden.

Sister Grace's love for gardening goes back to her childhood, spending time in her father's garden and watching her mother can many of the things from the garden. He planted tomatoes, peppers, green beans, carrots and even some more exotic vegetables. "I remember my dad even grew celery, she said with a smile, I don't know how he did that." .

Sister Karen's family lived in Butler, but had a farm in the country. She spent summers on the farm which had a garden next to the farmhouse. "I like the outdoors, she said, any chance I can  plant something, I like to do that." She also enjoys planning what's grown in their plot.

This year the two grew zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, onions, cucumbers, peas, beans, beets and many different herbs. They use rain barrels to collect water for the garden and credit the fresh rainwater for their first success with peppers. "They were gorgeous," said Sister Grace, and they lasted well into October.

The first season, the garden was smaller. Since then Sister Karen has expanded the space. She hopes to convince her gardening partner to make next year's plot even bigger. "We're not going to have a lawn," Sister Grace joked. There might even be a small pond in the works if Sister Karen gets her way.

There's also a courtyard flower garden filled with annuals and perennials. Mums.

One thing that Sister Karen loves about gardening is the amazing metamorphosis plants offer. "I was a way for a week, when I left, the peas were just in blossom and when I came back they were almost ready to pick, it's just the marvel of nature.

And for Sister Grace? "What I enjoy is coming out here and snipping off the basil and oregano, she said, you know, fresh, fresh you can't get it any nicer than that. Taking it in, chopping it, it's great."

When asked what she gets out of time in the garden, Sister Grace replied? "Just appreciation for God's goodness. Put the seed in and take care of it, it's a wonderful pleasure."

are still blooming along with some sedum and other plants all under the watchful eye of St. Francis.