In the middle of the 2025 season, Mitzvah Garden KC (MGKC) brought a new farm manager onto their team.
Nick Smith joined the Mitzvah Garden KC staff last spring, taking over from Brenda Ruppel, who retired to Florida.
“When I first started volunteering, and Ken [Sonnenschein] offered me the role, I was just excited because I’m borderline obsessed with gardening and I saw MGKC as a playground to grow as much food as humanly possible,” Smith said. “I’ve learned it’s so much more than growing vegetables, and seeing the joy and borderline shock on peoples faces when I tell them how much they harvested or how much what they planted might yield is what keeps me going.”
Smith is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and he served in Iraq from 2008-2009. Before working at the Mitzvah Garden, he worked a desk job in information technology for an Israeli startup. His vision for the future of the garden is a “World War II-style Victory Garden,” reconnecting himself and others with the earth.
Smith was inspired by the movie “Back to Eden” by Paul Gautschi and the concept that "G-d designed the Earth in a way that G-d would never have to show up to work."
He has pre-planned three phases of planting for the 2026 season, spanning from March through November.
“Helping maintain a space for people to perform such a mitzvah is the best part of this job,” Smith said. “We’re having conversations amongst the fruit vines, watching the butterflies while making a serious difference for our neighbors who are in need. We harvest enough trays of organic, hyper-local, nutrient-packed produce to fill the entire Hen House produce section, but instead it gets loaded and distributed throughout KC to those in need. It’s fun, and it’s meaningful.”
The garden is making progress on renewing the soil at MGKC as organizers move toward using more regenerative practices. Smith’s goal is that these changes will lead to decreased weeds, increased yields and improved soil health. Smith has mapped out the MGKC’s projected growth in a three-year plan he calls “Tikkun HaAdamah” (repairing the soil).
By eliminating the use of organic chemicals and planting diverse native flowers, he hopes ladybugs, worms and non-invasive wasps will create a self-sustaining, biodiverse landscape in the garden.
Smith is also spearheading a partnership with students and educators from the Blue Valley School District (BVSD)’s 18-21 Program. Students in the program have been spending time in the BVSD greenhouse getting plants ready for planting in the spring.
Those interested in more information about MGKC or joining its email list can email Ken Sonnenschein at .