When the Acteens at Indian Creek Memorial Baptist Church chose "gardening" as one of their activities under the Missions Quest of Creativity, their leader Ms. Sue Puckett felt that they did not know enough about gardening to do this as individuals. She had seen the "Straw Bale Gardening" book by Joel Karsten in a catalog, ordered the book and presented this idea to the girls to do as a group. The Acteens had earlier talked about having a Prayer Garden at church, and they decided they could combine the two.