It's Harvest Time!

Autumn is in the air and the gardens have really started to produce a fine harvest! Today was Food Bank day and here is a list of what was shared amongst volunteers and distributed at the Food Bank.

Alpine - most of a week's harvest - August 25, 2010

Tomatoes: 49 pounds
Cucumbers: 125 pounds
Zucchini/Summer Squash: 55 pounds
Basil: 4 pounds
Beets: 20 pounds
Cabbage: 15 pounds
Green peppers: 3 pounds
Green beans: 20 pounds

That's over 240 pounds of fresh produce in one week!

We are focused almost entirely on harvesting now. Our volunteer team (people who show up on a weekly, or bi-weekly basis) is nine-strong and we have another half-dozen folks who have helped us out on a more occasional basis. Our volunteers include "My" (13- short for "Ismael") and Ricardo (8), two Latino brothers who are helping feed their family with the food they bring home. We have people who found out about us because they have needed food from the Food Bank due to job-losses in their families. We have married couples and single people and several members of the team are in their 60's. Everyone shares a love for gardening and a desire to contribute to creating local food-self sufficiency.

Monroe's squash and cuke harvest - August 26, 2010

Our weekly volunteer times at the Monroe site have become quite a social hub. Many people come to help with the gardening and others stop by just because it feels good to be in the atmosphere of service and giving that the garden provides. Volunteers usually spend two to three hours weeding, mulching, planting or harvesting and then we take a break in the shade, eat cookies someone has brought, sip iced tea or fresh, delicious well-water (Thanks again Chester for getting the well hooked up again!). Today people were munching on fresh picked beans and last week, My sampled his first fresh beet (peeled and stuck on a shish-kabob stick to keep his hands clean.) With a big, red grin he said, "These are great! And my mom says they'll give me a healthy body." Yes they will, My. We're so happy to see you developing a taste for healthy fresh produce!

Cathy, Danielle and Llyn with kale for the Food bank

There's going to be a lot more harvesting and fun to be had before we put the garden to sleep later this fall. If you're local, remember that you can bring your own garden surplus to the Food Bank (just do a search on our site for the hours). If you'd like to join the other volunteers, send us an email and we'll add you to the list.