2015 Harvest Total

Our final harvest total for 2015 was 2098.5 lbs of fresh produce delivered with a final value of $5246.25.

From 2010 through 2015, the Lethbridge Research Centre Food Banks' Garden has produced 18200.5 lbs of produce with a value of $40849.75!

September 16 Harvest

Post frost - we're still harvesting!

We have now reached the grand total of 2300.5 lbs of produced delivered (valued at $5751.25).

Eggplants

September 16, 2014 Harvest

Harvest Update

Last weeks deliveries (lbs)

Beets	62.5
Beets	10
Eggplant	3.5
Carrots	3
Beans	1
Zucchini	1
Peppers	7
Lettuce	21.5
Tomatoes	1.5
Swiss chard	4.5

Total = 266 lbs ($665)

Harvest on July 14

On July 14, we harvested:

Peppers  2.5 lbs
Lettuce  39.5 lbs
Kale  7 lbs
Swiss chard  16 lbs
Beets  63.5 lbs

This brings our total to date - 150.5 lbs valued at $376.25.

Our first harvest

Yesterday (June 23), we harvested our first produce - 22 lbs of spinach!

This week's harvest totals

We delivered more fresh produce this week. We are now at the following tally.   

                                                                             Mass (lbs)           Value

leaf/head lettuce	123.5	$308.75
swiss chard	68	$170.00
carrots	831	$2,077.50
green peppers	144.5	$361.25
green beans	150.5	$376.25
eggplant	59	$147.50
tomatoes	90.5	$226.25
beets	881	$2,202.50
tomatillos	131	$327.50
Totals	2479	$6,197.50

Harvest

Harvest began on July 23, 2013 with lettuce and swiss chard in abundance. The Buttercrunch lettuce had some fabulous heads. Since then, we have dropped off two more loads of lettuce and swiss chard as well as baby carrots. In total, we have harvested over 50 lbs of produce with a value of over $100.

We have also installed our new solar panel for our electric fence purchased through a grant from the Public Service Alliance of Canada Agriculture Union Social Justice Fund.

We have a marmot who has been caught munching greenery in our garden. The fence won't stop him but he's an unusual visitor so we'll leave him be for now.

Tomatillos

Swiss chard & Grand Rapids lettuce

Volunteer Karma

Final harvest tally

Our final harvest occurred last Friday - October 19. Dave had planted some late season radishes and he harvested 3 lbs of the "sweetest radishes ever".

That brings our final harvest total to 3337.5 lbs. This is valued by the Interfaith Food Bank at $6675.

Thank you to everyone who helped out this year. Rest up for a few months and we'll be recruiting again spring 2013!

Final harvest totals by crop (in pounds):

beets	454
carrots	1124
eggplant	108.5
green beans	118.5
green peppers	121
hot peppers	60
lettuce	135.5
swiss chard	99
tomatoes	1114
radishes	3

Carrot harvest

 Last Tuesday we had about 17 volunteers to help harvest. This made it go quickly and we finished just before the big dust storm hit.

Tomato harvest

Harvest update

We have now harvested something from each of our planted vegetables, except for our beans. In total, we have delivered over 600 lbs of produce to the food bank. Our lettuce is nearing the end but our tomatoes and peppers are just beginning.

Harvest wrap up

We will be having our harvest potluck at Stephanie & Ray's on November 8 at 6:30pm. We have a lot to celebrate!


Our final harvest tally is 3886 pounds, which works out to a $7772 contribution to Interfaith Food Bank.


Some of our volunteers have still been busy. Dave has done a huge amount of work, adding 12 rotting round bales that the barns wanted rid of, then rototilling it all in along with spreading more used Cornell mix. The plan is to add urea tonight or tomorrow before the snow and then some leftover compost and/or manure from some experiments next week or the week after. Thanks for this effort.


Notes from the Food Bank:


"We were exceptionally pleased to benefit from your garden this year.  Clients are eternally grateful for the selection of fresh, quality produce, and we very pleased with the variety of vegetables they could choose from.

The Tomato Plant Project was particularly great for our client base, as it not only educated our Young Chefs about the ability for individuals to produce their own food, but also provided a sustainable option to clients in working towards their own food security.  We believe the Tomato Plant Project worked very well with our aim to offer our clients a hand up, and not just a hand out.

We found the amount and variety of the produce you chose to grow for us to be a huge benefit to the food bank and those we serve, and we are looking forward to a continued relationship with you and your group, especially as we progress past our current kitchen project, and begin working on our own garden in the future.

Thanks again to you and your team, you've done a fantastic job and we've really enjoyed working with you."

2000 lbs!

We've hit 2000 lbs of harvested produce. Last year, our grand total was 2079.5 lbs. With lots of produce yet to be harvested, we will surpass last years total by alot!

September!

It's hard to believe that September has arrived. The summer has been fleeting! We are still busy harvesting weekly. The beans and peas have been finished as of last week.

Harvest occurs on Tuesdays after work with Food Bank delivery occurring Wednesday morning. Volunteers are required for each so contact us (lrcgarden@yahoo.ca) or show up Tuesday after work at the garden to help out.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

Carrots

Our pink tomatoes

Marigolds with a friendly pollinator

Crates of tomatoes and pounds and pounds more to come

Plethora of peppers

Final harvest

The final carrot harvest was completed this week. In total, we donated 2079.5 lbs of produce to the Lethbridge Interfaith Foodbank!

There is a bit of work left to do in preparation for next season's garden. We'll be spreading compost and tidying up the garden in the next few weeks. Then it's time to rest until next year!

Remember - Potluck at Ken's this Wednesday!

Approximately 600 lbs

We now have donated approximately 600 lbs and have beets, carrots and the majority of our tomatoes yet to harvest.

The weather is still wet and temperatures are cooling. We have had to prune our tomatoes hoping to encourage ripening. The danger of frost is lurking and we have a contingency plan should we need to harvest the tomatoes before they are ripened.

The beans have finished and the peas are nearing the end. Lettuce is still growing and we have harvested a few eggplants.

We have seeded radishes two weeks ago and plan to have an early fall crop to harvest.

The apple trees on site are nearing ready for picking. We'd love to have extra help when it comes time for this. Let us know if you are able to help!

Harvest

For the past couple weeks, harvest has been under way. We have now delivered about 350 lbs of produce to the Interfaith Food Bank. This includes lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, peas, beans, some peppers and tomatoes.

Heat units!

The garden is beginning to flourish. On Thursday, 13 volunteers met to weed the garden, thin carrots and seed lettuce.

On Friday, the first produce was harvested! Lettuce and spinach were delivered the the Interfaith Food Bank.

What we learned? Water the lettuce well before harvesting, harvest when it is as cool as possible or have water in the harvest tub to keep the lettuce from wilting. The gourmet mix proved to be hardier after harvest than the other lettuces (Grand Rapids).