2012 Planning

Over the fall, Dave (our magic soil guy) has been amending our soil. His amendments prior to the 2011 growing season improved our garden tremendously. It was joy to work in and almost doubled our bounty. He has added rotting bales and used Cornell mix for our 2012 growing season.

We're also in the process of ordering our 2012 seeds, planning our potted vegetable donation. And we're recruiting volunteers! Volunteer effort is our limiting resource. Want to help? Email us!

Cornell mix

Rotting bales

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."

September 27th harvest

On September 27, we harvested: 
370.5 lbs of carrots; 
28.5 lbs of eggplants; 
79.5 lbs of tomatoes; 
50 lbs of peppers.


Last week we harvested: 
22 lbs of peppers; 
26 lbs of tomatoes; 
319 lbs of carrots.

It appears, to date, we have harvested 3717 lbs of fresh produce.

Next week we will finish the carrots (late seeded) and the red beets and anything else.

Little helper

Drowning in tomatoes!

800 lbs delivery!

Today Stephanie and Dave delivered 808.5 lbs of produce to the Food Bank. That's a record haul!

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

Harvest and caterpillars

We have harvested about 675 lbs of produce so far this year!
Peas
Lettuce 
Beets
Swiss chard
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Radishes

Also, the cabbage white caterpillars have attacked! Next year, we'll cover the vulnerable crops with butterfly proof netting!

Tomatoes for the Young Chefs Program

We grew patio tomatoes for the Food Bank and Young Chefs Program. This was funded by the P.S.A.C. Area Council. The Young Chefs Program teaches young people about cooking healthy meals. Here are some photos of our tomato plants with their new owners.

Harvest update

We’ve delivered radishes, lettuce and swiss chard to date, with donations totalling about 150 pounds, worth approximately $300.


Also, this Sunday, our garden will be included in the Lethbridge Horticultural Society tour. 

Our first harvest!!!

This week, 95 lbs of radishes were delivered the Food Bank! There are more to be harvested early next week. Contact Dave if you can help out.