Hunger
What a day! A cool, cloudy morning and an abundant harvest then the sun shone on deliveries to two food banks. Our stalwart volunteers started at 9:00 and by 10:30 the truck was loaded and ready to go.
L-R Sarah Purdy, Carol Anne Broad, Theresa Taylor (front) Dug Nicols (rear), Cara Rodriguez and Robin Murie
First I went to North Minneapolis and volunteers at Camden Promise Food Bank took all the corn they thought they could use.
Volunteers at Camden Promise Food Bank
The truck was still half full so I called Ethan at Pillsbury United Communities in the Phillips neighborhood who said, “Come on over!” You should have seen the smiles on the volunteers’ faces as they pitched in to unload the corn. Bystanders were texting their friends to quick come and get fresh sweet corn. I was worried that there might be more than they could use but I was told, “This will be gone by 4:00!” That’s my dream: fresh picked corn on family tables the day it’s picked. Thanks to today’s volunteers: Dug Nichols, Sarah Purdy, Carol Anne Broad, Theresa Taylor and Cara Rodriguez and to the volunteers and staff at Camden Promise and Pillsbury United Communities.
Volunteers at Pillsbury United Communities help unload sweet corn
Volunteers at Pillsbury United Communities help unload sweet corn
Volunteers and staff at Pillsbury United Communities with this year’s first corn delivery
Corn and squash fields mowed for the winter.
Last week a neighbor came by with a flail mower and chopped the remaining corn stalks and what remained of the squash plants. All that organic matter can now decompose over the winter and return to the soil. With that – and a few remaining minor chores – the 2021 Farm to Foodshelf season draws to a close. Thank you to all the donors who took us past our $6,000 goal, to all the volunteers who harvested, processed and delivered carrots, corn, beets and squash, and to the cooperating food shelves and institutions including The Food Group. Huge thanks to Dana Jokela of Sogn Valley Farm – this couldn’t happen without you. Even with the loss of 2/3 of our planned corn planting we still had an excellent season.
Now it’s time to look to the future – the future of this project and the future of our farm. How can the land we now steward best serve our communities? Over the coming months I hope to craft a longer range vision for our farm using what we’ve learned about this place over the last 10 years, and what we’ve learned about communities’ needs over the last couple of years. Comments, thoughts and ideas are welcome! Feel free to comment on this post, email me or get in touch some other way.
Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
It was a sunny Sunday for filling the truck one more time with winter squash and this morning I took the last of the harvest to People Serving People “the largest and most comprehensive emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness in Minnesota and a dedicated leader in homelessness prevention’, Camden Promise at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis and VEAP (Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People) which was suggested by Jerome Ryan. As ever, I was overwhelmed by the staggering need and grateful for the opportunity to lend a hand. I’ll follow this post with a season summary but, as ever, your tax-deductible financial support of this project via this GiveMN page will help pay our heroic cooperating farmer, Dana Jokela, for his time, expertise, use of equipment, fuel and more. Please help us finish the season with a solid check for Dana! Thank you.
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