Heartwarming harvest feeds food bank patrons
Posted Sep 23, 2014 1:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An army of 60 retirees from Trans-Alta gathered just east of the city Tuesday, picking veggies from the food bank’s largest community garden.
John Holmes is the garden co-ordinator, and self-appointed Chef Weeder for the two acre patch of potatoes, beets, zucchini and onions, which typically produces 20,000 pounds of fresh produce.
Holmes says it will be a bit less this year.
“This year I think we are going to be down around 15,000. Which isn’t bad considering all this garden went through,” he said. “It experienced a drought through the summer: eight weeks without rain, we had hail in August, and snow in September. The fact that we are getting anything right now, I’m so pleased.”
Holmes says the retirees have been enjoying the social side of working this patch for the past 15 years, and at the end of the day, go home feeling good for what they’ve done to help those in need.
