October 28, 2023
More Than a Ton of Organic Produce!
The gardening season has ended and the results of the 2023 Garden at Hidden Mesa Open Space are impressive. The Douglas County Master Gardeners and Open Space Volunteers working in this garden grew and donated 2561 pounds of organic produce – that’s over a ton of vegetables and fruit. Whew!
Some of the notable subtotals include:
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- 103 pounds of berries (strawberries and raspberries)
- 105 pounds of peppers (bell and chiles)
- 275 pounds of cucumbers
- 361 pounds of summer squash (yellow and zucchini)
- 624 pounds of tomatoes – who doesn’t like a fresh garden tomato?
- and an astounding 661 pounds of butter crunch head lettuce. That’s a lot of lettuce!
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The gardeners tell us that growing food for the Parker Task Force is satisfying work and that they are already planning for 2024. Thank you to all of the gardeners. We know it takes know-how, dedication and hard work to grow the tremendous bounty of produce for us. We appreciate everyone’s efforts. We’ve added some photos of the beautiful produce, and some of the people involved in this project. Our volunteer Rhianna is shown washing some of the produce and two of the gardeners who deliver the goods to the food bank – Dave and Donna are also pictured.
We are also grateful that Douglas County continues to support this project that has benefitted the food bank and our clients for the past 13 years. Parker Task Force believes in providing healthy fresh produce to our clients in addition to non-perishable food. The efforts of the gardeners save the food bank a significant amount of money each year by not having to buy as much produce during the growing season.
Be sure to check out the 2022 story – A Ton of Organic Produce for more information about this garden project.
