Every Tuesday morning during the growing season, a hearty group of 10 gardeners gather early in the morning to work in the 2 hoop houses and 22 raised beds located in the County’s open space at Hidden Mesa near Franktown. The gardeners are Douglas County Master Gardeners and Douglas County Open Space volunteers and they raise produce for the Parker Task Force.
After the mid-morning Tuesday harvest, gardeners bring the week’s bounty to the food bank. The early season deliveries contained mainly lettuce and radishes. But these gardeners have so much more in store for food bank clients to look forward to this summer and fall. They are tending to a variety of fruits and vegetables. One of the hoop houses contains 70 tomato plans and 60 pepper plants including bells, green chiles and jalapenos. The other hoop house contains a variety of squash and melons. The raised beds are used to grow lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, broccoli, peas, carrots, beans, beets and garlic.
The county provides the garden location, but the plants are provided by the garden volunteers who start the plants from seed in their homes. These gardeners save seeds, buy seeds, swap seeds and trade tips for starting the seedlings they will transplant into the Parker Task Force garden in the early spring.
Twelve years and growing: 2022 marks the twelfth year for the Parker Task Force garden which was started by two Master Gardeners, one being the spouse of one of the food bank’s long-term volunteers. A typical year’s donation of vegetables/fruits tallies about 2000 pounds – a ton of organic produce. Colorado State University Extension Service which operates the Master Gardener program throughout the state modeled the “Grow and Give” program after the Parker Task Force garden. “Grow and Give” urges home gardeners across Colorado with an excess of homegrown vegetables to find a food bank that can use their produce. Last year, the Parker Task Force Garden produced 25% of the produce tracked in the “Grow and Give” program.
The garden at Hidden Mesa provides a winning situation for the food bank. Clients obtain healthy locally grown fresh food and the organization saves money by not having to purchase as much produce during the growing season. Parker Task Force is grateful. Thanks gardeners for your hard work and dedication.
What’s in it for the gardeners? They share a camaraderie along with their green thumbs. They get a great deal of satisfaction doing something they enjoy. Digging in the dirt and seeing the fruits of their labor is what makes these gardeners tick. Plus knowing that they provide healthy nutritious food to their neighbors in need in the community gives additional meaning to their work. Rumor has it that they also enjoy eating doughnuts together during their mid-morning work break.
