Lexington Interfaith Garden

No surprise that today was a big harvest day. Over 200 pounds!  After all, last Saturday was Labor Day weekend and we were closed along with the Lexington Food Pantry.  So, we basically harvested two weeks’ worth.  Thankfully, there was no rain or wind this morning to contend with…all that bad weather was overnight.   Thanks to the extra folks who helped out along with members of the Chinese Bible Church, Hancock, First Parish, Arlington Ward of the Latter-Day Saints, St. Brigid’s and St. Nicholas congregations.  We were able to deliver everything to the food pantry well before 9am.

This crew delivered the first load of produce.  We had tomatoes, potatoes, yellow and green squashes, chard, green peppers, beans, cucumbers, eggplant, radishes, beets, grapes, carrots, lettuce, arugula, butternut squash and herbs

See those 34 pounds of potatoes peeking over the edge of the cart?  This young volunteer helped dig them up on Tuesday.   They had been left in the barn wrapped in newspaper to keep them away from the light so they wouldn’t start to turn green. (A mild toxin.)  In the interim, the dirt dried and this morning they were cleaned off and loaded in the cart.

Volunteers came not only from Hancock Church, First Parish, the Chinese Bible Church, the Lexington Catholic Community, and Follen Church, but also from the community.   It was nice to have so many helping hands so we could accomplish a lot this morning. Thanks also to the families of Temple Emunah who got a lot done on Tuesday, including getting a head start on harvesting and having it well organized to add to today’s produce delivery to the Lexington Food Pantry.

All in all, about 120 pounds got loaded into the garden carts. That included 40+ lbs. of tomatoes, 17+ lbs. of potatoes, beans, various kinds of squashes, onions, cucumbers, lettuces, green peppers, swiss chard, zucchini, rhubarb, purslane, garlic chives and parsley.

This family learned about the Garden earlier this year at Lexington’s Discovery Days. They signed up to help, liked it and signed up again.

The harvest topped 130 lbs. We had an abundance of volunteers, just what was needed for an abundance of produce. We picked basket after basket of bok choy (65+ lbs.), as well as peas, beans, blueberries, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, various kinds of lettuce, rhubarb, radishes, green peppers, swiss chard, leeks, purslane and various herbs (basil, cilantro, mint, thyme, tarragon, savory, dill and parsley).  With so much to deliver this morning, today’s strategy was 2-fold…1) keep the weighed produce in the barn and out of the sun until there was enough to fill a garden cart; and 2) deliver the cart to the Lexington Food Pantry as soon as it was ready.  Volunteers came this morning representing Hancock United Church of Christ, Sacred Heart, St. Brigid, the Arlington Ward of the Latter-Day Saints, as well as Lexington’s Chinese community.  The weather…. well, I’m grateful we started at 8am since the day started warm (80 degrees) and kept on going. I think we wrapped up just as the heat index was climbing toward 95.

Volunteers came from the Lexington Catholic Community, Hancock UCC, and the Arlington Ward of the Latter-Day Saints. Weather: Perfect!  No rain…need I say more? Harvest:  Some 30+ lbs. got delivered, including broccoli, asparagus, pea pods, cabbage, rhubarb, swiss chard, radishes, scallions, arugula, dill, purslane, mint, chervil, summer savory, garlic snapes, and parsley.

This is the first time I’ve worked this season since we moved to 8am. Seeing firsthand Carla’s long list of vegetables and herbs that were ready to be harvested this morning, it was clear the need for that extra time. If you want to unload the produce at the Lexington Food Pantry by 9am, then you have to get started earlier.

The Pantry volunteers, in turn, have to move pretty fast to organize our donations with others and bag the produce so it is ready to be redistributed to clients at 9:30.