'Sow for Humanity' Garden is donated, planted

Photo courtesy of Janet Healy

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The community garden is a square-foot garden. All of the supplies were donated either by local businesses or by the volunteers. There were three goals behind the garden: to plant the garden to share the produce, to increase the nutritional value of the food boxes, and to reach out to seniors. It was also a way to bring the community together.

OGDEN — "Sow for Humanity," is a garden project started by the Northern Utah Advisory board for Catholic Community Services (CCS).

"In April our newly formed CCS Northern Utah Advisory Board held their first meeting," said Yvonne Coiner, chairwoman of the CCS advisory board, and executive director of St. Benedict’s Foundation.

"We came up with three goals after listening to Marcie Valdez, Northern Utah CCS director, and Brad Drake, CCS executive director, talk of their needs," said Coiner. "My advisory committee consists of Ken Freimuth, Father Ken Vialpondo, pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Pam Parkinson, Kathryn Brussard, CCS director of development and marketing, and Josh Pedersen, from United Way.

"The first of our goals was to plant a community garden," said Coiner. "We also wanted to increase outreach for seniors by increasing the services that CCS provides for seniors. We are trying to contact more seniors, as well as the home-bound living in Northern Utah, to let them know about the food we have available.

"We also wanted to increase the quality and nutritional value of the food boxes the seniors have been receiving," said Coiner. "And one of the ways to do that was to add fresh produce to the boxes, which is a commodity that food pantries do not usually receive.

"Pam Parkinson is a master gardener, and as we were talking she came up with the idea of starting a community garden," said Coiner. "So I approached the Sisters of Mount Benedict Monastery and asked them if we could use a portion of their property to grow a garden. Of course, they said, absolutely. They picked a space close to a water source, and that is where we started our garden."

Coiner said Bank of Utah was a sponsor with financial support for materials as well as volunteers. Wheelwright Lumber donated the lumber. The plants were donated from nurseries, and community members and volunteers bought supplies. All of the supplies were donated.

"It is a square-foot garden. We put the garden in with Parkinson’s desire and instructions, and things just fell into place," said Coiner. "When this garden is ready to harvest, the produce will be taken to CCS and distributed first to the seniors and those who are disabled, who are still able to line up on Mondays to receive food, and then to the home-bound. Beyond that, it will be distributed to those who come to CCS for food boxes. Nothing will be discarded.

"Further more, we would like to encourage the community to start such a garden or plant an extra row so there is more than one garden," said Coiner. "They can also plant an extra tomato plant, an extra zucchini or squash plant, or just plant something extra for someone who will need it this fall.

"Then we started noticing deer tracks and realized we needed to build a fence. So the Weber Basin Job Corp got involved," said Coiner. "Saint Benedict’s Foundation, and some private individuals bought the materials we needed to build the fence so the animals don’t enjoy it before the seniors and other people get a chance.

"The second part of this is Freimuth has been contacting local commercial farmers," said Coiner. "Each year there is an over abundance of produce grown. Sometimes it is just that the machines they use leave various produce behind in the fields. So we have a few farmers who are willing to allow volunteer groups to come in and glean the fields for produce that would normally just rot in the sun.

"That will happen as early as next month," said Coiner. "So we are in need of some volunteer groups to call CCS. Then all the produce will be taken to the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank in Ogden. We will need church groups and service groups who are willing to help us collect the produce so we can pass it on to those in need.

"The food program that is now the food bank started as a senior program," said Coiner. "We served seniors right out of our office on 24th Street next to St. Joseph Catholic Church. So it is fitting that we start again with the seniors to enhance the food boxes they receive and help Marcie and Brad take the agency a step further in achieving their goals."

"Fresh produce is so expensive, and is often the first thing the seniors and others who are struggling to make ends meet cut out of their budget," said Valdez. "This is an effort to provide more nutritious food items, and fresh produce is such a great treat. There is nothing better than a home-grown tomato or a fresh cucumber.

"So many of our seniors are living on a fixed income that is less than $800 or $900 a month," said Valdez. "They have limited mobility, and we just felt we would start there.

"This was just an easy way for us to bring the community together," said Valdez. "It is kind of that concept when everybody does a little, we can all do a lot. It was just amazing the way it all came together. We had so much support from local businesses in the community, and we are just so excited and thrilled.

To volunteer to pick produce for the Northern Utah CCS Food Bank, call (801) 394-5944.