Garden-to-pantry partnership yields fresh crops for all

Garden-to-pantry partnership yields fresh crops for all

By Jen Milliren

On a crisp fall day, it's very possible to find Laurel Check walking down the hill from Erickson Park, handing out zucchinis. "My favorite thing to grow is probably the tomatoes," Check said. "Fresh tomatoes out of the garden are unreal compared to what you buy. They taste like candy sometimes."

Check is one of many volunteers in the Wahkiakum Community Garden. She moved to Cathlamet around four years ago, and after a chat with Joyce Orr, a Master Gardener in the WSU Extension Program, she learned about the free plots at Erickson Park. "It's just such a blessing to grow your own food," Check continued. "You're getting something that hasn't been sprayed - its organic and good for you."

While the Wahkiakum Community Garden plots are free for personal use, quite a few residents like Check go beyond, putting their produce towards those with need. In fact, Winnie Lowsma, a Master Gardener at the community garden, pointed out that it's always been that way. "When we got the gardens," Lowsma stated, "we intended to grow food for the food pantries. Each year, we got closer, getting the ground ready, getting the people together..." She described what looked like a relay race of eager-to-help residents, community organizers, and staff from a number of agencies – each moving the project forward one crucial step at a time.

After a 2010 survey of health ranked Wahkiakum County 27 out of 28 in health and lifestyle factors, Judy Bright, then the director of the Health Department, contacted the Town of Cathlamet for space to develop the community garden. As an Americorps member, Kelly Guest set up the original layout of the garden. Shane's Tractor was contracted to prepare the garden area for use. In 2011, Americorps member Melissa Wong, along with her significant other, Brian, developed the area that would be used to grow produce for the food pantries. The next year, Carol Geil was instrumental in getting Home Depot to donate fence materials, main water lines, and even volunteer laborers. Walt Geil, Chris Homes, Craig Brown, and others built a cedar wood slat fence around the entire garden. Over a decade and a half, many hands were involved in crafting and maintaining what is the community garden we know today. This year, Beth Mora designed and installed a more effective watering system in the areas used for the food pantry produce.

Many of those who currently hold the torch came together last week for a partner meeting. In the room, there was community garden volunteer Sue Docker, Master Gardeners Winnie Lowsma and Joyce Orr, Nora Lee Sorenson and Esther Roche from the Wahkiakum Food Pantry, Diane Hollenbeck from the West End Food Pantry, Suzanne Mackey from Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services, and Camille Goldsmith, who coordinates all the drop-offs to the food pantries with Wahkiakum on the Move.

The group covered many topics blotting the programs' Venn diagram of shared interest: the bins used to transport fresh produce to the Wahkiakum and West End food pantries, the holiday food baskets, volunteer rotation, and of course, the produce itself.

"Some of the things that go over best are root vegetables, carrots, onions, potatoes, broccoli," Esther Roche stated. "Things that will keep a while... Kale is not very popular right now." "Which is funny," Joyce Orr commented, "because years ago they asked for kale. There was one woman who would make kale chips with it."

The tomatoes, Roche pointed out, flew out the door. This was one of many crops donated by community members from their own gardens, along with apples, lettuce, cucumbers, and, you guessed it, zucchini. Donations from the community are always appreciated, as the need for fresh produce remains great. "We get 30-40 families a week at the West End," Diane Hollenbeck said. "People start lining up at noon." "They come early for us, too," Nora Lee Sorenson stated. At the Wahkiakum Food Pantry, they see around 25 or 26 families a week.

The annual plant sale, which helps support the efforts in the community garden, was an energizing topic for the group. "We had a lady come through after the plant sale," Sue Docker commented, "and said all the stuff she bought from Walmart and other places didn't do too well this year, but the plants she got from us did really well!"

The group shared praise for each other's efforts, from all the materials Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services provided the community garden with using a Building Resiliency in Communities (BRIC) grant, to the responsiveness and coordination of the produce transport, and the pleasant community yielded by working towards a wholesome goal.

"I feel so blessed to have been a part of that group," Check expressed over the phone. "I love those women so much, we just have a great time together." "We've got a good team going," Docker added.

Volunteers are welcome and vital to garden-to-pantry efforts. Those interested in volunteering in the community garden or in the food pantries can contact programs directly:

WSU Wahkiakum County Master Gardeners 360-795-3278

Wahkiakum Food Pantry 360-431-4720

West End Food Pantry 360-465-2344