Sky Valley Food Bank gardeners look for next crop of volunteers

The Sky Valley Food Bank garden's dozen core volunteers return each spring to grow 2,000 pounds of produce that end up in hundreds of local homes.

Opening day was held mid-April this year, and harvesting will continue well into September. Volunteers provide nearly a half-year of hard labor.

Mostly comprised of retirees, the volunteer group has started to look toward the future, said volunteer administrator Jeannette Susor. They want more people to get involved, especially the younger generations and veterans. Nothing is expected to change immediately, she said. 

“We aren't leaving any time soon,” Susor said. “Unless we physically can't (come).”

Their hope is to make sure the Julia V. Morris Community Garden will be taken care of in the long-term, she said. Volunteers commit to multiple shifts every week for watering and weeding, once everything is in the ground. More than 1,100 service hours were recorded in 2016.

The members, minus director and Master Gardener Marilee Schneider, were ribbing each other like siblings in the sun on a late-April morning. They have become close friends in the past half-decade.

Around them peas are sprouting, and tulips have already bloomed. The plot sits on the corner of Sky River Parkway, and neighbors the Monroe Boys and Girls Clubs and Monroe Community Senior Center. Susor said it's always necessary to plant at least a few flowers.

“You can't have a crop without pollinators,” Susor said. “That is just the way nature works.”

Bumblebees are their biggest help, she said. They burrow and nest right in the ground. She has learned other tricks during her time as a volunteer, such as avoiding over-heading watering and the importance of irrigation.

Most of the volunteers had some gardening knowledge before starting at the food bank. Many began as and are still members of the Monroe Garden Club. They work in the garden as part of a committee for the local nonprofit.

Other club members assist when the garden committee is in need. Susor said she is excited about a new cart with a muck tub the club bought for the garden this year.

Joanne Pinnell said she has heard misconceptions about operations throughout the years. The community runs the JVM Community Garden. The City of Monroe owns the land, but the work is mostly up to the public, she said — staff occasionally help out.

The garden was built on that same sense of public service. A Boy Scout created it to earn his Eagle Scout rank in 1999. Susor said years later he returned as a volunteer once.

About 40,000 pounds have been produced in the last 15 years, according to the food bank. Herbs, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, beets, rhubarb and carrots are garden staples. In the last two seasons more than $16,000 worth of produce was donated directly to the food bank, or about 6,000 pounds.

Volunteer Diane Carlson said she loves getting the chance to see the impact of their efforts. On harvest days, food bank clients will have vegetables in their bags that were pulled from the ground only a few hours earlier. The expressions the recipients get when they find that out is very meaningful, she said.

Susor said volunteers have tested out what works best for the system over time. Some items, like cauliflower, were tried and subsequently cut out. They found those and similar crops require so much care they were removed from the program, she said.

They still grow peas, which can be sensitive to temperatures, Susor said. The vegetables need cold to thrive. With warm weather coming in so early this year, she isn't sure how well they will do.

Susor said a level of uncertainty is common throughout the season. Sometimes tasks, such as moving heaps of refuse, look like they just may not get done. The right resources or set of hands will always come along, she said.  

“It is pretty amazing how the universe provides,” she said.

Their neighbors are often the ones to come to the rescue. Susor likes to say the garden itself creates connections. Last year, volunteers from the Monroe Kiwanis Club, Cornerstone Christian Academy and some younger gardeners from the Boys and Girls Clubs all pitched in by the end of the season.

“We've become a community just by being here, and being here for each other,” Susor said.

Volunteer Chris Albus said he enjoys the social aspect of the garden, and also believes in the work. Community-based agriculture is the foundation of sustainable farming, he said.

Albus wants to cultivate that perspective of viable food production in younger generations. New models and methods need to be considered. The large-scale system has to change, he said.

Volunteers are hosting new opportunities for those interested in learning this year. On Monday afternoons the garden will be open at 4 p.m. for two hours. Anyone can stop by and get to work.

Clients can also attend a class that same night. Lessons will be on cooking with what is in season, and what they get from the food bank. Susor said she is consistently impressed by what comes out of the ground each year.

“I love to see magic growing,” she said. “It's just amazing.”