Many of you may be putting your home gardens "to bed" for the winter but not at the Lord's Acre of Fletcher. Our seedlings are almost ready to be planted in the raised beds in our hoop house. Meanwhile, our raised beds in the hoop house worked so well deterring weeds that we will replace the rows between the trellis and hoop house with raised beds. Over a dozen hardy souls built 28 boxes 2' x 12" x 10 for raised beds in an hour on Saturday. Doug Kearney, our Garden Master, shared that the raised beds will season over the winter and be installed this spring. Many thanks to our volunteers who helped on Saturday afternoon...Scout Troop 91, Fletcher UMC, Nativity Lutheran, and a pantry client.

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Calling all volunteers! We are having a Thank You Cookout for all of our LAF Garden and Pantry volunteers in the garden on October 26 from 4-6:30. Gather in the garden for burgers, dogs, chips, slaw, and dessert. Bring a drink and a chair.  We'll gather around the campfire to celebrate a record year in the garden and pantry.  Music will be provided by the Calvary musicians.

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Are we helping to reduce Food Insecurity in our community? How do we discern this simple yet complex question?  We can look at our data. Two weeks ago 155 households shopped for food, and this past week we welcomed 134 households with twelve new families. Fred reported that for the month 670 families visited our pantry representing 2,486 individuals. We are so blessed that you — our community — donated 21,418 pounds of food and non-food to the pantry.

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Morning had definitely broken as Chefs Dan and Martha were scurrying around the Parish Hall kitchen firing up the grills and preparing the unique Vining pancake batter. Meanwhile scouts from Troop 61, volunteers, students from Hendersonville High School began arriving to assist with food distribution and the Pancake Breakfast. As our "neighbors" arrived they were offered breakfast at the Parish Hall: pancakes, bacon, milk and coffee. While Fr. J., Todd, Dick, and Troop 61  grilled the pancakes, Tom and Kim were offering hot pancakes and crispy bacon to the neighbors. 

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Last Thursday night two of our garden volunteer families and other volunteers filled Doug's truck full of freshly harvested produce for distribution on Saturday. Oh...if you could have seen the delight in the neighbors’ eyes as they filled their carts with collards, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Because of the help of volunteers that we have in our community, our garden has produced 50% more produce this year. After the abundant amount of produce gathered last week, it was a blessing that the Day of Caring at Christ School was last Wednesday.

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You heard it first here! This year over a ton of produce was harvested from the garden and now over a gallon of raw honey extracted from our two beehives. Our honey is like other raw honey, it contains no preservatives and thanks to Doug, our Garden Master, it comes with an official LAF label, bee charm, and honey dipper.  Being on the "Quality Control Committee" has its perks! Yummmmmy honey!

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You can "BEE" sure there's lots going on at the LAF and Pantry!  Just this past week, Garden Master Doug Kearney extracted honey from the hives leaving plenty of honey  to hold the bees over the winter months. Doug reminds us that the honey is unique to our area. Pollination comes from local vegetation in our vicinity. Because of extremely generous donations of fresh produce from the Fletcher Rotary Club (corn & tomatoes), Tractor Farms (corn, potatoes, cucumber, squash, tomatoes, apples, micro greens, and herbs), Flavor-First (tomatoes, peppers, and corn) and LAF (garden-beans and tomatoes), it was a bountiful week of fresh produce.

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Word on the Street....is that the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry is a "Happening  Place!" Just last Saturday, thanks to the many donations of school supplies, an entire food shelf was filled with enough supplies for all of our pantry neighbor's children.  Bette, a retired Buncombe County School teacher, helped neighbors select items appropriate for their grade level. Conscious Alliance and Orchard Valley have partnered with us to feed families in our community experiencing food insecurity. Their iconic ALLIANCE of brands, bands, artists, and fans use their time and talents to make it all happen. They donated cases of trail mix in four flavors filled with fruit and nuts. Perfect for lunch boxes or snack time.

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Youth from Christ School spent time volunteering with us this past Saturday -- I would call them Generation A… (Assurance!!!) This group of young men arrived on the Pantry campus eager to begin working in the pantry and garden. Initially they made their way to the LAF (Lord's Acre of Fletcher) garden while it was still cool and weeded row after row of beans that were being taken over by the weeds. No task was too small for them to take on. 

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The late night thunder, lightning, and rain did not deter the hardy LAF harvesters. The sun was just rising in the east early Tuesday morning as Doug, Daniel, and Kim hand-picked almost thirty pounds of cucumbers,  squash, and tomatoes. Many thanks to these hardy souls, as time to harvest is of the utmost essence as our forest friends found the garden "buffet."  The next opportunity for LAF harvesting is on Thursday night at 6:30. Don't want to forget a huge thank you to all who contributed to the compost bins.

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They say, "The early bird gets the worm!"  Thanks to the many harvesters this week, no bears, raccoons, opossums, or nematodes got even one Mini Love watermelon. Yes, you are hearing it here first! Over a ton of fresh produce has been distributed to our neighbors this season. The squash, green beans, tomatoes, ground cherries, green peppers, cucumbers, and jalapeños just keep producing. We have finished gathering the beets. It's worth a "drive by" this week to see the large area beside the hoop house where the collards will be planted. We can always use one more planter on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.

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You Reap What You Sow"  Do I hear an AMEN! Our neighbors are enjoying freshly picked  produce weekly.  In July  over 800 pounds of vegetables were harvested by hand.  Since the spring planting, we have distributed over 1,461 pounds of  fresh produce and recorded 630 volunteer hours.  Just as a personal note.... all our produce is organically grown. Thanks to grants that have funded drip lines etc.  and steady seasonal rains, our produce  does not have to be washed  before distribution.

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911-911...No it's not that kind of emergency.  Our goal is to distribute food weekly to aid in reducing food insecurity in our community. However, recently we have experienced some challenges of our own.  Our 15 grocery carts are used throughout the week to collect donations in the foyer and to transport food items to the shelves. An average of 110 neighbors are shopping with them on Saturday mornings. The carts are sturdy, but the wheels have given out on 1/3 of the carts. The good news is Dan, with a little on-line research, was able to purchase "kits to repair the wheels." Nothing like having a AAA volunteer, called the  SCR Man (Shopping Cart Repairman). Another recent challenge is the realization that our garden has doubled in size since last year.

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Many of us have a personal goal to make it a habit to eat healthier. Let me just say that volunteering at the Pantry/Garden, you are surrounded by healthy food reminders. Just last week a group of volunteers, the "Veggie Belles” harvested close to 200 pounds of vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeños, squash, beets, and one watermelon. On Tuesday, the Servant Adventure Campers, from throughout the United States, weeded in the watermelons, blueberries, picked gallons of bush beans, and tasted ground cherries from the hoop house.

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One of the many bright spots this week was the number of families who came and volunteered at the pantry and garden last Thursday night. There was a massive amount of work needed in the garden from weeding, to watering, and harvesting. Five members of the Stay family  joined us in the garden to harvest beets, squash, and cucumbers. As a note: every part of the beet was harvested. The red leaves were cut from the stems, leaves were rinsed off, and along with the beet offered to the neighbors on Saturday morning. Michael and his dad were pulling weeds along the long rows of green beans that are full of bean blooms.

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Reflecting on Saturday, July 1st at the Pantry and our upcoming week as we celebrate(d) the 4th of July, reminded me of the patriotic song, America the Beautiful. The lyrics include such phrases as spacious skies, amber waves, of grain, and purple mountains majesties.....from sea to shining sea. Have you noticed our glorious sunsets in the evening, our garden rows of flourishing greens, and the Pantry facing our Blue Ridge Mountains? America is the Beautiful! Reaching out the hand of friendship to our neighbors near and far, thank you volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity.

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What a blessing it was for the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry to be the recipient of the "Love Erin" outreach crew on Saturday. Christie Pickel, mother, shared the family's mission: "Love Erin" is to continue to share Erin's love and light to those in need. Ten members of Erin's family gathered to donate needed items (cereal and personal care products), shop with the pantry neighbors, and assist with carry out…filling 131 shopping carts with food and supplies. Our pictures this week represent the passion that filled our pantry on Saturday.

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Quiet on the Set! Last Wednesday, Kristen and Meredith, from MANNA, along with several volunteers from the Pantry  arrived to be part of a PSA (Public Service Announcement).  MANNA is in the process of providing information on the "Neighbor Shopping Model" for the community at large. MANNA serves many counties in Western North Carolina and wants to ensure that everyone understands about food insecurity in the community and resources available in their area.

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It's one for the records! MANNA delivered items weighing 11,500 pounds on Tuesday. Tyson frozen chicken, canned goods, red and white onions, honeydew melons, oranges, apples, squash, and cabbages are some of the items we will distribute on Saturday morning between 8:00-11:00. We welcomed several new volunteers from Fletcher United Methodist Church who helped us efficiently place our record-breaking order efficiently on the shelves, in freezers and refrigerators. Grants for food and your monetary donations help us purchase food at a greatly reduced price from MANNA.

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LAST CALL for collards! Yes you heard it here first. Our spring harvesting is coming to an end. This Friday at 8:30 a.m. will be the final collard picking. Join us for this celebratory day as we are about 50% poundage above 2022. The only reason to mention this.... is that the number of neighbors shopping for food is up over 50% from last year. Our beets are also part of our spring planting and they won't be ready for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, no idle hands in the garden as the tomatoes, peppers, beets, jalapenos, cucumbers, watermelon, and squash are peeking their tiny green stems above the fertile soil. Green beans were planted last week and with the soil temperature in the upper 60's you can rest assured that with these soaking rains we'll have some beans breaking ground in the near future.

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