New digs for Taber Food Bank Vegetable Garden
The Taber Food Bank Vegetable Garden has been around since 2016 and is currently located on Trout Pond Ave. just west of the off-leash dog park on land owned by the Town of Taber and is leased to the Taber Food Bank.
Andy Puskas, Taber Food Bank’s liaison for The Vegetable Garden, says that the garden is approximately 2.5 acres and was formerly on Huckleberry Road, north of Barnwell, on land owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
“The garden provides fresh produce for the Taber Food Bank,” said Puskas. “From this, the Food Bank distributes the excess produce to many other food banks and agencies throughout the province.”
Puskas says that within the garden itself, there is quite a large variety of vegetables including corn, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, green beans, several types of onions, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, and gourds.
“The Garden provides a large variety of fresh produce to the Food Bank patrons that otherwise may not be available to them,” said Puskas. “Produce is harvested and delivered weekly to the Food Bank from mid June to the end of September. On average, The Garden has produced 20 - 25,000 lbs of produce each year.”
The garden, Puskas says, is run by a large group of community volunteers headed by himself, Ray Sheen, and Mark Garner.
“Volunteers come from local church congregations, youth groups, service groups, and businesses,” said Puskas.
The equipment and gardening tools they use to tend the garden, Puskas says, comes from local vendors such as Home Hardware, Taber Home and Farm, UFA, and others, and this season’s infrastructure, including the fence, irrigation and electricity, was provided through the Humanitarian Funds of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other funding, Puskas says, comes through grants acquired by the Taber Food Bank.
Puskas says that many local vendors, farmers, and contractors are also very generous with their time, talent, and resources in getting the garden started every season, and those include ICI, CP Farms, Double H Spud Farms, Pinnacle Sod, Rivers Electric, Riverbend Rock Products, RCB Excavating, Town of Taber, MD of Taber, Taber Towing, Superior Water Hauling & Septic, and Riverview Ranch.
Seeds, Puskas says, come from Stokes Seeds in Ontario and T&T Seeds in Winnipeg. Tomatoes, peppers, and Rosemary come from Sunnyside Nursery in Taber. The best way people can contribute to the Garden, Puskas says, is by volunteering. “The greatest contribution people can make is their time,” said Puskas.
“There is no paid staff at The Garden, and it will survive only by community volunteer help. Contact The Food Bank when the work is needed. There is an organized “work party” once a week. We welcome individuals, service groups, families, businesses to come and help at The Garden.”
Heather Cameron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Taber Times
