TOPIC: Token Auction Benefitting Mary's Hands - UPDATES!

Thank you for the update!!

100 pounds of garlic should cover 3, maybe 4, loaves of garlic bread.

Great update tyvm!!

AlanP wrote: 100 pounds of garlic should cover 3, maybe 4, loaves of garlic bread.

Great update tyvm!!

I'll send you some. I love garlic to the point of driving people away like the undead and 1 bulb is WAY too much for 1 loaf. These varieties are very strong (but mellow nicely when roasted.)

I love that we can provide these families with not only basic foodstuffs but things to help make them special. 5 star restaurant level garlic, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, fresh dill, etc.. We built this to help families in a way that they don't feel "less than" or that they are getting a hand-out. Because someone is struggling to get by, they shouldn't have to feel ashamed of getting help. They are able to shop at community events where the food is free and take what they need without having to justify themselves.

Any food we keep or send to friends is actually the dented or imperfect pieces that are what at-risk communities are used to getting. Instead, we give them the shiny stuff (typically picked the same day as we deliver it) and use the cast-offs ourselves. For garlic, even after taking a good chunk for replanting and expanding next year, there is still some that doesn't look perfect that is still yummy.

So glad to hear the progress, and awesome efforts! May the crops continue to be fertile and provide lots of food to those in need. If you do another auction to support this cause, I would be interested.

October marks the end of our growing season but we'll keep going until the weather freezes. Our melons (watermelons and rocky ford cantaloupes) are almost ripe and will be picked over the next 2-3 weeks and we'll be finishing up our tomato, beet, and cucumber crops.

In 2 weeks, we plant garlic for 2024. We'll be tripling the amounts grown of it to just over 1,000 plants/year.

Despite the most difficult weather losses in our 4 years, we'll produce about $120,000 worth of fresh organic produce provided to low-income families in our region. The auction proceeds paid for our starts accounting for 75% of what we grew this year! Thank you so much for your generosity!

Next year, we'll be able to leverage big improvements we made this year. We added a 32' x 18' greenhouse, a new barn with a "cool room" (think walk-in freezer), we vastly expanded our watering system to a commercial system helping us reduce water usage while doubling the acreage we can cover, and we planted quite a bit of fruit (based on requests of the communities we serve.) It worked out to 27 trees plus hundreds of berries and grapes. We'll get some of the fruit next year (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and grapes) with the rest in the next 3-5 years (apples, pears, peaches, cherries) as well as asparagus the year after next. We're proud to be able to say that all these improvements happened while we went live with 100% green power (all solar along with battery systems.)

The communities we serve needed the help more than ever. With SNAP benefits reduced 75% while food prices surged, these families are struggling. Your assistance made a big difference in what we were able to provide. Hopefully, we'll be able to do even more next year.

Great work! Thank you for the update, Fred.

Very glad to hear Fred! Great work!

Love the heirloom tomato!

Beertram wrote: Love the heirloom tomato!

Yummy too We've been growing Great White, Mortgage Lifter, Big Rainbow, Rutgers, and an assortment of cherry tomatoes. This one was a Great White (my favorite variety but incredibly difficult one to buy starts - we'll start doing our own seeds/starts this winter.) We'll shift to Great White, Mortgage Lifter, and Rutgers with some cherry tomatoes next year. Even at this size, Great Whites are amazing. You just have to be patient for them to turn yellow rather than white (white they are edible but have almost no flavor - yellow and they eat like a sweet fruit.)

Fred K wrote:

Beertram wrote: Love the heirloom tomato!

Yummy too We've been growing Great White, Mortgage Lifter, Big Rainbow, Rutgers, and an assortment of cherry tomatoes. This one was a Great White (my favorite variety but incredibly difficult one to buy starts - we'll start doing our own seeds/starts this winter.) We'll shift to Great White, Mortgage Lifter, and Rutgers with some cherry tomatoes next year. Even at this size, Great Whites are amazing. You just have to be patient for them to turn yellow rather than white (white they are edible but have almost no flavor - yellow and they eat like a sweet fruit.)

Yeah, a buddy of mine and his wife have an annual BLT-Fest and they grow these. I always choose them when I can.