As Donna Mohler begins to prepare Feed My Sheep’s weekly meal, she doesn’t have to spend much time worrying about vegetables.

Mohler and Judy Netherton, her co-director, have a supply of canned and frozen fresh vegetables that will help feed the 80 to 95 people who eat lunch each Tuesday there through the winter months and into the spring thanks to the Community Garden.

“What I cannot use that week, or if they give me an abundance of vegetables, I can and put them in the freezer to be used later,” she said. “I have two freezers full of vegetables.

Vegetables grown at the Community Garden are donated to organizations in Kokomo that feed the hungry, said Cindy Rush, who is employed by Ivy Tech Community College as the Community Garden coordinator.

The Community Garden distributed 15,989.5 pounds of vegetables throughout its growing season this year to 14 groups that either supply meals or operate food pantries.

Mohler has squash, corn, cabbage, green peppers and carrots in the freezer, and she canned green beans and tomatoes for later use.

Some weeks, the entire Feed My Sheep meal was grown in the Community Garden, such as one in the middle of October.

“We did stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, green beans, sliced tomatoes and zucchini bread. I fed 92 people at a cost of about $40,” Mohler said. “In the summer, a lot of meals that, other than the meat, the majority of what we put on the table comes from the Community Garden.”

Feed My Sheep has been serving meals since Fresh Start Ministries moved into its own building at 801 W. Mulberry St. The garden has been supplying vegetables since the first summer.

“Someone gave them my name and told them I was feeding homeless and elderly at my church,” Mohler said. “Cindy called and asked if I was interested in fresh vegetables.”

Louise James, who operates the food pantry at Grace Memorial, loves the fresh vegetables the garden allows them to give out every Monday during the summer.

“The garden is a tremendous help. We get lots of fresh veggies from them. I would hate to do this without them,” she said. “When they bring fresh veggies, we give out fresh veggies. We still give out canned, but we give fresh, too. Fresh is better.

“We give people what they want. If they don’t want it, they may throw it away and that would be a waste because someone else may take it and use it.”

At Kokomo Rescue Mission, if it weren’t for the Community Garden donations, the vegetables served would have all been canned this summer, according to Bebe Dorris, its director of development.

“We couldn’t afford to go buy the fresh produce they give us. Not only did they allow us to serve the most nutritious, beautiful, homegrown products, but they also saved us from using our stock of canned foods,” Dorris said. “Our meals wouldn’t have been as attractive, appealing or nutritious as the meals with home-grown vegetables were.

“As it came, we used it. If something would have spoiled or that we couldn’t freeze effectively, we gave it away to people who came to the dining room.”

It was especially beneficial this summer as the Mission served 11,000 meals in August alone — a record for meals served in any one month.

The Rescue Mission received 2,205.5 pounds of fresh vegetables this year, and, over the last six years, has been the recipient of nearly 8 tons from the garden.

That doesn’t include what was given to Open Arms, the Mission’s shelter for women and children. Open Arms was given 1,026 pounds and has received 2.5 tons overall.

The fresh vegetables are even more important to those at the shelter, Dorris said.

“By and large, the kids at Open Arms haven’t been exposed to eating fresh vegetables and fruit,” she said. “They think everything comes in cans. Things as common as raw carrots, they don’t realize they don’t come in cans.”

Begun in 2003 with the help of Master Gardeners, the garden is located near Ivy Tech at the intersection of Touby Pike and North Street. Seeds, plants, fertilizer and other items needed are all donated and volunteers work to grow the vegetables.

Planning for the garden begins early in the spring.

“We take information from the last year, the things we learned and what we want to try differently,” she said. “Maybe we don’t want to plant so much zucchini. Last year, beetles ate all of our potatoes in the ground and I didn’t want to plant them this year. But, our volunteers insisted we try again and we got quite a harvest.”

A core group of 15 to 20 people regularly work in the garden, but new volunteers are always appreciated.

“We have groups who show up — Boy Scouts, Kokomo Kiwanis, Kinsey Youth Center, CAM,” Rush said. “We had a group from Delphi for Day of Caring, and Taylor students came out and worked one morning.”

A number of people put in more than 100 hours this year, including Dave Mason (146.5), Walt Rossmanith (145), Marcelline Allen (116.5) and Becky Swails (115.5). Tom and Pat Georges spent nearly 193 hours working in the garden while Dean and Sue Leckrone combined for another 100.

“You do not have to know anything about gardening,” Rush said. “One of the missions of the garden is teaching people how to garden. I think it’s important people learn how to grow their own food and this is the perfect place to learn.”

John Dempsey may be contacted at (765) 854-6739 or by e-mail at john.dempsey@kokomotribune.com



2008 Community Garden facts:

Vegetables grown

This list includes the vegetables grown, pounds harvested, price per pound based on local grocery store prices and dollar total for amount grown.

Tomatoes — 4,341.5 lbs., $2.99, $12,981.09

Corn — 2,663, .64, $1,704.32

Potatoes — 2,377 lbs., 1.29, $3,066.33

Green beans — 1,351.5 lbs., $1.99, $2,689.49

Cabbage — 982.25 lbs., .99, $972.43

Butternut squash — 858 lbs., .99, $849.42

Beets — 824.5 lbs., $2.99, $2,465.26

Carrots — 559 lbs., .99, $553.41

Bell peppers — 414.5 lbs., $2.50, $1,036.25

Sweet potatoes — 374 lbs., $1.69, $632.06

Zucchini — 362 lbs., $1.99, $720.38

Broccoli — 252.5 lbs., $1.99, $502.48

Cucumbers — 202 lbs., .99, $199.98

Swiss chard — 165 lbs., $2.89, $476.85

Onions — 76 lbs., $1.49, $113.24

Eggplant — 74 lbs., $1.69, $125.06

Kohlrobi — 60 lbs., $2.99, $179.40

Acorn squash — 29 lbs., .99, $28.71

Yellow peppers — 15 lbs., $4.00, $60.00

Yellow summer squash — 6 lbs., .99, $5.94

Sugar snap peas — 3 lbs., $3.99, $11.97

Totals — 15,989.75 lbs., $26,307.74

Food distribution

Rescue Mission — 2,205.5

Grace Memorial Pantry — 1,950.5

Howard Haven — 1,666.5

Urban Outreach — 1,571

Fresh Start Ministries — 1,467.5

Spirit Wind Church — 1,268.5

Salvation Army — 1,212

Crisis Center — 1,167

Open Arms — 1,026

FSA Shelter — 860.75

CAM — 819.5

Gilead House — 546

Favors — 206

Nesting Doves — 23