Farm Manager Matt Lechmaier reports that the Forward Garden season ended with about 24,000 pounds of food donated from 31 different crops grown on the 3.5 acres at the Pope Farm Homestead. This included about:

• 4,300 pounds of tomatoes
• 754 pounds of tomatillos
• 1308 pounds of broccoli
• 4,426 pounds of cabbage
• 251 pounds of kale
• 921 pounds of melons
• 57 pounds of onions
• 5,006 pounds of peppers
• 1,837 pounds of winter squash.

They also lightly processed broccoli, cauliflower and green beans into 686 individual 10-ounce microwavable steamer bags. Equally noteworthy was the fact that almost 300 community members assisted with the production efforts between April and October for a combined 2,033 hours volunteered! Wow – terrific first year!