Final Basin’s Backyard Garden donations of 2021 add 100 lbs. of carrots, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins

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The last two Basin’s Backyard Garden donations of 2021 added more than 100 lbs. of good, fresh food to local food pantries’ offerings.

On Oct. 12, gardeners donated 21.2 lbs. of carrots and cucumbers to Trinity Lutheran Church’s The Banquet. Lindsay Kostelecky, Basin Electric veggie taxi driver and contract administrator II, did the donation while on a conference call for work over her lunch hour. Now that is dedication to the cause!

On Oct. 19, the final donation came in heavy with 87.2 lbs. of squash and pumpkins. Angela Magstadt, Basin Electric veggie taxi driver and staff writer/editor, drove the goodies to the Bismarck Emergency Food Pantry.

These donations bring Basin’s Backyard Garden’s grand total for the year to 1,146.5 lbs. of fresh, mostly local food donated this year. You may remember, we started the year adding grocery store and farmers market goods to our donations to get employees on board with the #HomeGrown garden schedule.

Since 2014, Basin’s Backyard Garden has donated 4,396 lbs. of fresh, good, mostly local food to local food pantries through the Hunger Free North Dakota program administered by the North Dakota Department of Agriculture.

Volunteer Ken at the Bismarck Emergency Food Pantry with this week’s donation.

Donations top 1,000 lbs. in Basin’s Backyard Garden in 2021

Basin’s Backyard Garden volunteers continue hitting donation milestones in 2021. This week, with a 67.6 lb. donation of acorn squash, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, total donations for the year topped 1,000 lbs. (1,038.1 pounds, to be exact).

That means since the garden was started in 2014, Basin Electric employees have donated 4,287.6 lbs. of good, fresh vegetables and fruits to local food pantries.

One employee’s father had lots of extra acorn squash that she brought in to donate, which really bumped up this week’s poundage.

Volunteer Amanda Dvorak and her son David delivered the local food (plus a spontaneous cash donation from a Basin Electric employee) to Heavens Helpers Soup Cafe.

Amanda Dvorak and her son David.

“They were excited about the squash, because they make an excellent squash soup,” she says. “The onions will happily go in some soup as well and the rest of the produce – tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers will be set out so customers can take whatever they need.”

Amanda says they were very grateful for the fresh produce. “From what I heard talking with the volunteers working, it was a busy day there,” she says.

David got a little dessert at Heavens Helpers Soup Cafe when they dropped off the donation.

Also, KFYR-TV’s Erica Craven did a story on Basin’s Backyard Garden that ran on the evening’s news. Watch here: Gardeners donate record vegetable haul to local food pantries

https://www.kfyrtv.com/2021/10/05/gardeners-donate-record-vegetable-haul-local-food-pantries/

Record-setting donation in this week’s Basin’s Backyard Garden harvest

Employees busted up Basin’s Backyard Garden totals today with their heavy fall fruits and veggies.

With a one-day harvest total of 163 lbs., the gardeners of Basin Electric donated a valuable treasure… lots of fresh, local food and quite a variety to boot.

Veggie Taxi Driver Angela Magstadt prepares to drive off with a trunk full of good food, after Hauler Erin Laverdure helps load the loot.

Gardeners donated potatoes, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, pears, zucchini, and even a watermelon! Volunteer Adele Leingang took on the work of weighing today’s donation.

So far in 2021, Basin’s Backyard Gardeners have donated 970.5 lbs. to local food pantries, helping feed our community with local, fresh garden food.

In all of Basin’s Backyard Garden history, there have only been three other one-day totals that were higher than today’s 163 lb. donation: Aug. 26, 2015 (164.8 lbs.), Sept. 22, 2016 (164.6 lbs.), and Aug. 24, 2021 (185 lbs. … and a record we failed to properly celebrate!).

Since we are looking at numbers, it’s worth noting that our last all-year total record was set in 2016 with 964.7 lbs.

Cheers to all Basin Electric employees who have donated, helped weigh veggies, or serve as a veggie taxi!

Bismarck Emergency Food Pantry Volunteers show off today’s donation from Basin’s Backyard Garden.

Stack of squash and plenty of pears take Basin’s Backyard Garden to more than 800-pounds donated in 2021

Basin’s Backyard Garden donated 44 pounds of goodness this week, in the form of butternut squash, acorn squash, tomatoes, pears, and cucumbers.

The donation brings our volunteers’ yearly donation total to more than 800 pounds.

Veggie taxi driver Tracie Bettenhausen took the fresh, local fruits and vegetables to Community Action Region VII.

Basin’s Backyard Garden adds a pantry donation drive during Hunger Awareness Month

Basin’s Backyard Gardeners added a pantry donation drive to their weekly haul.

September is Hunger Awareness Month, and the idea of a quick food drive was posted by an employee at Ministry on the Margins.

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Rachel Monge, formerly with the Great Plains Food Bank, recently started working at Ministry on the Margins. She posted the following on Facebook:

Basin Electric employees donated several boxes of food pantry items along with their regular Backyard Garden veggie haul. The veggies totaled 89 pounds, bringing this season’s grand total to more than 760 pounds of good, fresh food donated to those who need it.

Basin Electric employees Whitney Fischer, senior financial operations analyst, and Della Mastel, senior accounting analyst, helped Rachel load up the goods.

“Rachel was very grateful!” Whitney says. “She said they served 67 households this morning at Ministry on the Margins from 9:30-11:30 so the food will go quickly.”

Heavens Helpers Soup Cafe gets the first potatoes of the season from Basin’s Backyard Gardeners

Heavens Helpers volunteer Bobbi Jo and Tracie Bettenhausen show off this week’s Basin’s Backyard Garden donation.

The garden donations took a bit of a holiday slowdown this week. It’s bound to happen the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend.

This week’s 23-pound donation of potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini went to Heavens Helpers Soup Cafe, a cafe that not only serves daily meals but also maintains a food pantry as well.

This week was the first time potatoes were part of the haul in 2021. Tracie Bettenhausen, Basin’s Backyard Garden veggie taxi driver, says the Soup Cafe was full of guests when she arrived with the produce over the lunch hour. “I know Mark Meier (founder of Heavens Helpers) and his team do a great job of using the produce they receive, and was so happy to drop off our donation today.”

99-pound donation rounds out August for Basin’s Backyard Garden

Amanda Dvorak loads up the Basin’s Backyard Garden donation.

On Aug. 30, Basin’s Backyard Gardeners donated 99 pounds of beets, zucchini, cucumbers, kabocha squash, and tomatoes.

Veggie taxi driver Amanda Dvorak delivered the produce to Trinity Lutheran Church.

“I heard people say, ‘People LOVE the fresh vegetables,’ and “Cucumbers are some favorites of the customers,” Dvorak says. “Also, ‘Someone is going to make borsht soup with all of those beets.'”

So far this summer, Basin’s Backyard Garden #Homegrown has donated more than 650 pounds of good food to those who need it.

Amanda and Karla, director for The Banquet, a weekly meal for all at Trinity Lutheran Church.

One home’s garden harvest boosts Basin’s Backyard Garden donations to more than 550 pounds

If you walked into the first floor at Basin Electric’s Headquarters building on Aug. 24, it might have brought tears to your eyes.

First of all, the donation from Basin’s Backyard Garden was obviously massive. In fact, the donation required two vehicles to carry the loot. But one particular veggie in the pile – onions – were fresh and aromatic.

Ashley and Grant Sundquist’s home garden was the major contributor to today’s Basin’s Backyard Garden donation to Community Action. Ashley is an accounting analyst III at Basin Electric, and Grant is a real time trader I.

The donation totaled 185 pounds of onions, zucchini, green peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant, corn, buttercup squash, cucumbers, and carrots. Ashley and Della Mastel served as veggie taxi drivers.

Ashley says Grant started the garden to teach their children about gardening. This is the second year their garden has been so fruitful and large; Ashley mostly focused on tomato plants before that.

“Grant is the muscle and brains behind our home garden,” Ashley says. “He grows it and I cook it.”

The family’s children, Jayla and Jaxon, help Grant with planting and weeding.

Their garden is growing lots of zucchini this year, and the tomatoes aren’t doing as well as Ashley hoped. Two watermelons grew, and the family ate the first one and donated the second to today’s harvest.

Add this week’s donation to the rest of the donations so far, and Basin’s Backyard Garden volunteers have donated 552 pounds of fresh food to food pantries and other agencies to give to those who need the food.

Store-bought fruit lends variety to Basin’s Backyard Garden donation

Lori Hillestead, food pantry and Backpack for Kids coordinator at Community Action Program Region VII, with today’s donation.

Basin’s Backyard Garden donated 40 pounds of good food this week.

Twenty-two pounds of cucumbers, six pounds of tomatoes, and 12 pounds of purchased fruits and veggies were in the haul. Plums, avocados, and a mixed variety of tomatoes will make for a nice treat for someone in need.

Thanks to Community Action for taking our donation.

Temporary veggie taxi driver makes one last stop for Basin’s Backyard Garden

Zara Laber loaded up her taxi one last time with good food for people who need it.

Our temporary veggie taxi driver Zara Laber made her last donation stop on Aug. 10, and it was a big one.

Basin’s Backyard gardeners donated 108.2 pounds of good food: potatoes, beets, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes.

Zara Laber in her home garden with family.

“There was quite the harvest this week,” Laber says. “A lovely gentleman helped me carry everything in and sort it out. This past weekend, my niece, nephew, and I harvested potatoes and cucumbers for today’s donation and we had a great time in the August heat.”

Laber took this week’s donation to Trinity Lutheran Church once again. “This entire experience has been fun and fulfilling in so many ways,” she say. “I loved working with the very nice Basin team and look forward to seeing what Basin’s Backyard Garden has in store.”