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/