A retired couple has started up a large garden this summer, in hopes of donating the vegetables to local food banks.
After asking for volunteers to help out two weeks ago, Melvin Kachur has to admit he has been a little disappointed with the lack of people stepping up.
“I think it's a low response so far. We have a beautiful garden, and a lot of opportunities to grow stuff and harvest stuff and grow all kinds of veggies, and we supply the product and the equipment and all they have to do is plant it and do a little bit of hoeing.”
He says the more volunteers that come out, the more successful the harvest will be.
“We had a few, but we need more volunteers.”
Besides the desire for more helpers, Kachur says the garden is doing quite well.
“We're doing very well because all the heat that we have, and we had donations of some fertilizer from companies in Steinbach and we had the moisture. Everything is doing well.”
He expects the first harvest to be ready around the end of August.
“But maybe the corn might be sooner. We have peaches, a lot of potatoes, we're also growing carrots and some beans and some tomatoes and peppers, so a lot of variety.”
He says they are almost finished planting, and are finishing planting potatoes this weekend as there is more space in the garden for them.
“From then on, we'll be doing quite a bit of hoeing the weeds, nothing too complicated. They don't have to spend days and days, could be a few hours here, a few hours there. Would be great for somebody who has a green thumb who likes to play in the dirt a little bit.”
He says it’s been really encouraging seeing the produce grow, but he’s most excited for the harvest season.
“Harvesting the veggies and then distributing it to the people that need it, the world needs food.”
He says they have big dreams, and would love to donate food to several food banks.
“We'd like to reach anybody that needs food, Steinbach, Grunthal, Vita...”
Kachur is passionate about making sure everybody has food on their plates.
“My aim in life is to eliminate hunger. Put hunger in its tracks and feed the world, as a lot of other farmers do.”
He notes the Garden of Eden is about 2½ acres.
“We'll continue on, we will appreciate some help but we are optimistic and we're hoping for the best. We're hoping for beautiful weather and hoping for a bountiful harvest.”
The Kachur farm is next to the Pansy Hall, 6 miles south along Pansy Road off of Hwy 205, east of Sarto.
To volunteer, call 204-434-9397 (landline) or email him melvinkachur9397@gmail.com
With files from Ayesha Badiola
Fri, Jul 26, 8:00 PM
Hourly, Part-time, Hospitality
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