It’s a celebration of all things potato, and the public is invited to come out and enjoy the season’s harvest this Sunday.
The Cranbrook Food Action Committee will be harvesting the fruits of their labour after a successful first year of the new Public Produce Garden on Sunday. The Potato Picking Party will “pick” off at 12 p.m. and go until 4 p.m. on the corner of 8th St. N and 18th Ave. N, and everyone is welcome to come out, pull out a few tubers and enjoy some fun family activities.
“People can come and go as they please that’s always been the policy of the garden,” said Christian Kimber, Public Produce Garden manager.
Kimber said this will be the first celebration of a year’s harvest after seed potatoes were planted in early July.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a garden,” he said. “We’re going to roll up our sleeves and rip out some potato plants.”
Afterwards the apples of the earth will be boiled up and served to the hungry volunteer gardeners, and any remaining will be handed out for free. Kale and cilantro also flourished in the garden, and those plants will be harvested and given out.
“Baked potatoes are always nice but these will be great boiled,” Kimber said.
The Cranbrook Food Action Committee is hoping for a big turnout to compliment the volunteers who have been doing the gardening over the summer.
“We’re hoping to get lots of people out pulling potato plants,” Kimber said.
Kids and their families are more than welcome, and the committee has planned a number of fun tater-related activities from potato sack races to potato decorating to entertain all. Kimber hopes the kids will get right in the garden and help pick the spuds, but he suspects it won’t be a chore for them.
“Kids and dirt and potatoes – it’s hard to keep them out of there,” he said.
A composting workshop will be held for the adults in the crowd to learn how to make their own gardens better.
“It doesn’t take a lot of instruction to produce some fine dirt,” Kimber said.
The committee is also looking for feedback and suggestions as they look to next year. The space where the garden sits is capable of being expanded, and Kimber said they want to involve the community in the garden’s future.
“We’d like to get some suggestions and ideas,” he said.
The Potato Picking Party will also give potential volunteers and gardeners a chance to connect, in the hope that more will come out and enjoy it next year. Kimber said now that the garden is established the work for next year is minimal.
“Now really it’s rolling. All we have to do is put seeds in the ground,” he said. “It didn’t seem like a lot of work.”
With that said, Kimber said the committee will always need someone official to make sure everything is planted and tasks aren’t completed twice or not at all.
“I suspect we’ll always need a co-ordinator of some sort but I’d like to see enough volunteer s for the garden to run itself,” he said.
For more information on the Potato Picking Party or the Cranbrook Food Action Committee contact Kimber at (250) 489-3917 or email cranbrookfoodaction@yahoo.ca. The committee also has a Facebook group.