Ample Harvest Grows Big in 2024

Ample Harvest West Milford reached several new milestones this year with more than 50% of gardeners at Apple Acres sharing their produce in the weekly harvests.  Some produce harvested included sweet small strawberries, literal buckets of beans and tomatoes, leafy greens, and the ever faithful zucchini.

Our second year at Wallisch Homestead resulted in a great variety and volume of donated produce. Some highlights at Wallisch included large leafy swiss chard, petite eggplants, tomatoes and piles of cucumber.

Finally, our presence at the West Milford Farmers Market brought in over $200, which we used to purchase fresh produce.

We’d also like to thank Courtney. Her outreach generated fresh egg donation through the Ample Harvest program for the first time this year

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Some Stats from 2024:

• Apple Acres yielded 262 pounds with 15 plots participating

• Wallisch Homestead yielded 180 pounds with 6 plots participating

• $272 cash donations used to purchase 129  pounds at West Milford Farmer’s Market

• 24 pounds dropped off at Farmer’s Market for donation

• 16 pounds fresh eggs sourced from Courtney’s outreach

• AND …. Jim’s potatoes are yet to be harvested

It Takes A Village

Behind the numbers are people helping their fellow neighbors.

Many, many thanks to: 

Barbara & Midsummer Farms for the donation of plants for the Ample Harvest plots.

Our community gardeners for sharing your produce:   Anne, Peggy, Jane, Sue L, Gail, Patrick, Tim, Dawn, Norma&Karl, Deb, Sue F, Steve, Gary, Mike, Courtney, Olive, Jim, Clara, Jessica.

Courtney, Jim and Jessica for maintaining the Wallisch Ample Harvest plot, and Courtney for your outreach and hosting the weekly donation at the West Milford Farmer’s Market.   

We would also like to thank Jim & Jessica for assisting, as well as Anne Thornton and Friends of Wallisch for sharing the gift of land.

WM Presbyterian Pantry

Collecting Donations at the WMFM

Happy Pantry Managers

Ample Harvest Keeps Giving this August

Two community gardens (Apple Acres, and Wallisch Homestead)  with two dedicated plots and seven gardeners sharing their yield, plus the support of one farmers market add up to a lot of support for our community!  

And we keep counting: 

Three separate harvests this week alone supported three different food pantries: Queen of Peace, WM Presbyterian, and SOS.

Many thanks to the individual gardener who donated 24 lbs of cucumbers.

That all adds up to 80+ pounds of fresh organic food for our neighbors in need.

Our gardeners and volunteers helping Ample Harvest West Milford make a positive difference. Thanks to Sue, Peggy, Anne, Gail, Courtney, Jim, Olive and Cathy for sharing your garden's wealth. Thanks to Courtney, Jim and Jessica for minding the Ample Harvest plot at Wallisch and the Donation Station at the Farmer's Market.

The season is beautiful and bountiful!

Ample Harvest June Update

At our first Farmer’s Market of the season, the Ample Harvest Donation Station raised $40 in cash donations from community members.

With these donations Ample Harvest was able to provide thirteen pounds of fresh produce to the Strengthen our Sisters Women's Shelter. Donated produce consisted of three large heads of romaine lettuce, four beefsteak tomatoes, five green bell peppers, four sweet yellow onions, and one large red onion at a cost of $20. The remaining $20 balance will go toward the following week’s donation. 

Ample Harvest provides fresh produce to the five locations listed below. We have a donation rotation to ensure that each pantry gets access to the community's contributions.

1. Strengthen our Sisters Women’s Shelter

2. Our Lady Queen of Peace Church

3. Holy with Lutheran Church

4. St. Joseph's Food Care

5. West Milford Presbyterian Church

Keep your eyes out for the coolers at the entrance of the market to make your donations… and thank you!

Want to get involved in growing, supporting, harvesting or delivering? Contact Cathy Bruce at cgb2673@optonline.net 

What is Ample Harvest?

In the face of inflation and a rising struggle to make ends meet, more and more families are dealing with food insecurity in West Milford and surrounding areas. 

The Problem: 

In budget-tight times, we turn to inexpensive food. Unfortunately, inexpensive food is typically highly processed and nutrient-deficient: think cereal, ramen noodles, canned veggies… These options may be fortified with vitamins, but are high in low-quality carbs and tend to be loaded in sugar, soy and other fillers. Additionally, they are often low in minerals, nutrients, fiber and protein. Unfortunately, fresh, local, seasonal veggies and fruits are hard to come by, have a short shelf life, and typically don’t make it to the food pantries for practical reasons. Food pantries often receive shipments from large regional food bank warehouses, part of a nationwide network operated by Feeding America. For obvious reasons, the food provided is shelf-stable, inexpensive, and produced in bulk.

Ample Harvest’s Solution:

Ample Harvest brings excess produce from backyard gardens to neighbors in need. The volunteers who participate in our local Ample Harvest program include community garden plot owners that donate from what they grow, and volunteers that plant, tend and harvest from our four dedicated 8X8 garden beds—two in our Apple Acres community gardens, and two at the Wallisch Homestead gardens.  

According to statistics provided by Ample Harvest in conjunction with Global Economics and Research Practice Cisco Consulting Services (Cisco Systems), one in six people (42 million nation-wide) do not have access to fresh food, whereas 1/3rd of all food (approximately $218 billion) is wasted each year. Meanwhile, 50% of produce in the US is never consumed, while many of the 32,500+ food pantries in America do not have enough fresh fruits and vegetables to serve their community.

Ample Harvest is a national program that we first started in our Organic Community gardens here in West Milford. Our goals locally are to offer an opportunity to fill the gap between what is available, including excess from our gardens, and getting it to those in need. If you have it and are willing to donate your produce, we willl find a way to get it to those in town who need it most.

How we are helping provide food resiliency:

Attendance at all food pantries in the region have gone up exponentially as inflation rises, jobs are downgraded or eliminated making it hard hard to make ends meet. Local pantries receive the harvest on their designated food pantry day, so everything participants receive is fresh. Pantry directors shared that they see the Ample Harvest donations making a huge difference by helping many families include fresh produce in their shopping cart. 

In a March 2024 article from NJ Spotlight News, NJ resident Sheila Long who makes $60,000/year at the age 63, said  it was a shock when she needed to turn to the pantry. She belieevs that the pantry fills a critical role for people who can’t make ends meet, and who may not ever have expected to depend on help with groceries.

“It was a hard pill because you feel like you are self-sufficient, that you can take care of yourself so it’s disappointing when you find out that you can’t take care of yourself,” Long said in the article. “You might be one paycheck away from it and you don’t even realize it until it happens.” 

We are looking for volunteers for the 2024 season. 

Want to learn more? Email Cathy at cgb2673@optonline.net 

Ample Harvest November Update

Ample Harvest had a number of accomplishments we’d like to share for 2023:

• Ample Harvest extended its efforts to Wallisch Garden this year

• Increased awareness of our program via facebook posting

• We increased participation at Apple Acres—we now have up to 11 gardeners participating

• New gardeners/volunteers Jim, Courtney, Jessica kept plot well maintained at Wallisch

• Thank you Barbara of MidSummer Farms for the plant donations to both gardens

• Fresh produce tally:  388 pounds from Apple Acres and 166 pounds from Wallisch

• Thanks to Courtney, outreach to local partners, Evergreen Farms, brought in additional 360 pounds of apples!

Our goals for 2024 include:

• More outreach to pantries to receive input on what to grow next year

• More promotion to increase awareness and volunteer base

• Formalizing and creating better tracking for the donation station at Farmers Market

• Building a team to improve overall goals and tracking across the program

• Create weekly updates 

• Maintain/increase participation at Apple Acres

• Increase participation at Wallisch

Thank you for all of your support of the Ample Harvest program. Your support makes it possible to rescue fresh produce that would otherwise go uneaten, and provide local families in need with fresh, organic food on a regular basis for five months out of the year. 

More on the West Milford Ample Harvest program

The basis of Ample Harvest is to rescue produce for gardeners that grow too much. Don’t let produce go to waste in the garden—collect it and donate it to the local food pantry. Pantry clients benefit from nutritious food.

We have operations at both Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead and supplement the process of rescuing produce from member plots with a plot at each garden that is dedicated solely to Ample Harvest donations for the five growing/producing months each year.

For any topics related to the above or the West Milford Ample Harvest program at our community gardens, please reach out to Cathy Bruce at cgb2673@optonline.net or 201-264-3528

Ample Harvest October Update

Thanks to the thoughtful and generous participation of the West Milford Community gardeners, we have tallied 533 pounds of rescued produce this season that was harvested and delivered fresh to our customers at Holy Faith Lutheran, Queen of Peace, St. Joseph’s, SOS, West Milford Presbyterian. 

The month of September was a treasure trove of the full range of vegetables: Many cucumbers, green beans, peppers and tomatoes, various squashes, fresh fragrant basil, hearty kale & chard. For an extra splash of sweet, we were able to add a delightful mix of strawberry and raspberry as well.   

We’d like to offer up a big thanks to community gardeners at Apple Acres and Wallisch for sharing their produce. This has been a banner year for West Milford Ample Harvest with more than 45% of community gardeners growing and sharing. We tended two plots dedicated to growing donation-only produce for our local pantries.

Thanks to volunteers Anne, Deb, Courtney, Jim, Steven, Cindy, Katie for helping with the weekly harvests.

We encourage all backyard gardeners to consider sharing your bounties with those in need.      For the remainder of the West Milford Farmers Market season, you can drop off your donation on Wednesday’s between 4 and 6 p.m.  Your local food pantries will benefit greatly through serving their clients with fresh, nutritious produce.      

More on the West Milford Ample Harvest program

The basis of Ample Harvest is to rescue produce for gardeners that grow too much. Don’t let produce go to waste in the garden—collect it and donate it to the local food pantry. Pantry clients benefit from nutritious food.

We have operations at both Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead and supplement the process of rescuing produce from member plots with a plot at each garden that is dedicated solely to Ample Harvest donations.

Flags and instructions for the Ample Harvest Flag System are posted near the gate in both gardens.  Community gardeners are encouraged to share their bounty as their gardens start to produce.

We have two Ample Harvest schedules to ensure fresh delivery.  

1. At Apple Acres on Saturdays at 8:30 AM, serving the pantries open on Saturday

2. At Wallisch on Thursdays, 10AM, serving the pantries open during the week

Upcoming Ample Harvest events:

• Weed and water (ongoing)

• Harvest (weekly at each garden)

• Replant for 2nd crops

This has been a year of growth for West Milford Ample Harvest. 

We expanded to the Wallisch Organic Community Garden. We had over 45% of gardeners across both community gardens contributing. Our donations of great quality food increased by 40% in weight. We have helped the local food pantries serve the food insecure!    

Cathy, Jim and Jessica have joined a team organized by Courtney to actively discuss continuing to build the program. Suggestions for improving our operation are always welcome and we are seeking volunteers to come help plant, tend, harvest and deliver.

For any topics related to the above or the West Milford Ample Harvest program at our community gardens, please reach out to Cathy Bruce at cgb2673@optonline.net or 201-264-3528

Ample Harvest September Update

Thanks to the thoughtful and generous participation of the West Milford Community gardeners, we have tallied 265 pounds of donated produce this season. It was all freshly harvested and delivered to our customers at Holy Faith Luthern, Queen of Peace, St. Joseph’s, SOS, West Milford Presbyterian.

Our spotlight so far has been an abundance of zucchini, cucumber and green beans. These veggies go a long way in feeding a family. They are all vegetables that offer a lot of substance and nutrients. We are excited to welcome an onslaught of tomatoes over the next month.

We encourage all backyard gardeners to consider sharing your bounties with those in need. For the remainder of the West Milford Farmers Market season, you can drop off your donation on Wednesday’s between 4 and 6 p.m. Your local food pantries will benefit greatly in serving their clients with fresh, nutritious produce.

More on the West Milford Ample Harvest program

The basis of Ample Harvest is to rescue produce for gardeners that grow too much—don’t let it go to waste in the garden! Instead, collect it and donate it to the local food pantry. Pantry clients benefit from nutritious food, which is traditionally more expensive in grocery stores, but often goes to waste in our gardens!

We have operations at both Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead to help rescue produce before it goes to waste. We supplement this with a dedicated plot at each garden where 100% of the produce goes to our pantry partners.

Community gardeners are encouraged to share their bounty as the garden starts to produce through the Ample Harvest Flag System. Flags and instructions are posted near the gate in both gardens.

We have two (2) Ample Harvest schedules to ensure fresh delivery:

• At Apple Acres on Saturdays, 8:30 AM, serving the pantries open on Saturday

• At Wallisch on Thursdays, 10AM, serving the pantries open during the week

We also take food donations at the West Milford Farmers Market on Wednesdays from 3-7pm.

Upcoming Ample Harvest events

• Weed and water (ongoing)

• Harvest (weekly at each garden)

• Replant for 2nd crops

Suggestions for improving our operation are always welcome and we are seeking volunteers to come help plant, tend, harvest and deliver.

For any topics related to the above or the West Milford Ample Harvest program at our community gardens, please reach out to Cathy Bruce at cgb2673@optonline.net or 201-264-3528

Ample Harvest August Update

The basis of Ample Harvest is to rescue produce for  gardeners that grow too much - Don’t let it go to waste in the garden, collect it and donate it to the local food pantry.    The pantry client benefits with nutritious food.

We have operations at both Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead.

We supplement the process with a dedicated plot at each garden.       

Flags and Ample Harvest Flag System are posted near the gate in both gardens.  Community gardeners are encouraged to share their bounty as the garden starts to produce.

We have 2 Ample Harvest schedules to ensure fresh delivery.  

1. At Apple Acres on Saturdays, 8:30 AM, serving the pantries open on Saturday

2. At Wallisch on Thursdays, 10AM, serving the pantries open during the week

Upcoming Ample Harvest events:

• Weed and water (ongoing)

• Harvest (weekly at each garden)

• Replant for 2nd crops

Our tally as of the end of July is 107 pounds and the tomatoes haven’t started yet!

Our harvests to date have been the early summer crops - snow peas, lettuce, beets and the always ever faithful chard and kale.   Fresh oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary and mint are small in size and packed a powerful flavor punch.   The pantries have also enjoyed the heavy zucchini producers - a bountiful way to help the food insecure.     We have successfully contributed to our food pantries on a rotating basis:   Holy Faith Luthern, Queen of Peace, St. Joseph’s, SOS, West Milford Presbyterian.

Suggestions for improving our operation are always welcome and we are seeking volunteers to come help plant, tend, harvest and deliver.

We’re looking forward to the upcoming production of tomatoes and beans - we will need help in the garden to harvest in August !

Learn more about Ample Harvest and our system for rescuing produce from local gardens for distribution to local pantries on the NCWM website.  

For any topics related to the West Milford Ample Harvest program at our community gardens, please reach out to Cathy Bruce at cgb2673@optonline.net or 201-264-3528

Ample Harvest July Update

The official start of Ample Harvest season has arrived!

Ample Harvest has gardening operations at both Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead. The main purpose of Ample Harvest is to rescue produce for gardeners that grow too much. Don’t let it go to waste in the garden, collect it and donate it to the local food pantry. The pantry client benefits with nutritious food like the vegetables and herbs you are already growing in abundance!

We supplement the donations of excess produce from local gardeners with a dedicated plot at each garden. These plots are tended to by volunteers, and the entirety of their harvest goes directly to local pantries. The plants for the dedicated plots were donated this year by Barbara at Midsummer Farm with some tomato plants donated from Wendy. 

Community gardeners are encouraged to share their bounty as the garden starts to produce more than they can consume. We harvest your excess using the Ample Harvest Flag System, which is posted near the gate in both gardens.  

We have 2 Ample Harvest schedules to ensure fresh delivery to pantry clients: 

1. At Apple Acres on Saturdays, 8:30 AM, serving the pantries open on Saturday

2. At Wallisch on Thursdays, 10AM, serving the pantries open during the week

Upcoming Ample Harvest events:

• Weed and water (ongoing)

• Harvest (weekly at each garden)

• Replant for 2nd crops

Ample Harvest 2023 is off to a fruitful start with a recent delivery to St. Joseph’s Church. Last year we donated 300 pounds of fresh produce, and this year we are on a path to greatly increase our impact!

Suggestions for improving our operation are always welcome, and we welcome volunteers to come help plant, tend, harvest and deliver.

For any topics related to the above or the West Milford Ample Harvest program at our community gardens, please reach out to Cathy Bruce at Cgb2673@optonline.net or 201 264 3528.

Community Garden Updates

APPLE ACRES 

Sunday May 21st was Opening Day at Apple Acres and it was a wonderful success!  We had a great turnout with a perfect mixture of seasoned gardeners and newly joined members.  It was heartwarming to see how perfectly everyone got along.  

The day began with bagels, fruit salad and coffee, organized and arranged by our outstanding Social Director. The spread was completed when one of our gardeners arrived with the most delicious crumb cake......this was completely devoured.  

With the eating and socializing behind us we helped new gardeners till their plots and attended to our own where needed. It was a wonderful day and we were so happy to be a part of it!!!

We also wanted to announce the creation of a fund in honor of one of our gardeners who passed away last fall after a battle with cancer. All donations supporting the fund will go toward the purchase of a new picnic table to replace one of our aging ones. We are also going to create a carved plaque to be placed under the tree in the flower garden. Please contact us if you are interested in contributing.

Garden Coordinators

Peggy White & Sue Latchford

AMPLE HARVEST

The basis of Ample Harvest is to rescue produce for gardeners that grow too much… Don’t let your produce go to waste in the garden—collect it and donate it to the local food pantry. Pantry clients benefit with nutritious, fresh-grown food.

Last year we donated 300 pounds of fresh produce, which was distributed to Queen of Peace, West Milford Presbyterian, St. Joseph’s, Holy Faith Lutheran and SOS Shelter. This year we have a chance to greatly increase our impact!

The Organic Community Gardens, under Nature Connection of West Milford, are hosting two plots for 100% organic produce donation to our local food pantries—one at Apple Acres and one at Wallisch. 

Team Wallisch was able to prepare the new plot for Ample Harvest at the garden workday, May 21st. HOORAY!!

Our dedicated plots are intended to promote growing for donation to those in need. We encourage  our community gardeners to grow a little extra and/or donate your excess to the food insecure in our local area. Team Ample Harvest will gladly harvest your excess for you.

Ample Harvest is looking for volunteers to weed, water, tend and harvest the plots - Jim and Kim are signed up at Wallisch. Courtney is signed up at Wallisch and Apple Acres. Looking are always seeking additional volunteers to help water, tend and harvest our plots during our work days, or any days. Ample Harvest workdays are planned for Saturday mornings at Apple Acres,  and weekdays at Wallisch. Harvests are aligned to the food pantry operating hours so produce is distributed fresh. 

Snowpeas, radish and beets are sprouting in the Apple Acres plot. Thanks to Barbara at Midsummer Farms for healthy donation of plants for Ample Harvest.

Upcoming Ample Harvest events:

• Weed and water (ongoing)

• Flags will be coming out (mid to late June) 

• Harvest (target start date mid to late June)

Suggestions for improving our operation are always welcome.

Please reach out to Cathy Bruce to join the West Milford Ample Harvest team!

WALLISCH GARDENS

Welcome Jessica and Courtney as new members to the Wallisch garden !

Thanks to for helping out during our most recent work day!

New plots are in progress… the Wallisch team, comprised of Kim, Jim, Kathy, Courtney, Jessica, Jean and Jim, completed assembly of one single and one double plot. Jessica got straight to work loading her new plot with soil. The double plot was started with soil and will be used for Ample Harvest. 

More manure will be acquired for the Wallisch garden and we will need additional cardboard to complete the remaining plots. More topsoil will also be acquired if needed.

Wallisch still has two plots open for any interested gardener! 

Gardeners also got a chance to take in the upcoming Art Show. The view of the garden from inside the barn is quite lovely.

Please join us for a City Green workshop at the West Milford Library on May 30th at 6pm: Dirt Matters! Growing Healthy Garden Soil

The West Milford Community Gardens news and updates

Community Garden directors, Cathy, Sue and Peggy are pleased to announce two garden workshops for Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead community garden members. These one-hour workshops, held at the West Milford Library (1470 Union Valley Road), are hosted by the Community Gardens and will include speakers from City Green.

Upcoming workshops for community garden members:

May 30: Dirt Matters! Healthy Garden Soil

Community Garden member workshops are held at the West Milford Library

Springtime at Apple Acres

All the plots at Apple Acres are filled with enthusiastic gardeners this year. Screened, organic topsoil and manure has been delivered for use in all of the plots. Committees have been formed, and some early spring maintenance is underway. Tom Latchford set up the water tank and installed the faucets. Our official opening is May 20th, but the garlic is coming up and seeds are in the ground. We are looking forward to a productive year!

Community Gardens Opening Day at Wallisch Farms

April 15th was a successful garden opening today at Wallisch. The grass is mowed and whacked, gates are cleared for entry/exit and our gardeners energies outlasted the weed whacker battery juice. The community joined in to clear the raspberry plot for future growth, and gardeners shared spirit and cultivation of ideas for a great 2023 garden season.

Shout out to DeMarcos for pizza donation.

Ample Harvest is active at Apple Acres

With thanks to the West Milford Rotary Club for their $350 donation and the helping hands of Karl and Pat, the Ample Harvest plot was framed in the Fall 2022. To build a good soil foundation where plants will thrive, the plot was loaded with a combination of cow manure, top soil, kelp meal, humic acid and earthworm castings.

Cold weather seeds of radish, snow pea, beet and carrot were planted on two separate dates (April 9th and 21st)) to allow the harvest to extend and spread to multiple pantries. Radish, snow pea and beets are already sprouting!   

The fence frame is up in preparation for climbing plants—zucchini and cucumber. We will round out the plot with a few tomato plants, parsley and basil. Beans will be planted along the fence by the back gate in keeping with John’s tradition. The seeds were graciously donated from Debbie.

We are trying to squeeze as much into a small space as possible to produce high yields for our grateful food pantries. If you have any suggestions, please contact Cathy Bruce.

Ample Harvest is a community effort! While a single plot is dedicated to Ample Harvest, we invite our fellow gardeners to share a portion of their excess harvest.  

Upcoming work in the gardens:

Clear space and plant beans (mid May)

Plant tomato, parsley, basil, zucchini, cucumber (post Memorial Day)

Weed and water (ongoing)

Flags system refresher (mid to late June) 

Harvest (target start date mid- to late- June)

We will be exploring expansion of Ample Harvest to Wallisch Homestead ,and are actively recruiting volunteers to help plant, maintain, harvest, deliver and grow the impact. If you are interested in joining the team, please reach out to Cathy Bruce to join the team!