MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. — Home Team Harvest - Washington state's largest annual food drive - is underway.
The two-month campaign is a team effort to raise 24 million meals for Northwest Harvest, the state’s largest hunger relief agency. The nonprofit distributes food to every county in Washington, working with a statewide network of 400 food banks, meal programs, and schools.
From 'the green' to the greens
A former golf course (Elk Run) in Maple Valley has been operating as a farm for nearly a decade.
Elk Run Farm launched in 2015 and has not only grown in size but also in what it harvests.
The farm donates thousands of pounds of fresh produce to the South King County Food Coalition, which owns and operates the farm. The coalition has several member food banks.
The member food banks include, White Center, Highline, Des Moines, Vashon-Maury, Federal Way, Tukwila, Salvation Army (Renton), Kent, Auburn, Maple Valley, Enumclaw, and Enumclaw.
It has three part-time staff members and relies heavily on volunteers to keep the farm going strong.
There are regular projects in addition to everyday maintenance and care to the farm that's made possible through donations from the community.
Growing culturally diverse herbs and vegetables
Nearing its 10th growing season - the crew is nearing 10,000 pounds of donated produce for 2024.
Next year - the group hopes to deliver 12,000 pounds of fresh produce to 12 food banks serving some of the region’s most diverse communities.
"We know that we can't feed everyone, but we want to provide that nutritious culturally relevant, food to those food banks," said Joy Thronsden, Elk Run Farm's community outreach coordinator. "Foods that really not only feed people's body, but help feed their hearts and their souls.”
The team constantly reviews what should be grown on the farm based on the needs of the communities it serves.
With a growing population of refugee and migrant community members in South King County - Elk Run Farm welcomes feedback.
“We had some women from Ukraine {visit the farm} recently and they saw our bed of sorrel," said Jillian Hirst Johns, Elk Run Farm manager. "I don't eat sorrel, I didn't really know the right way to grow it and harvest it and I really thought a couple of them were going to cry. They were so happy to see it.”
There is a mix of produce "staples" in the field as well.
Some of the items grown on the farm include, kale, collards, turnips, radishes, Ethiopian kale, tomatoes, peppers, green onions and garlic.
"Garlic was the first thing we grew here and we devote an eighth of our field to garlic," Hirst Johns said. "It takes a year to grow. Garlic takes a long time, and we do that because everybody loves garlic, like, every culture around the world and fresh garlic, doesn't come to the food bank."
Out of the classroom and in the dirt
While some students are in the classroom - those enrolled in Tahoma High School's plant science class are learning directly from the land on Elk Run Farm.
"They're learning everything," Hirst Jones said. "They're learning how to use tools properly, they're learning how to work as a team.”
Cooper Provo, a Tahoma High School alum, enjoyed his time as a plant science student. He enjoyed the experience so much - he went on to become an intern and now volunteers regularly.
"In the internship program, we actually visited one of the food banks in White Center and kind of handed out fresh produce and it felt really good,"
Working on the farm has become a welcoming experience for Provo and other volunteers.
"I was surprised by how fun harvesting was for one, that was probably the standout," Provo said. "It turns out, I really like manual labor, too."
Watching students learn and grow during their weekly farm visits is something the Elk Run Farm team looks forward to.
"I can see them when they get here and they smell that fresh air and they have their feet on the ground and their hands in the dirt," Throndsen said. "They just kind of start to relax.”
Volunteer at Elk Run Farm
Several groups and individuals volunteer at the farm, but Throndsen said even more are needed.
At times, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts arrange to come out for community service hours, as well as other community organizations looking for ways to give back.
In addition to monetary donations - volunteering is crucial for the farm.
You can help during planting and harvest seasons, or provide your special skills in plumbing or building something. If you have heavy-duty farming equipment that can be loaned out free of charge or donated outright - the farm wants to hear from you.
You can also help drive produce deliveries to food banks.
For more information on how to volunteer and view waiver forms - click here.
You can also email volunteer questions to volunteer@skcfc.org.
The farm is located at 27625 228th Ave. SE, Maple Valley.