Harvest Network

Some more props

harvestnetwork — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:31:09 +0000

Hey everyone

Big thanks to Blessed Earth and the Sleeth’s for allowing us to tell our story on the website.

http://www.blessedearth.org/testimonies.html

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The end of the beginning

harvestnetwork — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:17:11 +0000

Yesterday at the Jubilee garden at the First Nazarene church, was a small yet important event. Two people came into the food pantry needing help with food. They were then told about lettuce being available at the garden. They then drove to the garden where they picked the lettuce with some help from others. They took only what they needed and anticipated what was to also come from the garden. So it begins.

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Some recogniton

harvestnetwork — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:37:59 +0000

The Harvest Network got it’s first mention in the local paper. Check it out.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904020302

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Planting potatoes for a community

harvestnetwork — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:31:11 +0000

On March 21st, the Ikon community planted the first vegetable in the communal garden, Kennebec potatoes. It was a good day because in 2 hours, we had prepared the soil and planted about 200 ft of potatoes which will give about 200 lbs. What was it like? Well ask the worm what he saw.

The Worms Eye View

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Case Study

harvestnetwork — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:25:26 +0000

To show the importance of what we are trying to do, lets examine one of our projects. The Ikon community is a home church/communal group that tries to live simply to allow themselves to serve God better. To further this effort, each household has an individual garden for things like tomatoes and lettuce, but also have a communal garden where they grow vegetables like sweet corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and winter squash. This is how the resources required broke down.

1. Land – Provide by one of Ikon’s members.

2. Fertilizer – Manure given by a local horse stable as well as leaves collected by a recycling company. The manure was transported by member of a church who also transported manure for their community/Jubille garden.

3. Breaking Ground – The initial ground breaking was done by a member of the same church who was also turning the ground at their garden.

4. Tilling – the ground was tilled using a large tiller and furrow tiller owned by one of Ikon’s members.

5. Seeds – The overall cost of the seeds needed to plant the garden is about 35$ with most of that for the sweet potato vines and the seed potatoes. All of these were bought at the local Coop which buys all of their seeds in TN.

The production from this 1400 sq. ft. garden comes to the following.

Sweet corn – 120 pints of frozen corn total with grocery price of 1.2$/pint

Sweet potatoes – 120 lbs. at a grocery price of 1.1$/lb

Winter Squash – 100 lbs. at a grocery price of 1.30$/lb

Potatoes – 200 lbs at a grocery price of 1$/lb

This comes to a total savings of 600$ with a cost of only 35$.

The other thing to see is the importance of networking. While nobody in the group could provide the resources, the resources are only one degree of separation away. That signifies the importance of community and relationships in making something like this happen.

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The way to look at it.

harvestnetwork — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:52:55 +0000

I see the see companies are catching on and using the idea as a sale pitch.

http://www.burpee.com/product/id/112011.do?KickerID=100535&KICKER

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Preparing for Spring

harvestnetwork — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:16:40 +0000

Agriculture runs in a cycle. Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. One can jump in at anytime of the cycle. But most opporutune time is winter. That is right, not spring. Winter is the time to prepare the ground by adding old leaves and compost. Winter is the time to prepare by deciding what you want to eat the coming year wether it would be eggs, vegetables, milk.

Right now in preparing for the coming agriculture season, we are currently working with 2 groups.

1. First Nazarene Church, Clarksville.

This saturday we will be preparing the garden by adding leaves and compost to ground. Beginning in March we will start planting vegetables like turnips, lettuce as part of the food pantry program. In this effort, people needing food work with volunteers from the church to help them be part of the community and learn to grow their own food.

2. Ikon Community

The birthplace of The Harvest Network, Ikon is a Christian Community that desires to self sufficient and share it productivity with other to show the love of God. The self sufficiency has grown from one household garden to 2 individual gardens, a communal garden, and chickens. This coming year we are planning on 5 individual gardens, a communal garden with sweet corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squash. Also there will be chickens at one household with the possibility of another one.

We are currently looking to support other communities and outreach organizations like Habitat for Humanity and other churches. We are also available to help individuals.

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Welcome

harvestnetwork — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:22:49 +0000

Welcome everybody to The Harvest Network. We are a network of individual and organizations who are trying to help those who are having a hard time trying to make ends meet by helping them growing their own food instead of buying. This is done by providing community support and nuturing both spiritual and emotional growth in the process.

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