One of DC Central Kitchen’s most popular volunteer shifts is at the Franciscan Monastery Garden. Throughout the growing season, our dedicated volunteers spend hours-long shifts gleaning in the (lovely well-maintained!) dirt, harvesting fresh fruits and vegetables to be used in our meals.
The garden produces tons of food every year, roughly 8,000 pounds annually, all harvested for free for food pantries and non–profits like us throughout the DMV. The produce is available for pickup from the monastery on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Unfortunately, not every worthy group is always available to pick up on those days.
Through a collaboration with DC Central Kitchen and a local family foundation, the Garden Guild recently received a grant to install an 8×8 walk-in freezer cooler. “It’s been very helpful with storing [our] harvest,” Tyler Hendon, the Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild’s Farm Manager, told us.
“With this new refrigeration unit that’s outfitted with storage racks and food-safe bins, Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild is better equipped to safely store more of what they grow and help ensure the shelf-life of the beautiful fruits and vegetables they provide to area nonprofits like DCCK,” says DC Central Kitchen Chief Development Officer Alexander Moore. “They’ve been such devoted partners for many years, and we’re thrilled to help boost their capacity at a critical time in DC, when hunger is on the rise.”
“Typically, we have partners who pick up on the day we harvest,” says Hendon. “In instances where they’re not available to come pick up in the past, we had no cool storage, so a lot of times it was a frenzy to find someone to take the food or we just had to like leave the food, sitting in a spot and hoping for the best until someone could come pick it up. Having the fridge has been a huge help.”
Most folks don’t realize the Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild grows year-round. In fact, given how it’s tucked away like a hidden oasis in Northeast DC, many don’t even know it’s there. The Guild is currently growing tomatoes in their 110 year-old greenhouse (it was thoughtfully renovated in 2017). Last year they also grew cabbage, kale, collards, broccoli, arugula, radishes, carrots and beets in the greenhouse. The new cooling system will aid in the harvesting of their cold weather produce.
“Right now, it’s super helpful with all our tomatoes that have been harvested. They’re all green, ripening in the greenhouse. Once they turn, we’re able to store them in the fridge until a partner can come pick up.”
In addition to giving nonprofits more time to pick up produce and produce more time to ripen, the cooling system will also help with planting. “The fridge is a huge help when it comes to seeding. There are some propagated figs being stored to dry out and stay preserved and alive so that until we can begin rooting them in pots in the greenhouse in the next couple weeks.”
The garden now has a reason to grow more. “As we begin to potentially expand some of the garden beds and grow more food, being able to store extra things like potatoes and squash in bulk, we will be able to store even during the growing season, because a lot of those things have to cure at different temperatures and with potatoes. Having a cooler, dry place like the fridge will be a huge help.”
The cooling system also helps ensure that hungry people get to eat what’s grown in the garden, rather than pests getting to it first. “It’s useful as a safe storage space away from pests. We have quite a few butternut squashes and spaghetti squashes they like to eat.”
If you’re interested in helping utilize the donated produce DCCK receives from the garden, please sign up for a volunteer shift at the Klein Center.
If you’d like to get more involved in volunteering at Franciscan Monastery Garden, visit their website to sign up for a shift or visit our volunteer page at the start of the growing season. Tyler told it’s great if you’re looking for like-minded planters. “Come to be a part of a community that wants to enjoy nature, grow food, and make sure people have access to food.”
