2026 marked the first year that Cultivate Cochrane Society was donated garden space by Mount Saint Francis Retreat Centre.
Planting began in June, with board members and volunteers meeting and planting half an acre worth of space filled with food. Some of the crops included: tomatoes, potatoes, dill, beans, peas, carrots, beets, corn, lettuce, radishes and onions.
One of Cultivate’s volunteers Angy stepped up and took on the role of garden manager. She did an incredible job taking care of the garden, providing updates, harvesting, and bringing items to the food shed.
Having the garden afforded us the ability to put together harvest boxes for all of those who volunteered at our first ever 2 day casino fundraising event back in July!
The final harvest of the garden took place in September, with the remaining product donated to the food shed in Cochrane. In total Cultivate was able to donate the following to Cochrane’s Food Shed, Food Bank, Volunteers, and partners:
Potatoes: 770 lbs
Beets: 120 lbs
Carrots: 95 lbs
Peas: 12lbs
Beans: 9lbs
Tomatoes: 60lbs
Lettuce: 72 heads
Radish: 10 lbs
Onions: 25lbs
We are so grateful to everyone who came to visit, get their hands dirty, ask questions, help plant, weed, water, harvest, and maintain the garden space. We learned a LOT in this first year. We’re taking these lessons into next year and are already so excited for what the 2027 growing season will bring!
If you are interested in helping out at the garden next summer, send an email to info@cultivatecochrane.com and we’ll make sure to include you on our garden updates list!
