Enjoy a prairie-style lunch in the field – and watch the crop come in
*CANADIAN FOODGRAINS HARVEST DAY TODAY:
The harvest date is today, Tuesday, September 17, for the Killarney Growing Project’s Canadian Foodgrains Bank event.
Lunch in the Field will be laid on earlier than usual – at 11 a.m. – so that farmers can hurry back home to harvest their own crops as soon as possible., while the good weather holds.
Combining will begin at 12 noon. Come and enjoy the wonderful show.
BY KIM LANGEN
The big moment when powerful combines roar in tandem is coming right up.
It will mark the signal for the start of the massive threshing of the Killarney Growing Project’s 2019 Canadian Foodgrains Bank crop of wheat south of town.
“Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy the wonderful Lunch in the Field,” said Growing Project member Betty Turner. “The meal is being prepared by the Hutterite Colonies of Willow Creek, Holmfield, and Mayfair, and it is pretty amazing. It’s free, but we also have a free will offering bucket, for everyone who wants to support the project to help feed people and support agricultural projects in developing countries.”
There are also still a few of the remaining wheat acres ‘for sale,’ she added. It’s a way to get your name on the big map, which will be on display during the harvest event.
Cost for an acre of the Brandon red spring wheat is $250 – which covers the input costs.
But timing for the community event is hanging slightly upon Mother Nature’s whims, she added.
“We were struggling a bit with the weather,” said Turner on Wednesday. “We want to swath it, hopefully on Thursday. It could change if we get rain.”
The event was first scheduled for 11:30 a.m., at a field located on the east side of the highway, one mile south of Lena, on Highway 18 (eight miles south of Killarney). It has since been postponed due to rain, so check The Guide’s website for further details when they’re available.
There will be speeches, followed by the fabulous lunch (combine drivers eat first!) at noon, and then the marvellous men and women climb up into their combine seats to do the quarter-section deed – usually within an hour.
Proceeds from the sale of the crop go directly to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank coffers, to support their international projects, and help feed a hungry world. Come and enjoy a prairie-style lunch in the field, and witness an event that will truly inspire you.
KILLARNEY GROWING PROJECT VOLUNTEERS BRING IN THE CROP – Field manager Myron Peters and his daughter Stephanie (left) watch from his ATV last August as 24 massive combines move steadily westwards, and their operators combine the swathed crop of spring wheat for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Growing project seeking $250 donation per acre to cover input costs – and get your name on the map
BY KIM LANGEN
July 12, 2019:
A hockey stick, a flag, and a crop of wheat may well catch the surprised attention this summer of incoming traffic from the U.S. border.
That’s what Killarney Growing Project volunteer Betty Turner says about this year’s field of wheat destined for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which is coming up strong near the Port of Lena.
“We have 140 acres of Brandon spring wheat, one mile south of Lena, on the east side,” said Turner. “It was sown at the end of April. The antique CFGB drill is there, and the Canadian flag is up on a hockey stick. It’s the first thing the Americans will see when they cross the line.”
And Turner says the big acreage map that celebrates donors is already filling up. It’s a way to ‘buy’ one of the 140 acres. The price is $250 per acre, which covers the input costs for that acre of crop.
A chance to see just how it is progressing is coming up soon.
The group will be serving coffee at next week’s Farmers Market in Killarney, from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., on the Broadway Avenue greenspace, next to the Co-op gas bar.
“The map will be on display there,” said Turner. “People can buy an acre at the Farmers Market, and we put their name on the map, or the name of someone they want to honour and remember. We appreciate all donations – even if people make a $5 donation, it makes a difference, because it is matched up to 4:1 by the federal government. That $5 becomes $25.”
The map will also be on display during the magnificent harvest day event, when a lineup of combines work in tandem to bring in the crop – and everyone enjoys a lunch in the field.
For more information about the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and the Killarney Growing Project team’s part in the supporting the national drive to help countries in need, contact Betty Turner at 204-523-0217.
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies, working together to end global hunger by supporting international programs to meet immediate food needs, reduce malnutrition, and achieve sustainable food security; by influencing improvements in national and international policies that contribute to ending global hunger; and by increasing and deepening the engagement of Canadians in efforts to end global hunger.
You can find out more about the CFGB by going to: foodgrainsbank.ca.
And you can enjoy Brian Archibald’s sky-high drone video of last year’s Killarney Growing Project harvest at: Harvest 2018 Canadian Foodgrains Bank Killarney.
SPRAYING THE FOODGRAINS CROP – Brothers Vic and James Friesen were busy a few weeks ago, spraying 140 acres of Brandon spring wheat for this year’s Killarney Growing Project for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The field is one mile south of Lena, on the east side – and volunteers are seeking donors to ‘buy’ an acre for $250, which covers the input costs, such as spraying.
DENNIS TURNER/PHOTO
