Heber Valley Self Reliance Farming Project Takes Root
The Wasatch Community Foundation’s Human Service Pillar is helping cultivate something special this season through the Heber Valley Self Reliance Farming Project.
This past spring, volunteers came together to plant a 2-acre field of potatoes and squash at 1335 East Center Street in Heber City with a shared goal: growing nutritious food that can be stored and distributed throughout the winter months to support local families.
The project got off to an impressive start as approximately 25 volunteers spent their time cutting and preparing 3,500 pounds of seed potatoes. Those seed potatoes were then planted using a tractor-pulled potato planter and included three popular varieties: Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac, and Russet.
If growing conditions cooperate, the team expects to harvest an incredible 30,000 pounds of potatoes this fall.
The field is also home to seven wide rows of squash stretching 150 feet in length. Volunteers planted approximately 250 squash plants, including butternut, spaghetti, acorn, blue hubbard, and banana squash varieties. With a long enough growing season, the anticipated harvest is approximately 10,000 pounds of squash.
Combined, the project is expected to produce nearly 40,000 pounds of delicious, nutritious food that can be stored and enjoyed during the winter months.
This ambitious community effort would not be possible without the generous support of many individuals and organizations. Special thanks to the Healthy Food Project of Utah for providing a $2,000 grant to purchase seed potatoes, squash seed, and support the upcoming October Harvest Festival.
Additional gratitude goes to Mitch and Heidi Iordachescu for the use of their tractor; Barry Kent for providing the potato planter and donating irrigation pipe; Norm Durchi for repairing the planter; Norm Durchi and Russ Olsen for plowing the field; and the property owners who generously donated the use of the land.
Most importantly, thank you to the volunteers whose hard work transformed an empty field into a growing source of food security for our community.
Projects like the Heber Valley Self Reliance Farming Project demonstrate what is possible when neighbors come together to serve one another. We look forward to celebrating the harvest this fall and sharing the impact of this incredible community effort.