LAKEWOOD—What’s one of the first steps required to get 150,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce to local food banks? Plowing the soil, of course. On April 2 from 10am until 3pm, teams of drivers and plow horses from Hames & Tugs Draft Horse Club will do just that as they help ready the field ay Mother Earth Farm for spring planting.
Emergency Food Network operates the 8-acre Orting farm, managed by staff member and longtime farmer Carrie Little. This annual event exemplifies the spirit of the program. Mother Earth Farm grows more than 40 varieties of vegetables, as wells as fruit trees. Bees are kept on site to pollinate, and their honey is collected for distribution as well. Vegetables grown at Mother Earth Farm are harvested and delivered fresh to feed programs around Pierce County, often on the same day that it is harvested.
Attendees are encouraged to bring weather-appropriate clothing like boots, gloves, and raingear, a potluck dish to share, a camera, and chair to sit on.
Emergency Food Network provides 14 million pounds of food to 67 food banks, meal sites, and shelters annually. An average of 147,000 visit feeding programs in Pierce County each month. Eighty percent of food distributed in Pierce County comes from EFN.
Directions to Mother Earth Farm
From I-5 north or south—Take Hwy. 512 (to Puyallup) and follow signs east to Highway 410 East (Yakima/Sumner) exit. Follow 410 to second Sumner exit (Valley Avenue/Orting-Highway 162); and turn right at stoplight at end of exit ramp (toward Orting). Drive approximately 1.9 miles (past Alderton and Spooner Farms) to 102nd. Look for gravel road on left—Mother Earth Farm sign will be at entrance to 102nd. Farm is at the end of the gravel road on the right.
Mother Earth Farm
15208 102nd St E, Puyallup 98374
For more information, visit www.efoodnet.org