She and other volunteers have been harvesting fresh produce for Casper food banks since 1991. The Rhode Island Community Food Bank serves about 36,000 people each month at about 500 agencies, including food shelves, in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. And there is the potential for more growth.'' Only about 3.5 acres will be planted in the project's first year, but organizers hope to expand production to 10 acres over the next five years, yielding more than 500,000 pounds of vegetables. Steve and Rosie Connors came up with the idea for the farm as a way to remember Rosie's cousin, Joe Rourke, an avid gardener who drowned at the age of 24. Last spring, they took the concept to state environmental officials, who were excited about putting more open land into production.
Volunteers know they have challenges ahead.
They must find workers to harvest the field, plenty of deer await to munch on the crops, and of course, they need the weather's cooperation. But people who were skeptical at first are getting excited, including Bob Sutton, a Jamestown resident who toiled in the lot just off Highway 138 for years partly as a hobby but also to keep it in good condition for use someday. Contact the webmaster.