As the final days of summer approach, the Sojourner Truth House garden received its last day of cleaning up before fall arrives. The garden has several vegetables, including squash, tomatoes, cucumber, and zucchini.

On Saturday, September 16, a group of Millhouse Engineering & Construction Inc. volunteers offered their time and talents to harvest vegetables and clean the areas. This is their second time this year volunteering at STH, and they recalled seeing the starter plants that had just begun sprouting the last time they were there.

Volunteers harvested an impressive 201.5 pounds of produce that day. Afterward, the volunteers began cleaning and laying mulch in the garden beds that no longer produce for the summer. Once their scheduled time drew near, they realized they could not finish everything they wanted to accomplish. Rather than save it for another group, the managers huddled together and agreed to extend their service time to complete spreading the mulch.

“Once we gave them the thumbs up to continue, I heard the rumble of a flatbed hand cart that I refer to as Santa’s Sleigh,” said Kristy Olsen, Community Resource Supervisor. “The large, red, metal flatbed that we store in the pole barn for moving furniture and donations was being rolled out of the pole barn, across the parking lot, and into the garden. The flatbed carried the largest totes the volunteer team could find in the barn.”

When Kristy complimented their ingenuity, the volunteer said, “That is what we do! We find creative solutions to problems, and we make it work.”