A cooperative agreement between Good Cheer Food Bank, South Whidbey School District, and the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts will result in a one-acre farm near the old Bayview School.

The farm, which will be located in the field adjacent to the current Bayview garden, will be managed by Good Cheer Food Bank Garden Manager Camille Green. Green. Fresh vegetables will be delivered to both the food bank and the school district once the farm is underway. Green said she expects to make headway on establishing the farm in early January when a time to plow the field is determined. Green said that many farmers volunteered their time to advise her while she was preparing her proposal to be approved by the district.

“It feels very good to be able to work on a project that does involve so many different people and benefit so many different people,” Green said. “It feels very Whidbey Island.”

The food bank cultivates a small garden on its property off Bayview Road. It’s a source of food but also an educational platform for how to grow edibles on small plots of land. While it’s been effective at both, said Green, the space had limitations, namely the small size made it challenging to grow large varieties of vegetables.

With the new farm, the goal is to create a space that is solely dedicated to the production of food — not a teaching tool. The farm will be able to grow foods that require more long-term cultivation like cabbage and potatoes, which the current space doesn’t allow. Green did not have an estimate for how much the new farm will be able to produce in a season. But, based on what Good Cheer’s food bank garden was able to harvest this season — almost 8,000 pounds — the results could be flourishing.

“My intention is to use the space to focus on a fall and winter and early spring harvest,” Green said. “The idea is that the production space will be set up more like a farm and there will be long rows and grow a lot more storage crops and things that need to be on the ground.”

After the plowing is completed, the next step would be building the soil up, Green said. She expects the first planting of crops to come in the spring. The heaviest harvesting will occur during the fall, winter and spring months of next year. Green said that produce donated to the food bank typically decreases during winter, as does the amount of food produced by the school farm and gardens.

The future farm will require start up costs of about $4,500 to pay for plowing, a water pump, irrigation, fencing and other items.

Shawn Nowlin, public outreach manager for the food bank and newly elected South Whidbey School District director, said the return on the investment will outweigh the costs.

“There’s a lot of people who love the idea that this food will be going directly to the food bank and directly into the school cafeterias,” Nowlin said. “We’re delivering local, nutritious produce right to the kids and families.”

Though the main purpose of the farm is production, there will still be opportunities for students in the district to visit the site. The school board discussed the possibility of conducting field trips at its regular monthly meeting on Dec. 16.

“It’s a really cooperative venture and it will enhance the produce that goes to the cafeterias as well as the food banks,” said Superintendent Jo Moccia at  meeting.

To help bring the garden to life, donate online at www.goodcheer.org, visit any Good Cheer location, or mail to PO Box 144, Langley, WA 98249 and mark donations to Bayview Garden.

Donations to Good Cheer Food Bank and Thrift Stores urgently needed

Good Cheer Food Bank and Thrift Stores is searching for donations from the community to add to its inventory. If there are any old items lying around the house such as toasters or pots and pans, Good Cheer will happily accept them, according to an announcement from the nonprofit. If there is any other furniture that homeowners would like donated, Good Cheer is offering to do pick ups for free.

Good Cheer will be accepting sellable items at its Bayview location Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule a pick up, call 360-221-6494.