Smart Farm in Barrington proves to be a smart idea

Organizers with the Smart Farm in Barrington are wrapping up their sixth growing season, and the numbers are staggering.

This grass-roots, educational farm project produced more than 7,100 pounds of fresh vegetables - and donated 100 percent of it to food pantries in Barrington, Carpentersville, Cary, Lake Zurich and Wauconda.

"We're winding down now," says founder Kathy Gabelman of Barrington, "but the garden is still producing and we could use help harvesting and preparing our beds for winter.

"We started small," she adds, "with three plots at Ron Beese Park in Barrington, and harvested 350 pounds of produce that first summer. We've grown exponentially ever since."

Volunteers still come out three days a week, from 9-11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. They recently harvested pumpkins, Swiss chard, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach.

From the start, their mission was to promote a healthy, eco-friendly community, by offering learning opportunities to children and adults in sustainable gardening, as well as to donate fresh produce to neighbors in need.

In recent years, Smart Farm organizers entered into a partnership with Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, whose officials allowed the group to use one acre of land to grow their produce.

"We're very supportive of this volunteer-run, local nonprofit organization," says Allison Wyler, the hospital's director of Clinical and Support Services.

A grant from the Barrington Community Foundation in 2011 allowed Smart Farm officials to build a three-season, "hoop house" on the hospital campus in order to start crops from seedlings and extend the growing season.

This summer was the first season when the group consolidated all of its gardens on the hospital campus, and together with the head start in the hoop house and addition of chief gardener Meg Mitchell, the garden beds are producing in record numbers.

Of course, an increasing number of volunteers helps. This year, Smart Farm drew more than 1,000 hours of volunteer help.

Hospital officials are enjoying the partnership, pointing to some unique collaborative efforts.

"Food scraps from the hospital's kitchen are used for compost to nourish the garden's soil," Wyler says. "And gardening and cooking classes are held on-site to complement the healthy eating education provided by the hospital for associates and the community."

A new initiative this year was to establish beehives. With the help of Ringers Landscaping of Fox River Grove, Smart Farmers set up eight beehives around the Barrington area, and harvested more than 200 jars of honey.

Next year, Smart Farm plans to add three more beehives on the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital campus and some fruit trees to the mix.

That's not all, Gabelman says.

"We want to expand our reach and focus on areas where we can have the biggest impact," she says. "Our hopes are to have chickens, aquaponics and add a local farmstand on our campus.

"We love our new home," Gabelman adds, "and are so thankful for our ongoing community support."