Submitted by Mary Solera
(June 20, 2026) — On June 14, 2026 as part of Teen Impact Week, eleven young people from Haddam-Killingworth Youth and Family Services helped the Shared Harvest Garden (SHG) at Parmelee Farm with a major gardening project. SHG is a food pantry garden, run by volunteers, and has been operating at Parmelee for thirteen years.
Much has been added to the garden during that time. The overall garden area doubled, a pollinator garden and several honeybee hives were added. The time had come to dismantle the compost bins and move the composting to another location. This was no small endeavor. When HKYFS offered to help with the project, we were delighted.
The day was hot and humid, as the “troops” from HKYFS arrived. They got right into the dirty work and within two hours pulled down the existing compost structure, moved a thick layer of weeds and plant debris, and uncovered a huge area of great compost soil that was a year or two in the making. They moved the garden debris to a new location, cut up large plants/weeds and moved the soil to our soil pile.
There was a lot of shovel, pitchfork and wheelbarrow wielding and maybe a little competition about who could fill a wheelbarrow fastest. Some kids helped put up additional fence supports for growing winter squash plants, clipped vines from exterior fencing, and trimmed some of our pollinator plants.
All of that was accomplished in a short period of time because of the work of these young people and their counselors. Regular SHG volunteers also assisted. We can’t forget to give a big shout-out to Tom Panciera for coming with a chain saw, cables and a pickup truck to haul things away.
The kids truly worked very hard, with energy and enthusiasm. They provided a huge community service to SHG. We cannot thank them enough. The weather conditions were tough for all of us and besides water, Gatorade and snacks, we did bring out the hose for anyone who wanted a “run-through” to cool off.
We hope to have them back in the future, maybe for a Fall clean-up. They learned something about basic gardening while helping a worthy cause. HKYFS also has a program for teens helping in our towns for individual homeowners and other projects. It’s worth a call to HKYFS to see what can be worked out.
We at the Shared Harvest Garden thank Summer, Rachel, Alli and the eleven youth volunteers! We sincerely appreciated their hard work. We are happy to have the task completed and that huge pile of composted soil available to improve our gardens and feed the vegetables. Those vegetables make their way to Helping Hands Food Pantry and our Seasonal Produce Market Day at Parmelee. The teens were not only great workers, but they were also fun to work beside. I hope they enjoyed the experience with us as much as we did with them.
Photos by Mary Solera
