Mary's Hands

09/26/2026

I've been remiss in posting updates - primarily because of how busy we've been.

Despite it being near the end of September, we are still harvesting a huge amount of food and are even continuing to plant new produce (lettuces, spinach, and brassicas like Cauli and Broccoli.)

The amount we've accomplished so far wouldn't have been possible without our volunteers (especially Uproot Colorado !) A shout out to my brother Jack for helping me catch up a few weeks ago on big onion harvests as well with our harvests 4/week.

So far, we've produced and delivered more quality organic produce than any prior year since we started in 2020 at no cost to the low-income communities we serve. My current estimate has between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds of produce grown and delivered this year (hopefully, the great weather will continue to cooperate to let us get all the way to Thanksgiving!) That's enough to provide more than 20,000 meals.

We're helping but the need out there is growing faster than we've seen in our lifetimes. These are working families and working/retired elders that we serve and are pretty representative of the region. We encourage everyone to work with your local non-profits to help through food support programs as well as volunteering with groups like Uproot Colorado.

We also wanted to share some pics from the work this year both of some of the volunteers that we appreciate so much and the great food that has been provided thanks to the support of our volunteers and donors. Thank you everyone - more to come later this year as we wind down in November!

07/28/2026

First summer update!
This year has been amazing in terms of production. If anything, we hit our limits on how much Isabelle and I can get done and will be leaning more heavily on volunteers to help with harvests.

Big thank you to Irish Farms for their help on replacing a significant number of lost starts from a power problem this spring. Even bigger thanks to Uproot for their amazing volunteers in helping us make all of this possible.

We just finished curing our garlic and started distributing it. It is raining tomatoes and cucumbers with lots of cilantro, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, carrots, beets, and swiss chard.

Our next set of seeds was just started and the starts will be planted in 2-3 weeks (lettuces, brassicas, etc for the fall.)

Tomatoes and Cucumbers will continue until around September with brassicas and lettuces until (weather permitting) November. Peppers will be the next big items starting to be ready.

Busy times but we're definitely making a difference. Thank you again for all your support!

05/08/2026

So many plant babies waiting to go into the ground! Mary’s Hands grows produce for our community members facing food insecurity. May is full of volunteer opportunities to plant, plant, plant! Visit maryshands.org to see the dates and sign up! 🌱

05/08/2026

Welcome to our new compost production specialists! They came to us as Jonas and Timber. We think of them as Donkey-ho-tie and Donk Julio. Thank you to Kathy, Becca and everyone

04/30/2026

04/30/2026

11/22/2025

We are in our annual fundraising push. Colorado gives does a partial match for donations between Nov 1st and Dec 9th. The top 2 fundraisers in each category get an additional $5K and $10K respectively as well (we are currently 6th for small non-profits.)

We use funds donated to continue to grow and expand how much fruit and produce (and veggie starts) we provide to low income communities through the year.

Please consider donating and encourage others to do so as well to both Mary’s Hands and other Colorado non-profits during the fundraising period.

Mary’s Hands was created in the midst of the 2020 pandemic to grow fresh fruitand vegetables for community members facing food insecurity.We became a registered 501c3 in 2021.Mary’s Hands is a mostly solar and people powered operationand we make deliveries primarily using...

10/15/2025

This season has been amazing so far. With the help if our volunteers, we have been able to deliver more produce than ever before.

Normally, the crops are finished by early September. Mid-October and we’re still going strong. Tomatoes are winding down while brassicas (broccoli, etc), lettuces, and spinach are booming. The peppers are still producing more than 30 days past normal. Radishes and carrots should be ready soon and butternut squash is curing and will be ready in a couple weeks.

No hard freeze yet and all the late fall crops are doing well. Garlic, probably our most popular items, is planted (1,000 plants) and starting its long grow cycle for next summer.

Thank you again to our volunteers and donors. With your help, we’re making a difference in a really tough time for our community.

09/06/2025

We haven't posted an update in a couple months so I'm catching up now.

The crops have been incredible this year. Isabelle's starts absolutely thrived and changes we made for row cover are helping more of the plants be event more productive.

We are doing food deliveries to 4 sites plus another 2 when we have anything extra. The average delivery is currently about 30-50 pounds of produce each time.

So far this year, we've harvested: Lettuce, Basil, Chard, Kale, Cucumbers, Tomatoes (5 varieties), Eggplant, Anaheim Peppers, Poblano Peppers, Sweet Bell Peppers, Garlic , Onions, Carrots, Beets, Tomatillos, Shallots, and Squash. Peppers, Garlic, and Tomatoes have all been at record levels.

From the orchard made possible by a generous donation from 100 Women Who Care - Boulder County, we've harvested a huge amount of strawberries, grapes, and small fruit from the peach and apple trees. Next year, we should see full sized fruit from some of the peach, apple, pear, nectarine, and cherry trees!

With produce prices up dramatically this year combined with reductions in federal programs and related grants to help provide food for lower income families, the need for our work has never been greater or more appreciated.

Lastly, we want to thank Uproot for your volunteers - they make a big difference in our work.

Thank you for your support!

07/30/2025

Harvests are coming in really well. Peppers and Tomatoes are in full swing! Thank you Uproot for your volunteers helping with weekend harvests as well!

We encourage you to support local community groups serving those facing food insecurity through fonations and volunteering to groups like Uproot and supporting farms like Mary’s Hands.