Skip to content

The gentleman farmer’s 'cornuco-P3'

Pandemic Planting Project a blend of passions for Sturgeon County lawyer-now-also-farmer.

David Benjestorf must have seriously pondered the fact that there’s never enough fresh-from-the-farm produce to go around at any food bank, even in the best of times. 

As a board member at the Edmonton Food Bank for more than a decade, he has long been behind the scenes to see the shelves and shelves of boxes and cans of non-perishables. Anyone in a family way, however, will tell you that kids need fruit and vegetables for good health and vitality, as we all do.

As a land-development lawyer who long harboured a fancy for the country life, he and his wife purchased 11 acres just north of Meadowview Drive several years ago. It’s fertile soil, the previous owner explained to him, but the learning curve and his work commitments perhaps kept him from fully adopting the lifestyle of one who works the land.

But then COVID-19 hit, he explained. That and watching a show called The Biggest Little Farm triggered an idea: a marvelous, unlikely idea. With last year’s border closures making everyone worry further about food supply while supercharging demand for fresh staples, it seemed the perfect storm for chaos and devastating ripple effects, especially for food-bank clients everywhere.

“Everything changed for us,” he said.

People remember the lineups for toilet paper, but no one talks about what would have happened if there were no carrots and potatoes. It could have happened.

Something had to be done to offer an alternative, just in case. Someone had to step up.

“There are a few times in a person's life where a light bulb goes on. It's what you're supposed to do. That was it for me. We had the land, and we have equipment or access to equipment, and we got great topsoil,” Benjestorf said, admitting his initial keenness was immediately tempered with a realistic assessment from his wife.

“She was eager to point out that I don't know anything about farming and vegetables, but it resonated with me so much that I think my enthusiasm bowled her over. A couple days later, we reached out to some family and friends and co-workers and soon we had a team established and, 30 days later, we had much of what you see here today planted.”

Indeed, what you would see on these 11 acres today is a contemporary rustic idyll, with 22 vegetables plus a bunch of different herbs and pollinator-friendly flowers in the ground ready to rise to the occasion. It has rows and rows of tilled earth, many seeds planted, the greatest view of the valley overlooking the river flowing out of the north side of Big Lake, and an indisputable sense of purpose.

Benjestorf, now a gentleman farmer (or at least a city kid with fresh dirt under his nails), even has a catchy moniker for this collective effort that is catching fire with a growing crop of volunteers.

“I call it the Pandemic Planting Project. One day soon the pandemic will end and so then we'll just keep doing what we're doing as P3 Farms: a partnership of a group of people.”

Many hands, lighter work

Every day after work, Benjestorf comes out to tackle the next task before he goes back to this home in the big city. Every weekend, he comes back to put in full days under the now-baking sun.

“People often say that I have more than two full-time jobs. I probably spend more hours here than I do with my day job. I'm probably out here 50 or 60 hours a week or more but it doesn't feel like work to me. I enjoy being out here. I'm working with my hands. I'm doing something for others. I jokingly say it's like a tonic or an elixir. It's good for me to be out here,” he said, a smile on his face.

But he is not going at this alone. A good lawyer knows how to delegate tasks, especially the mundane ones. He’s a convincer, too, though this effort has already caught the attention of about two-dozen willing labourers, many of whom were neighbours or friends. None of them were recruited from the food bank on purpose.

"There's so many volunteers needed for the food bank. I'm trying not to use any of those folks. I'm trying to capture the attention of folks that wouldn't otherwise volunteer: they’re neighbours or other folks and so on," he said. "I want this to be net positive. I don't want it to take away anything from the food bank."

Everyone gets assigned a series of beds they're responsible for tending at least once a week, plus chipping in on special projects. The first weekend of June means potato planting, using donated seed potatoes. The one caveat, the lawyer said, is volunteers can keep whatever they want for themselves and their families. There will also be the occasional farm dinner or other special event.

The rest of the bounty goes straight to the Edmonton Food Bank.

"Typically, we harvest on a Sunday and then I drive the harvest to the food bank Monday morning."

Benjestorf has a full contingent of farmhands, though there's never a shortage of things to do at this place. He's willing to accept new volunteers via email at [email protected].

There is a steep learning curve. During the first growing season in 2020, he spent evenings learning the next day's tasks. As word spread of his bold endeavour, mighty forces have come to his aid.

"There’s a neighbour down the road that said, ‘I'll truck your water in for you for free.’ The fellow that provided our seed potatoes said, ‘That was a great thing you did last year. I'll donate your seed potatoes for free.’ I needed some more land to cycle, to rotate our crops through. A neighbour down the road donated two acres for us to plant potatoes in this year so we could work a different crop in through here. Some of the neighbours over in Silver Chief had been stopping by and volunteering and a bunch of them volunteered at harvest last year. The immediate community is wrapping their arms around and helping us."

It's all about people helping people and it puts a swell of joy on Tamisan Bencz-Knight's face. As the manager of strategic relationships and partnerships at the Edmonton Food Bank, she has always appreciated Benjestorf's participation on the board, and as a general volunteer and "jack of all trades," she calls him.

But this is a much bigger act of generosity.

"I think it's awesome and beautiful," she said, adding the Pandemic Planting Project has also helped immensely in demonstrating that food banks don't just give out pre-packaged non-perishables.

"We have all this fresh product that we're able to give to people, and who doesn't like a fresh garden carrot or potato? It's just so much sweeter from somebody's garden than from the grocery store. It's beautiful."

She said growing your own food also means food security.

For Benjestorf and the crew on his Sturgeon County field, planting is nearly done and some infrastructure projects are nearing completion, too. On Wednesday, he stood on the patio atop a sea can on-site to survey the land and think ahead. Harvesting will likely start in three weeks, he said, requiring 60 to 70 volunteers spread across several days. Last year, he had helpers come all the way from Calgary and Bonnyville.

He wonders what this year will bring, and the next.

STATS

The Edmonton Food Bank:

  • Answers an average of 350 to 500 phone calls each day to co-ordinate a food hamper. The food bank has responded to as many as 80 emails and 619 phone calls in one day;
  • provided food hampers to 75,531 people in the first three months of 2021;
  • served 439 people through the new Mobile Food Depot and 817 through their home delivery service with Drive Happiness; and
  • provides food to agencies, shelters, schools, and soup kitchens in Edmonton. More than 1.2 million kilograms of food has already been shared with food bank partners

SOURCE: Edmonton Food Bank's April 2021 newsletter


Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ecology and Environment Reporter at the Fitzhugh Newspaper since July 2022 under Local Journalism Initiative funding provided by News Media Canada.
Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks