Neither rain nor snow can slow 9B Cropswap

For the fifth year, the Worzala family has been hard at work since March adding more garden space around their home near the Bonners Ferry City Pool, not to stock their own larders, but to fill produce baskets to be distributed each week to homes throughout the community via 9B CropSwap.

Coming in cold, wet and often muddy, Richard and Tia Worzala and their children, Waverly, Holland and Camden, couldn’t be happier. Rain, snow, sleet or shine, every day bringing them closer to planting time in May. As the days lengthen, they’ll be filling the aisles with rock to cut down on the mud and then tilling.

Beginning in mid-June, people call (986) 205-9462 or send them a message on their 9B CropSwap Facebook page each Friday to request a basket of fresh garden produce for delivery the following Monday.

For those not yet familiar, 9B CropSwap is a shareable food movement that includes bartering harvest and or donations for families in the community not able to grow a garden, 9B CropSwap is a great way people can discuss growing techniques, create community connections, save money, and eat a wider, healthier range of foods.

“Richard and I are really excited to help families that need to supplement their EBT, WIC or grocery bill with fresh produce,” Tiua said. “We have worked really hard to have this project done by planting season and are excited to have a garden again. Meeting new people throughout the years through 9B CropSwap has been a lot of fun and rewarding for us and the children and we are definitely looking forward to serving the community and getting to play in the dirt when it’s warm outside!”

But it’s not just for those who for whatever reason can’t grow a garden of their own … people with gardens quite often prefer swapping the bounty in their gardens for produce they didn’t grow, and those trades help add to the variety that goes in to each basket, as do weekly donations from Sam’s Produce, 468800 US-95, Sagle, home of yummy produce, low prices and free samples!

9BCropSwap also teaches classes on canning and storing produce to help you stretch your produce supply long past the time the icy winds and first snows put an end to another season.