HAILEY — It was mid-June and mounds of snow still dotted Baldy and Dollar Mountain when volunteers for the Blaine County Hunger Coalition planted their first seeds on land that used to host the Blaine County Jail.

Now, 400 pounds of lettuce, kale, spinach and other produce later, the coalition will celebrate the bounty of fresh vegetables and herbs harvested from its Hope Garden with a Harvest of Hope Celebration.

The celebration will be 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the garden, which sits next to Blaine County Courthouse at First and Walnut streets in Hailey.

Chefs from Big Bella Deli, Esta’s, Full Moon Catering, Lorna’s Catering and 5BBQ will prepare — for sale — dishes from the garden’s produce, along with food donated by Big Wood Bread, Lava Lake Lamb, Fair Mountain Farm, Deschutes Brewery and other food vendors. Hailey firefighters will grill dogs.

Expect free-admission live music and plenty of free family activities, plus a no-host beer and wine bar. And there will be opportunities for the family to learn about ways to contribute to the Hunger Coalition as it heads toward fall and winter.

“We gathered more than 400 pounds of produce and herbs from our garden, which went to clients of our mobile food bank. That’s pretty amazing, and we’re pretty proud of it,” said Meagan Stasz.

The number of people utilizing the Hunger Coalition’s services weekly dropped during the summer from 300 families to 250 as people found landscaping and other summer jobs. But Executive Director Jeanne Liston said she anticipates the numbers will rise again as fall slack hits.

“I worry it will be more difficult this winter than last,” she said. “We’re seeing a level of desperation in our clients that we haven’t seen before. A lot of people have tried to make ends meet on their own, but now they’re running out of savings and their homes are in foreclosure.”

Karen Bossick may be reached at 578-2111 or kbossick@cox-internet.com.