More than three tons of potatoes were harvested Thursday from the AmeriCorps Vista bulk produce garden on Wilmington College grounds off Fife Avenue. The potatoes were transported to Your Father’s Kitchen, which is the food pantry service that’s part of Sugartree Ministries in Wilmington.

Burlap bags filled with potatoes were weighed on scales in barns near Fife Hall, with the official pound total at day’s end registering 6,618 pounds.

Potatoes were plentiful in the 21 planted rows. A cool summer with moisture made for an optimal potato growing year, according to Wilmington College spokesman Randy Sarvis, citing WC agriculture professor Monte Anderson.

Prior to the potato field being plowed Thursday, it was bush-hogged. Dozens of students from Wilmington College’s agriculture program — the only four-year agriculture program among Ohio private colleges — went to work and quickly gathered the exposed potatoes.

Prior to the harvesting, Anderson showed students examples of rotten potatoes so they would know what not to pick up and save.

There was lots of banter and teasing among the students during the harvesting.

A video and audio crew from “60 Minutes” was on hand to capture the community-service event for a planned update on the Clinton County area in the wake of the massive job losses at the Wilmington Air Park. In late January 2009, a feature report on Wilmington was aired on the highly-rated network newsmagazine.