Several years ago, I volunteered at a community garden in California. They have several large beds set aside for the purpose of donating the produce to local food pantries. The whole garden participated by donating a bit extra from their plots. It added up to hundreds of pounds of fresh garden produce every year.
Now I volunteer at a community garden in Las Vegas. One of the other volunteers maintained two demonstration beds and donated all of the produce. He actually volunteered at five community gardens and donated most of what he grew. He always said he liked to grow veggies but didn’t like to eat them!
Sadly several months ago, he became ill and passed away. The other volunteers and I took over his demonstration beds and are continuing to donate the produce to a local food pantry. He was so passionate about Plant a Row for the Hungry and we are doing our best to continue his work.
The beds have mostly produced Swiss Chard and lettuce so far this year but we have onions, carrots, beets and radishes that will be ready to harvest soon. We just planted tomatoes and we’ll plant the rest of our warm season crops once our cool season harvest comes to an end. I’m looking forward to seeing just how much we can grow for our community this year. He was always so proud of how much he donated so in keeping with his bragging rights…we’re just over 30lbs after the first week of April. It doesn’t sound like much but it’s just the beginning.
Check out Plant a Row for the Hungry to connect with other gardeners who grow a bit extra to help out those in need.
Recent pantry donation of 6 1/2 lbs!
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