Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Giving gardens


Last year, our community garden group decided to donate a portion of our harvest to a local food pantry. A weekly basket of fresh fruits and vegetables was delivered to those in need. In all honesty, I initially balked at the idea of giving up some of my hard-earned bounty - then I remembered all of those tomatoes and zucchinis that went to waste. (How many loaves of zucchini bread can you make your family eat?) This year, half of my little plot will be set aside for a "giving garden." In this way, I'll be making a concerted effort to grow food for donation. I'll also be encouraging all my friends who have expansive yard space to do the same. During the Depression era, there was a movement to create Relief Gardens to address hunger and poverty. Of course, WWI and WWII initiated Victory Gardens as our nation directed its efforts towards the "good fight." Today, with record unemployment and foreclosures, it might be time for gardeners to roll up their sleeves again. I have asked fellow blogger, Carol Duke of Flower Hill Farm in Western Massachusetts, to help spread the word.

5 comments:

  1. Andria! What a great idea you have come up with and you have people thinking about this!! So glad you invited me to take part! Carol

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  2. Andria - I have just dropped in after reading Carols post to let you know I think this is a lovely idea.
    K

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  3. aloha andria,

    what a kind post and i've thought about this also, our cooking group donates to our local food pantry and we do give harvests from what we grow...i'll just have to think about making more so it can include better things than canned foods.

    thanks for visiting my blog meanwhile, i appreciate it :)

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  4. A very good gesture... We need so little and can always share. ~bangchik

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  5. Hi Andria,

    I love the idea and I did comment after seeing Carol's post. My planting space is very small but what I can do is give part of my produce to people in need rather than to friends and relatives only.

    Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you have a great week!

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