This is the season when many gardens are overflowing with great produce, and gardeners are frantically trying to find homes for all of it. How about donating to your local food pantry? Call them up to see if they can accept fresh produce, locally grown, and if so, you have an outlet for your extras ! As I've posted before, gardeners up and down our road regularly donate extras to the local pantry (we even have a scheduled twice-a-week run to collect and deliver). Win-win situation--we get to grow all the stuff we want, and the pantry gets fresh local produce to distribute to those who need it most.
Sjoerd and his allotment buddies all do that, they give several hundred pounds of produce to the local food bank every year. There are more and more community gardens popping up in our area that grow food specifically for the food bank in their city too. But being in the city I don't think there are that many individual gardeners who have veggie gardens.
Good idea, but try to get some of those people to come pick it. You might change your mind. I have offered free stuff, just come get it, havent had a taker yet except one and she and a few helpers lasted about an hour, Never came back .. Good thing is I have enough older people here close that are not able to pick it themselves that I take mine to. Food bank wants mine,,they are going to have to get off their butt and do a little of the work. We plow it, buy the seed, work it, weed it,, the least they can do is to come help pick it. Can you tell I am a bit soured on some of these things ? Of course this is only my area, can`t say about other places.
Mart, we live about 5 miles from the food bank, and many of the clients don't have transportation. I am also very "picky" about my garden (pun intended!). I don't want anyone else tromping through my garden, possibly damaging plants, and heaven help the smoker who shows up! Harvesting is a pleasure for me, so I'd rather do it myself. However, when we show up at the pantry, there are willing hands to help unload and carry. I understand the frustration of wanting to share with those who will "earn" a bit by helping out, but it just isn't always possible.
Mart and Jane, I so totally understand each of your points. You want to help, but there are those who are sooo unwilling to even go pick a tomato from the plant, but on the other hand...NO SMOKERS are welcome in my garden, either. or the clod hoppers who don't really pick everything and if they step on something "oh well, so what?" is the body language. Last two years I donated all of (or any that was wanted) the left over plants to the local community garden at the end of May...They couldn't get anyone to walk next door from the food pantry to the garden OR to any of the other community gardens around town that were planted, to pick anything. VERY frustrating. So much so that the people who organized it and did the bulk of it gave up this year.
so sad! I have a friend who wandered around the neighborhood with a lovely basket of garden veg that she was giving away to neighbors. She was gobsmacked when one neighbor cut off his lawn mower grabbed the basket, never said a word, put it on his porch and continued mowing! She stood there stunned, not sure what to do -finally walked away. A few days later she tried to get it back and was told it was a gift from some crazy lady! I felt bad but I laughed and laughed when she told me the story. Where I live now the soup kitchen only takes canned goods! And apparently not mine, they went through my bag and left some on the porch! Sometimes I think God put people in my path because he knows I need a good laugh!
You know,, we share with everyone,, thats what we all do here. If we have tomatoes and someone else doesn`t,, we take them tomatoes. Some older people just can`t get out in the heat and pick it so this I understand. But just pure lazy I don`t get! One of our neighbors is from the hills of Colorado where they don`t get green vegetables often. She was raised to work on a 2000 acre ranch. She made a statement that there is no reason anyone here in the south should go hungry with what is grown here and I tend to agree with her. With many it is their own fault. Not because it isn`t available and free. Just came from my garden and about half an acre of purple hull peas and pink eyes are making again since the rain and we are talking about plowing them up. I hate to see food go to waste but thats what happens when you can`t get anyone to pick it. And at the end of the season I am not too concerned about someone tromping on it since it will be plowed under anyway. As for the food banks here,,few there could sell a bit of that gold and buy food. Or drive a less expensive car. You would be surprised at what you see there.
Mart and Jane, get in touch with http://www.gleantexas.org/getinvolved.html and see if they can connect your garden with a local or close Gleaning group. These groups are beginning to form around the country but they don't get much press.
I found someone to pick mine this morning,,hopefully. I am going to pick some for dry peas and seed. Will check on that group for next year.
