Take Project Grow's Potato Pledge and Plant a Row for the Hungry

While planning this years garden - whether electronically or using pen and paper - don't forget to plant a row for the hungry. It's not difficult (what's one more row, really?) and can provide fresh food that can make a world of difference for a neighbor in the community.

And Project Grow and Downtown Home and Garden are making it even easier! Take our Potato Pledge and pick up two pounds of seed potatoes from Downtown Home and Garden on April 17th and get growing! Potatoes are easy and satisfying to grow, and are a favorite staple of food banks everywhere.

Potato Pledge

1. Find the Project Grow Potato Pledge Form at Downtown Home and Garden, the Ann Arbor Public Library - Downtown Branch, the People's Food Coop, and Whole Foods. (Take the upcoming class Potato Seeds, Seed Potatoes, and Sweet Potato Slips on Saturday, April 10th and pick up the form there, too!)

2. Bring the Pledge to Downtown Home and Garden on Saturday, April 17th to "Potato Alley" behind the store (enter at Liberty Street and exit via Washington Street), and turn that paper into two pounds of beautiful seed potatoes ready for planting.

3. Plant those potatoes! Without a doubt our Project Grow heirloom devotee, Royer Held, will offer some of the best insight on growing potatoes to be found during "Potato Seeds, Seed Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes" on Saturday, April 10th. (Well-timed for Potato Pledgers so sign-up now!)

4. Harvest in late summer or early fall. Details on collection dates, times, and places can be found at this blog, our newsletter, and via email.

Gifts of the Garden - A Different Variety

This time of year the focus is often on gifts to give and receive. Gardeners know all about giving and receiving - giving the soil all you've got to receive a bounty of tomatoes and eggplant to can and then give away; gratefully giving up evenings, early mornings, and clean hands for a bouquet of zinnias or a hearty row of basil to make pesto to share with friends at the next potluck - and most likely don't think about it. It is simply part of the process.

Project Grow gardeners are no different, of course. Over the course of this past summer the gardeners gave and grew as usual, but something other than pesto and bouquets emerged. Project Grow gardeners grew and donated nearly 300 pounds of organic, locally grown produce to Food Gatherers during the 2008 growing season. And that's not including a tally of the food raised and given away by organizations like the Packard Community Clinic and the Beth Israel congregation whose patches are cultivated with the sole purpose of sharing the bounty.

Such news offers a note of relief and joy in these tough economic times where concerns over food security and local economies run high. Donations of fresh food allow local food banks to offer those seeking their services a more nutritious alternative to many canned foods traditionally found on their shelves. And the influx of donations during the summer - often a slow time for food banks - is also welcome.

Project Grow gardeners at all ten sites shared a portion of their harvests with others in the community that are in need. Everything from tomatoes to zucchinis to winter squash landed at Food Gatherers warehouse for immediate distribution to the community. "Good food is meant to be shared, and our gardeners bring that to our community's table," says Melissa Kesterson, Executive Director of Project Grow.

Contributing to Food Banks

Common Dreams posted a story last week, "Food Banks Ask Gardeners to Grow Extra for Hungry", that is a good reminder of how we can use our gardens to help the community. You can donate produce to your local food bank. I don't know about you, but we always have more than we know what to do with, and it's a joy to share fresh, organic vegetables.

In Ann Arbor, we have Food Gatherers, a local non-profit that always welcomes donations of produce from your garden. Check our their donation page for details on how. We frequently have Project Grow volunteers who are willing to collect produce from one of the community gardens on a regular basis to make it easier to contribute. Watch for emails about that during the growing season.