edible notables
GROW A ROW
Edible gardeners can donate to the hungry.
WRITTEN BY MARNIE MCARTHUR
PHOTOS COURTESY OF COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN RENO
Plant a seed and it will grow. Grow a row and it will produce fresh, nutritious food for hungry families. This is the philosophy behind Plant a Row, a community-based, hunger-relief effort coordinated by the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
A program of this type existed 20 years ago, according to Food Bank CEO Cherie Jamason. It was started again in 2012 because the agency was receiving so many calls from people who had abundant harvests from their gardens and wanted to donate the excess.
“We could take the produce, but the drive to the Food Bank in McCarran, Nev., is too far for many people to bring a bag of zucchini,” Jocelyn Lantrip, marketing director at the Food Bank, says.
“We decided to reach out to some of our partner agencies and see if they could accept produce, which would be delivered fresh to drop-off facilities in local communities and be easier for people to pick it up,” Lantrip says. “The program was a great success, and we received more produce than expected. We will definitely do it again in 2013.”
Master gardener Bob Christian and half-a-dozen volunteers from the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Reno grow more than half a ton of produce in a small garden with 18 raised beds on the church property. He looks forward to another bountiful harvest, all of it donated to a Food Bank partner, Sister Carmen’s Ministry at Our Lady of the Snows church.
“We like to grow crops that produce heavily and will last longer, such as zucchini, yellow squash, round squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, several types of peppers, carrots, and potatoes,” Christian says. He and his wife also donate produce from their own garden, which produces “much more than just two people need,” he says.
Cindy Becher of Sister Carmen’s Ministry was overwhelmed with the community’s response last year.
“The people from Covenant Presbyterian brought the harvest twice a week, and each time the vegetables looked so amazing,” she says. “Everybody who came and picked up food was so thankful. I can’t wait to see what this year is going to bring.”
The economic situation in Northern Nevada has made it necessary over the past few years to look for as many ways as possible to provide food donations. For information on how you and your garden can contribute to hungry families, call the Food Bank at 775-331-3663 or visit http://www.Fbnn.org.
Freelance writer Marnie McArthur is surrounded by cement and has no dirt for a garden at her Reno condominium. She does encourage friends to plant an extra row in their gardens and donate excess produce to feed the hungry in our community.
