GARDENING : Fresh Idea: Plant a Row to Help Feed the Hungry
Gardeners in Orange County and across the nation are being asked to help in the fight against hunger by donating part of their harvest to organizations that serve the hungry.
“Plant a Row for the Hungry” is a nationwide campaign launched this year by the Garden Writers Assn. of America. It is meant to encourage the 78 million gardening households in America to add a few extra vegetable plants, herbs or fruit trees to share with the estimated 30 million hungry Americans through community organizations that distribute food.
Local food banks and shelters in Orange County say they welcome the idea.
According to the Food Distribution Center of Orange County, there are 281 Orange County agencies that are members of its food bank. Some are on-site boarding facilities serving three meals daily. Others, such as the AIDS Services Foundation, regularly distribute food to 300 people.
“We’d be delighted to have anything from home gardens,” said Barbara Clippinger, director of Friendship Shelter, a 29-bed facility serving homeless, single men and women in Laguna Beach. “Fresh produce would enhance our nutritional program immensely. Fruit is at the top of our wish list because it’s so expensive now.”
Sandee Gordon, director of Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa, also said vegetables or fruits in large or small quantities are welcome. “We don’t get fresh produce very often.”
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“Whether a person is growing plants in pots on a balcony or terrace or has a full-size garden, an individual can make a difference within the community with just a little effort,” Jacqueline Heriteau, chairwoman of the Garden Writers’ project, said during a phone interview.
“This concept is being met with great enthusiasm around the nation,” she added. “I know a woman who’s organizing her entire neighborhood.”
The idea began to take hold when Jeff Lowenfels shared his surplus with a local food pantry for the hungry in his hometown of Anchorage.
Lowenfels, an avid gardener and garden columnist, is president of the garden writers group, headquartered in Manassas, Va. He realized the national organization could be instrumental in tackling hunger in America.
Several seed companies are supporting the national campaign by offering free seeds.
“Thompson & Morgan has already offered free seeds for this project, and Shepherd’s Seeds and other companies are also joining in,” Heriteau said. “Gardeners should check in their seed catalogues for the details.”
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Spring planting is still underway, and there’s time to tuck a few extra plants in a garden plot or pot to share. The most wanted are carrots, eggplant, green beans, lettuce, summer squashes--including zucchini--and tomatoes.
Herbs would also be greatly appreciated and are easy to grow. Basil, thyme, rosemary, mint (grow it in pot or it will spread throughout the garden) and parsley grow quickly and are prolific.
The surplus from home orchards, including oranges, lemons, avocados, peaches and plums, are also needed.
Broccoli, cabbage, winter squash, onions and potatoes are good crops to consider for fall planting.
The garden writers group offers the following suggestions for obtaining a bountiful harvest:
* Choose compact plants that produce full-size yields. These include bush-type cucumbers; tomatoes labeled “determinate,” which grow like bushes instead of sprawling vines; crookneck and zucchini squash; bush beans, and peas.
* Plant closely in rows that are twice as wide as the paths between them. Plant seedlings so close that when the foliage fills out, it shades the earth to rob weeds of sunlight, cools the soil and conserves water.
* Combine crops (intercropping) so you get two or more harvests into the same space. Plant low-growing vegetables such as radishes, scallions, beets and carrots with tall cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower.
* Use stakes, trellises and cages to train vegetables to grow upright. Vegetables on supports take up less room and are easier to harvest. Some of these crops are cucumbers, squashes and indeterminate tomatoes.
You can also grow vegetables or herbs among your ornamental flowers. Be sure that they have the same sun and water requirements. Most vegetables need at least six hours of sun daily and regular watering. Fertilize at planting and again during the growing season with a fertilizer formulated for vegetables. Be careful not to over-fertilize or use too much nitrogen, which encourages plant growth at the expense of vegetable production.
You can control insects with low or nontoxic products such as insecticidal soaps available at nurseries and garden centers.
When the produce is ready to harvest, thoroughly rinse all garden dirt clinging to roots such as carrots or beets. Call your local agency to ask when they’d like you to deliver your surplus.
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For the name and location of a charity that can accept fresh, home-grown produce, gardeners can contact the Food Distribution Center of Orange County at (714) 771-1343.
The center is a private, nonprofit food bank established in 1983.
Following are a few of the member agencies:
AIDS Services Foundation
17982 Sky Park Circle, Suite J
Irvine, CA 92714
(714) 253-1500
Friendship Shelter
13335 S. Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(714) 494-6928
Fullerton Interfaith Emergency
Service
244 E. Valencia Drive, Room 16
Fullerton, CA 92632
(714) 738-0255
Hope House
707 N. Anaheim Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92805
(714) 776-7490
New Vista Shelter
244 E. Valencia, Room 17
Fullerton, CA 92632
(714) 680-3691
Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter
Costa Mesa
(714) 631-7213
Phoenix House
Santa Ana
(714) 953-9373
St. Francis Home
1718 W. 6th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92703
(714) 542-0381
Someone Cares Kitchen
661 Hamilton Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(714) 646-8181
T.L.C. Buena Park
8150 Knott Ave.
Buena Park, CA 90620
(714) 826-1930
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Volunteers Glean for the Hungry
Orange County Harvest is a gleaning group whose volunteers pick the remains from agricultural harvests and distribute the vegetables and fruit to regional agencies that feed the hungry.
The nonprofit organization will also harvest back-yard fruit trees if there’s a minimum of 100 pounds of fruit--the equivalent of five full grocery bags. A mature tree typically produces two to three times that amount.
For information, call (714) 376-8377.
