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Mary Ellen and I started this project five years ago when we our home garden was doing very well. We had noticed that there was never anything fresh in the Food Pantry (which is housed in the church basement) - it had to be canned or not perishable - so this becomes a health issue. We asked members of our church congregation to be “HART Smart.” We asked those with gardens to “HOE A ROW TO SHARE.” Would those with a home garden plant an extra row or plant to share the harvest of fresh produce with those requiring assistance form the Baraboo Food Pantry. Then we learned there was space in a community garden in Baraboo – space with a water supply! Four years ago we signed up for a plot, and for two years we gave all our harvest from that plot to the food pantry – some lettuce, beans, tomatoes and cucumbers. The third year we signed up for two plots because there were some plots that weren’t being used. We received some help weeding, watering, and harvesting from members of tour congregation. We weren’t happy with the production of the garden, so we took the Master Gardener course last year.
This year we signed up for our two plots, and one of our class mates form the MG course also signed up, so this year we have three plots. We have had help from some of our congregation as well as some Master Gardeners. We planted 6 rows of lettuce, 8 rows of green and yellow beans, many too many cucumbers, 30 green pepper plants, and 20 tomato plants. With the first planting of lettuce, we have harvested approximately 30 pounds of lettuce (packaged in 60 zip lock bags), and have one more row to go. We purchase salad dressing from Aldi’s at $.99 a bottle to be distributed with the lettuce. We have replanted 4 rows of lettuce that we hope will survive the heat. Last weekend was our first harvest of beans which yielded approximately 27 pounds, packed in 29 zip lock bags. We will harvest again tonight, and should get approximately the same amount. It takes one person approximately 4 hours to pick beans and another hour to wash, dry and package. So we do need help.
Cucumbers are about two inches long, so will be ready soon. Tomatoes are lush and very green, and peppers are flowering.
We harvest twice a week (Sundays and Wednesdays) as the Food Pantry is open M, T, TH, and F. The produce is as fresh as it can be. Comments from the Food Pantry volunteers say their patrons are very pleased to receive fresh produce makes all the work worth while.
This year the garden is the most productive it has ever been. It must be from the excellent training we received from the MG course! This year we tied landscape fabric under the tomatoes and peppers, and some biodegradable material between the rows of beans. Both have helped dramatically in cutting down on weeds, which are very prolific. We do have several nearby garden plots that aren’t well weeded, which cause a problem. In spite of the landscape fabric, leaves on the bottom of the tomato plants are still turning yellow. We haven’t used any chemicals. Japanese beetles are eating the bean plant leaves, but are not nearly as bad as last year. Mike Maddox (from the Janesville Rotary Garden and MG lecturer) was on the telly (TV news) yesterday suggesting that beetles come and beetles go, and there isn’t much we can do about them.
We have purchased all the seeds and plants for the garden, which does cost a bit, but it has been part of our giving back to the community in need. We do spend a lot of time with the garden, anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a week.
Would we do it again? You bet, but we can use a lot more help. We see this as a wonderful rewarding experience that fills a need in the community, and it also meets the volunteer requirements for MG. This year the garden was “oversubscribed”, so the Park Department moved the fence and created 6 more plots, so we may have to go back to two plots next year. We do try to keep the same plots as in prior years, so we know what has been grown where and can rotate.
Mary Ellen and Peter Murray
petermurray@jvlnet.com
7/23/08