May 6, 2010 marks the first day this year that I was able to drop off fresh food from the garden at the local Ballard Food bank. I had great intentions of growing hardy crops through the 2009-2010 winter, but alas in mid December, despite having hoop houses in place, I failed to protect all my crops from a hard freeze.
Radish & Radish Greens - 2010 Harvest for the Hungry
So, after donating 28 weeks straight from June 2009-December 2009, I admitted a chilling defeat, pulled out the stinky frozen crops, and began planning for future months when I could harvest enough to feed our family and to share. So, it is today that we begin again taking food from the garden to help feed others.
To be honest, we’re not harvesting a lot from the garden just yet. We have some lettuce, but not enough to share yet. Same deal with chard, leeks and mizuna. And, I didn’t plant kale for the garden this spring. Instead we’re growing more cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. We only have so much space after all. And, those cool season crops as well as cilantro and spinach are still a little ways off toward harvest. Warm season crops are still plugging away in the greenhouse as well. And, our potatoes are quietly opening their eyes under soil and straw in their towers. (We did get near freezing temps over the last couple nights. Summer’s still a way off for Seattle.)
What do we have? Well, a whole heckuva lot of radish. And, honestly, some of them aren’t that fantastic. I’m growing them in a couple of locations — one spot is producing some decent roots. The other, well, not so much. Despite testing the soil and renovating the soil, I’m fairly certain a full soil exchange is in order in this bed, which is producing root crops showing signs of nibbling creatures, slugs, and even nasty nematodes. All is not lost when it comes to radish — the greens are fantastic! We’ve been mixing them into beans and stews and other tasty meals for weeks now. And, today, I took a huge bag of the greens and the not-so-awful radish roots to share with the food bank.
Green Victoria Rhubarb for the Food Bank
As well, I took what must have been nearly 20 lbs of rhubarb. In my garden coaching travels, I often run into new clients who have more food than they know what to do with. In some cases, I encourage them to sign up with programs that will harvest their overflowing fruit trees. In other instances, I suggest making donations to food banks. Really, there’s no need for homegrown food to rot away. Recently, I met a new client we’ll call Ms J.
Ms J. has more rhubarb growing in her garden than she can keep up with. The stuff simply adores her. It spreads and multiplies happily in her space. Too, she’s done her share of dividing and spreading it around as well. In our first gardening session she confessed she’d be digging some out and composting it. I chimed in right away offering to take divisions or cuttings off her hands. I’m not really interested in growing rhubarb myself; it isn’t my favorite vegetable. But, I knew the food bank would be thrilled to distribute edible food starts and the food itself. So, after a long day at work, Ms. J came home, cut down stalk after stalk of rhubarb. She trimmed it, removing the toxic leaves. Washed it and bagged it up for me to retrieve in the morning. Getting in the community team spirit Ms J. pitched in and really hit a home run for Ballard — with just a little directional nudge and support from me, her Garden Mentor.
Interested in learning more about growing food for yourself and the greater community? Get in touch to set up your own Garden Mentors session here. Or, meet me at the 2010 Green Festival in Seattle in June where I’ll be speaking on the subject of growing food to feed yourself and the other hungry people in your community.
