‘The need is scary’
America’s
”
hidden hunger
”
is not so hidden in South Valley. You can see it in the faces of
the elderly, the single parent with small children, the working
families that struggle to put food on the table. During tough
times, these folks need a helping hand.
‘The need is scary’
America’s “hidden hunger” is not so hidden in South Valley. You can see it in the faces of the elderly, the single parent with small children, the working families that struggle to put food on the table. During tough times, these folks need a helping hand.
Hollister’s Community Pantry provides that helping hand. And now, as gardeners, you and I can help make a difference.
The solution: Plant a Row for the Hungry in your spring garden, and then share the harvest with the Pantry.
“The need is growing to scary levels,” says Mary Anne Hughes, Pantry director. “The number of those who need help goes up and up, and there are always those with special needs due to illness or allergy. The vegetables from home gardens can be the safest and freshest produce we get. It may be just what someone needs.”
This week marks the launch of Plant a Row for the Hungry ’06, the Pinnacle’s project to assist those in our community who need it most.
The idea is simple: When you plant your tomatoes, beans, squash, corn and other vegetables, plant extra. If you usually put in four tomato plants, do eight plants this year. Add a few more rows of beans, put in extra peppers and eggplants, and sow additional corn and root crops.
As those vegetables ripen, use what you can for your own family, then take the surplus to Community Pantry, 30 Airport Ave., Hollister. The Pantry is a non-profit self-help supplemental food program for low-income families in San Benito County. With the help from the community, ranging from San Benito High School students to specialty growers, Hollister Rotary Club and Scout groups, the Pantry provides food bags to more than 900 families.
You can see the Pantry in action every week. Brown grocery bags are distributed Wednesday at Veteran’s Memorial Park, Community/Senior Center, Community Center in San Juan Bautista, Marshall’s Grocery in Aromas; and Thursday at Panoche Inn in South County and at the Pantry warehouse on Airport Avenue.
Those brown bags contain stables such as pasta, beans, rice, juice, canned food, cereal and, of course, whatever fresh fruit and vegetables available.
That’s where the gardeners make a difference. Produce brought into the Pantry goes into those food bags to supplement the other food.
“There is no such thing as too little or too much to share with the Pantry,” Hughes says. “Sometimes the food we get from Plant a Row may seem like just a little to those gardeners who are growing it, but every bit of it helps. And added together with all the smaller deliveries of garden produce it really counts up to a lot.”
Right now there is not much growing in the garden thanks to the never-ending rain. But take a look at your citrus trees. Lemons, oranges and grapefruits are nearing peak harvest. The best thing to do is strip your trees of citrus, weed and fertilize beneath the trees and encourage the new fruit set.
Take the citrus to the Pantry where there is always a need for lemons, oranges and the other citrus that thrive in our region. “It’s sad to see lemons and oranges falling on the ground to rot, when there are people who would welcome that fruit,” Hughes says.
In the coming weeks as gardens begin to grow and produce, the Pinnacle will keep track of home-grown produce delivered to the Pantry. Last year’s total was 15,522 pounds of garden produce shared with the Pantry. We hope to increase that number this year.
The Pantry is located at 30 Airport Ave., Hollister, and is open weekdays for drop-off. Plant a Row for the Hungry is a national project of Garden Writers of America. This is the sixth year the Pinnacle has participated in the PAR project.
For more information, call Hughes at (831) 637-0340. The website is www.communitypantry.com
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A Reader Wants to Know:
It feels like it will never stop raining. You’ve mentioned how to tell if the ground is too wet to dig. I squeeze a handful of soil, and what happens? – Manny
Joan Says: Take a handful of soil, squeeze it in your hand. Then open your hand. If the soil falls loosely, then it’s OK to dig. If it sticks together like Silly Putty, then it’s too wet. You can also tell by sticking the shovel into the ground. If soil sticks to the shovel, then it’s too wet.
If it has rained within the past three or four days, you can save yourself the trouble. It’s too wet to dig. It takes about five rainless days for the ground to dry out, although this depends on how good your drainage is.
Digging wet soil compacts the ground and ruins the tilth.
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A Reader Says: I loved your article on heirloom tomatoes Glad to read a refreshing view. You are a brave woman!
And…
Another Reader Says: Your heirloom tomato article caused such a stir since last week was the big Master Gardener heirloom tomato sale.
And …
Still Another Reader Says: I was so sure that you did the heirloom tomato article just to be controversial. We plant a mixture ourselves. Mostly we determine the results of the taste test by which ones the squirrels hog for themselves.
And …
The Final Word: All I can say is, I am with you! I do like some of the new heirlooms but it is very depressing to nurture a tomato seed (I do it from seed mostly) and get one tomato for all that work and care. My standbys – Early Girl, Enchantment, Sungold – rarely let me down.
E-mail Joan Jackson at bluecrab842@cs.
