As gardens are being planted, one thing we don’t often consider at this time of the year is what to do with extra vegetables. How many of us plant a half dozen zucchini plants in May, only to wonder what we were thinking come July? I have the solution: have food donations for those in your community need it the most.

Most of us have friends who can fortunately share the bounty. I love sending visitors home with goody bags filled with tomatoes, basil, or whatever might be ripe at the time. It’s also nice to know elderly folks or families who don’t have their own gardens. But sometimes even our friends have too much. You can only push so much chard on someone before they don’t visit anymore.

Donate Surplus Vegetables for Food Donations

Unfortunately, the need for healthy food is larger than any one of us want to admit. Just here in Great Falls, organizations such as the food bank, Meals On Wheels, the Salvation Army family services program, as well as multiple other organizations always need more donations. Most don’t have the budgets for the fresh produce, which is also the most beneficial option for their recipients.

We have a local program where The Flower Farm, a local greenhouse, generously donates tomato plants to gardeners who sign a pledge saying they will donate 25% of the tomatoes to the food bank network. When you consider they gave out hundreds of plants, this is a whole lot of fresh tomatoes for the hungry in Great Falls this summer.

A national program is the Garden Writers Association’s “Plant a Row for the Hungry.” According to the Household Food Security study conducted by the Department of Agriculture in 2007, there are 8.5 million people (2.9 million of which are children) who skip meals or don’t have enough at a meal so they are often hungry. Considering they conducted this research prior to the recession, I have to wonder how those numbers look now. While some gardening organizations affiliated with the program provide seeds for people, planting a row with the intent to take it to the food bank is super simple. Set aside a little space, plant anything you want, and don’t forget to harvest and deliver. Every little bit makes a difference.

Other Services

Looking at the big numbers can be daunting, but I know just in little ol’ Great Falls we have a big problem with hunger. The Salvation Army’s family services program gives away baskets of food to families. Just from October 2013 to February 2014, they distributed over 100,000 pounds. Thankfully, their garden grows anywhere from 6 to 8 thousand pounds for them to supplement the summer and fall boxes. Even though it’s a drop in the proverbial bucket, the fresh vegetables do a lot to promote good health.

A couple of new endeavors gardeners are doing locally include the Master Gardeners growing food to go to a food pantry at a local school, as well as a brand new garden being developed to serve seniors and disabled adults. If we can do these types of things in Great Falls, anyone can.

If you’re not sure who needs your extra produce, an excellent resource is Ample Harvest (www.ampleharvest.org). All you have to do is type in your zip code, and they provide all of the options in your area with directions and information. There are over 6000 food pantries listed on their site with more being added all of the time.

Even though I’m off topic of pests in the garden, I felt strongly that I needed to encourage everyone to think of others, particularly when it comes to all of that extra produce in the garden. There’s really no reason anything should go in the compost bin at the end of the season. If you can’t use it, find someone who can.