Gardening for Others

With the recent tragedy in Haiti many people are looking for ways to help their fellow man. The situation in Haiti has affected all of us. Here are some ways you can help them. Donate to Hope For Haiti Now or to The Red Cross. Not everyone is capable of going to Haiti to help in the recovery efforts. So I've come up with a few ways to help out your local community that anyone can achieve. One way to help is to Plant a Row for the Hungry. This is an organization started by the Garden Writers Association that suggests that we gardeners plant an extra row of veggies and then donate the harvest to local food banks. There are even some seed companies (Nichols Garden Nursery for one) that will give you a free packet of seeds for this purpose along with your order. You can go here to locate your local food bank. Some smaller cities (like Mt. Vernon) may not have the facilities to keep fresh produce. So call around your area and ask. If the local pantries don't want the fresh produce, contact local churches who cook meals for the hungry on a nightly basis. They can use the fresh veggies in their meals. If you don't have space for the row you can also volunteer in a food pantry, donate to this New Zealand organization called Fruit For Our Children or you could even grow an extra tomato plant in a pot...and donate the harvest from that pot! There really are countless ways to help. Some larger cities have community gardens that have volunteers to perform maintenance duties in the garden. All it takes is a simple Google search. The bottom line is, if you want to help, you can.