Generous gardeners

Area gardeners have donated thousands of pounds of veggies to area food banks — and the harvest season is still young.

Gardeners participating in Plant a Row recently delivered nearly 3,000 pounds of corn, cucumbers, tomatoes and other produce to the Valley Food Bank.

“It’s wonderful for us, and the Valley people just embrace it,” said Barbara Bennett, director of the food bank.

Fresh vegetables are also pouring in to Spokane’s Second Harvest Food Bank of the Inland Northwest.

Second Harvest belongs to a national network, and its huge warehouse serves as a distribution point for agencies that serve the poor and for 22 smaller food banks.

Valley Food Bank operates independently but receives some of its food from Second Harvest.

Skyler York, community garden coordinator for Second Harvest, said if the past few weeks are an indicator, Plant a Row donations will exceed last year’s intake of 36,985 pounds.

“Actually, we’ve doubled every year that we’ve done it,” York said.

The massive garden effort is particularly important because fresh produce is a vitamin-rich “luxury” that people with low-incomes usually can’t afford, York explained.

“Right now tomatoes are $1.98 a pound, so you are paying $2 for one tomato.”

Donations from local sources have a longer shelf-life than produce that’s shipped from other areas, which helps with distribution and lessens waste from spoilage.

“Sometimes people pick things and rush them to us within an hour,” said Bennett, adding that many of her biggest donors are seniors and empty nesters.

Food bank staff and a nutritionist from Washington State University’s extension program track down recipes for vegetables like eggplant, which some cooks have never prepared.

Last week, the food bank held a class to teach clients how to saute vegetables to serve over rice for a healthy and inexpensive meal.

“We’ve contacted our best cooks here, and we have some great recipes,” Bennett said.

Plant a Row began a decade ago when a garden writer from Anchorage, Alaska, wrote a column asking gardeners to plant additional crops and share their surplus with a local soup kitchen.

People belonging to the Garden Writers Association adopted the cause and use their media influence to rally everyday gardeners to battle hunger.

The movement is gaining momentum, and the association reported that last year 1.3 million pounds of produce were donated to food banks and soup kitchens across the nation.

York is hoping to expand participation in the corporate Plant a Row program.

Avista Utilities, a huge supporter, planted 50 beds of vegetables and herbs on a one-acre plot that its employees maintain.

Last year, they harvested 2,100 pounds, which were distributed among outlets and agencies, including the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant, which serves home-cooked meals.

York said recently other companies have approached him about participating in Plant a Row. “I’m just really excited that other groups are interested.”