| Author | Content |
Sundownr
(Bev) Wytheville, VA (Zone 6a)
October 3, 2008 12:46 PM Post #5628519
| Thanks for the reminder! I'll need to check our local food pantry to see if they can use some apples.
We have commercial growers that dump truckloads of surplus produce in a public area in town for anyone to take what they want. The huge piles of vegetables (usually potatoes) rarely last a day, and no one is made to feel needy. There are as many manicured hands as calloused hands gathering the free food, but where, or to whom, it goes is anyone's guess (I know for a fact most of it goes directly to the food pantries and the elderly)! Veggie “dump days” are cause for celebration and word travels very fast!
Thanks for the inspiring article!
Bev |
LTilton
Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b)
October 3, 2008 2:01 PM Post #5628798
| I hate to see all the edible apples falling to the ground and ignored, when people don't have the money to buy them in the store.
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Pagancat
(Sheryl) Gainesboro, TN (Zone 6b)
October 3, 2008 2:16 PM Post #5628857
| Excellent idea - I'll contact the shelter in town this week to see if they accept perishable items. |
Sundownr
(Bev) Wytheville, VA (Zone 6a)
October 3, 2008 2:23 PM Post #5628887
| I agree! We put up a good bit this spring from the early apple trees, and gave away a bunch. Now the autumn apples are coming in, and I need to get them harvested before they become deer food. |
LTilton
Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b)
October 3, 2008 3:11 PM Post #5629052
| My apples are harvested and a lot of them sauced, I'm working on pears now. I'll take in a load to the pantry next week, and maybe throw in some broccoli, of which there is much.
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dahlianut
Calgary, AB (Zone 3a)
October 3, 2008 3:18 PM Post #5629079
| Thanks so much for putting this out there to remind us that not all are as fortunate as we are. Most of the food banks here do not accept non-perishable items but the shelters do!!! |
darius
So.App.Mtns.
United States (Zone 5b)
October 3, 2008 3:42 PM Post #5629177
| Thanks for the reminder!
I'm not sure what food pantries are still operating in my small town. I found out last year when I had an abundance of winter squash that two are no longer functioning. |
LTilton
Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b)
October 3, 2008 3:48 PM Post #5629201
| With this year's gardening season winding down in most parts of the country, it's a good time to start planning for next year, finding a place that can use fresh produce and asking what they most need.
Since green onions are easy for me to grow, I think I'll plant an extra row of them again [on purpose this time instead of inadvertently.]
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dahlianut
Calgary, AB (Zone 3a)
October 3, 2008 4:40 PM Post #5629361
| Hope all the herbies are checking this thread. I for one always have way more than I need to dry/freeze for the winter. They're a wonderful compliment to foodstuffs and greatly appreciated at the shelters so don't forget to take your extra herbs as well rather than let them freeze. |
summerkid
Rose Lodge, OR (Zone 8b)
October 3, 2008 6:58 PM Post #5629817
| I'm going to check to see whether they would take my homemade applesauce. Most of my unsprayed apples are too blemished for anyone to take "as is" -- but I cut them up for the usable chunks. |
quiltygirl
No Central, AZ (Zone 7b)
October 12, 2008 2:30 PM Post #5661887
| Great article. I had hopes, when beginning my first veggie garden this year, to be able to donate after reading a similar article last spring. I did not have extra veggies past my own use (and my family does not go for veggies). Next year!
However, the article made me look at my environment differently. After picking y daughter up from the high school, we drive by a house with about a 1/2 doz orange trees and in season the trees are laden with oranges. I was thinking of stopping and asking the gentleman what he does with the oranges. We could kill 2 birds with 1 stone by having a group of kids from the school pick oranges and get their community service hours, then bringing the oranges to a local food pantry (churches also have food pantries that could use fresh items). |
LTilton
Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b)
October 12, 2008 2:39 PM Post #5661919
| So many fruit trees are neglected and the fruit goes to waste.
|
sherrymarie
Weatherford, TX (Zone 7b)
July 11, 2011 7:41 AM Post #8685646
| I agree about the fruit going to waste. A few years back, I don't remember what the fruit was, but there were three small trees in front of a local franchise restaurant. The fruit was very ripe, dropping on the ground and making a real mess as there wasn't really the proper space for the trees next to the sidewalk. I brought a couple pails over and picked myself some fruit to freeze. I figured I couldn't lose anything by doing it. If someone complained I would have stopped, but really, to let it fall on the sidewalk and get tracked everywhere was a real shame. |
rrob
Carmel, NY
July 11, 2011 1:19 PM Post #8686330
| I retired 10 yrs ago and bounced around from one volunteering job to the next until i realized that my passion(gardening) was my new job. I increased my garden from 3000 sq ft to about 10,000 sq ft and i work full time raising food to donate veggies to a local food pantry. I planted about thirty fruit trees which are in all stages of production and they produce plenty of surplus. I taught for many yrs and didnt think i could find anything as rewarding to do in retirement. But the enthusiasm and appreciation from people who dont usually get fresh organic food is overwhelming! I try to push the "one row for charity concept whenever i can." |
quiltygirl
No Central, AZ (Zone 7b)
July 14, 2011 7:13 AM Post #8691691
| rrob - What a FANTASTIK idea. Kudos to you for being proactive in growing food for others, not just leftovers. You are a blessing to others and doing something you love. Wish my gardening were successfull enough for just our family, lol. Last year I grew in strawbales after reading that Forum here on DG. The tomatoes were prolific, if not the other things so much. This year I am growing in containers and getting a paltry production. I would love to use the open area to grow a field of produce, but with all the gophers, rabbits and squirrels it seems so intimidating. |
