Locally Grown Food Bank

Our field trip to the University's Medicinal Gardens reminded me of the volunteer project I was conducting this summer; planting and cultivating vegetables for the local Food Bank. This experience was particularly powerful because when I interviewed for an Americorps job for the summertime, I did not realize I would have the opportunity to work so intimately with such a forward-thinking project.

My mission was to raise garden variety plants/vegetables. Although I had not previously been one for gardening ( I will admit to occasionally watering house plants ) and was slightly apprehensive about my ability to raise enough cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and beets to equally satisfy hungry families in my community. However, the profound appreciation for such skills (such as patience and the ability to nurture seemingly inanimate and stubborn plants) was well worth the journey.

In the beginning I had a constant struggle against nature's fickle tendencies; leaning tomato vines, weak and withering carrot stems, and even a visit from a family of rabbits. As the plants were in a green house, battling the weather was not consequential. Despite my initial frustration with disagreeable vegetables ( Why can't they just sprout and blossom and produce veggies?! Why do I have to care about the angles of stems and when to transplant from pot to earth?), I began to reap the (pardon the pun) fruits of my labors after the first three weeks. This was when I curiously peered underneath the leaf of a comely cucumber plant only to find a bushel of perfectly ripened cucumbers ready to be harvested. The tomatoes were also finding their spherical form in a promising shade of green. When I began harvesting the crops I raised, I felt not only a sense of accomplishment, but pride. I was proud that I had been able to grow these fickle things that would temporarily be able to absolve hunger in a healthful fashion. I took great care in placing each vegetable just so in the boxes and I drove slower so they would surely not get squished. The exchange between myself and the Food Bank volunteers was brief, but their expressions spoke loudly; they appreciated everything they could receive, no matter how small. Hunger is constant and food is not cheap.

The experience of raising these vegetables equipped me with the motivation to cultivate my own vegetables in unused space in my yard. It felt wasteful to live on this land and not use every last inch of it to produce something, anything.

I was so excited to hear about the plans for guerilla gardening along the Burke-Gilman trails as well. To actually be able to help with this would be amazing and I definitely plan to look into it. It was also nice to find out why I had seen new shrubs of blueberry bushes along the path while I was running along the trail in the morning!