Now that spring is here, the Madawaska Valley Food Bank asks local vegetable growers and gardeners to participate in its annual Grow-A-Row program. As you sow your own seedlings, please plant some extra vegetable transplants for Food Bank clients.
Food Bank volunteer Terry Newcombe said that your seedlings can help people grow their own food. The Grow-A-Row program teaches a valuable skill to people of all ages. Learning to grow their own vegetables is one way that the Food Bank helps families obtain natural, healthy food. The program also boosts self-confidence as people experience the positive results from a bit of fun digging in the dirt. The children always enjoy the magic as tiny starter transplants eventually produce giant vegetables.
Tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, and cabbages are all popular but any vegetables you grow for yourself are welcome. These transplants help Food Bank clients feed their families all summer and gardening donors can help their community by doing more of what they already love doing. Newcombe called this “a sure-fire win-win success.”
An experienced gardener, Newcombe himself always plants a few extra just in case. He said,
Your surplus can be someone else’s bounty…. No box of cookies or package of meat disappears as quickly from our tables as the trays of tomato seedlings every spring.
To donate your seedlings, just drop them off at 188 Paugh Lake Road in Barry’s Bay on the second and fourth Mondays of the month.
Photos submitted
