Fenton Friday: Sharing the Harvest

Photo by Mary Hanisco.

At this month's harvest collection, we collected 78 pounds of produce -- and when you are weighing greens like basil and Swiss chard that is a LOT of good stuff!

Our community garden does a harvest collection on the last Saturday of each month during the growing season. If plot gardeners are not present, they can opt-out from having their plots gleaned and can also pick theirs in advance and leave it for the collection. I usually opt out, preferring to pick my own.

This time I was able to donate tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and cucumbers. Pictured at right here is a partial selection. I was just glad to have something to give at the end of this month -- it has been such a hard summer this year.

If you are not already in a harvest donation program, I urge you to donate your excess produce to a local food bank or soup kitchen and to report your amounts to Plant a Row for the Hungry so the amounts can be tallied up and credited to what home gardeners contribute to those in need.

What are you growing in your edible garden this week?

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 13th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).

Fenton Friday: HarvestShare Donations

 

Great news from the garden this week! We hosted our end-of-the-season Harvest Festival on Sunday and had a terrific turnout from our own garden plot folks and new people curious about the garden.

Cat Kahn, Founder and Executive Director of HarvestShare, Inc., commented: "I hadn't been to Fenton in a few months and the garden looked spectacular, especially for mid-October. The bounty collected weighed 41.2 lbs and was taken to So What Else, an organization that not only supports its own clients but shares food with other MoCo food assistance providers. That donation brought your total collection for the year to 266.45 pounds! Woohoo! Please send my congrats to the garden participants who made it happen."

In addition to sharing our produce, we shared seeds, snacks, played games, and made several cut-flower arrangements. You can see more pics from the event here.

We had another week of fairly mild weather and harvested more zucchini, cucamelons, peppers, and cherry tomatoes. We also cut more bouquets of zinnias and dahlias. The arugula, radish, and cilantro seedlings are all doing well. 

We'll be ripping out the tomato vines and last of the beans soon.

How is your garden plot growing this week?

 

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 12th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)  See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).

GardenDC Podcast Episode 129: Sharing the Harvest

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Cat Kahn of HarvestShare all about harvest collections for the hungry. The plant profile is on Paperwhites and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events in the What's New segment. We close out with Marianne Willburn, who shares the Last Word on Winter Gardening.

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

Show Notes:

01:06 Introducing Cat Kahn of HarvestShare 01:22 Cat's gardening timeline 04:35 Becoming a “Master Gardene” 09:09 The story of HarvestShare 11:28 “After our first season, we did 9,000lbs. Three seasons later we’re now into the tons.” -Cat 14:37 Changing the rules 18:15 “It’s truly a neighbor-helping-neighbor initiative, and I don’t know about you, but I”m always looking to see the positive in the world.” -Cat 21:50 the logistics of storage and shipping perishable food donations 34:21 Other HarvestShare-like entities 39:49 How to get started with these organizations 48:14 How to get in touch with Cat 49:32 Harvest traditions 50:33 This week's plant profile is… Paperwhites! 53:39 What's new in the garden? Big frost and parsley 54:07 What's new around town? USBG Season's Greenings and more 56:54 The Last Word on Gardening in the Mid-Atlantic Winter by Marianne Willburn

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 28: Preserving Your Harvest -- Canning, Freezing, and Drying

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-28-preserving.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 118: Is It Ripe Yet? How To Tell When To Harvest

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-118-is-it-ripe.html

This episode is archived online at:

https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Sharing-the-Harvest-e1r08p1

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gardendc/id1502631179
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5AsWArNpQo8OlzHoMDMSI8
• RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/gardendc-G2ql5V
• iHeartRADIO: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-gardendc-73615877/
  
• aCast: https://play.acast.com/s/gardendc
  
• Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/776561ca-75d6-4c63-833b-7dafedf57a72/GardenDC
• Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/GardenDC-Podcast/B08JJNZBMX
• Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/gardendc
  
• Bullhorn https://www.bullhorn.fm/gardendc
• Chartable: https://link.chtbl.com/GardenDC
• Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/GardenDC-id2691161?country=us
• Ivy: https://ivy.fm/podcast/gardendc-940013
• Listen Notes: https://lnns.co/VIfcBjWRnw6
• Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/gardendc/
• PocketCasts: https://pca.st/9phvd8bk
• Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/2629285
• Podfollow: https://podfollow.com/GardenDC
• Podlink: https://pod.link/GardenDC
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/gardendc-1137444
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1502631179/gardendc
  
• Reason: https://reason.fm/podcast/gardendc
• Samsung: search for GardenDC on the Sampsung app
• Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/gardendc
• TuneIn: http://tun.in/pj7Sb
• Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/gardendc/
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/washingtongardenermagazine
• Google Podcasts at this link (note that currently, this link will only work on Android devices.)

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite platform so other gardeners can find us too!

Episode Credits:

Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz

Editing: Brandie Bland
Show Notes: Jaime Breeden

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Plant a Row for the Hungry

Plant a Row for the Hungry is People Helping People Since 1995, over 20 million pounds of produce providing over 80 million meals have been donated by American gardeners. All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape -- just people helping people.

Plant A Row is a public service program of the Garden Writers Association and the GWA Foundation. Garden writers are asked to encourage their readers/listeners to plant an extra row of produce each year and donate their surplus to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America’s hungry.

There are over 84 million households with a yard or garden in the U.S. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food agencies and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger.

Support Plant A Row and help make a difference in your community.

PAR Hotline 1-877-492-2727 or go to  http://www.gardenwriters.org/GWA-Foundation-Projects-Plant-a-Row-for-the-Hungry-Start-a-PAR-Campaign

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK: Plant a Row for the Hungry

Plant a Row for the Hungry is People Helping People Since 1995, over 20 million pounds of produce providing over 80 million meals have been donated by American gardeners. All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape -- just people helping people.

Plant A Row is a public service program of the Garden Writers Association and the GWA Foundation. Garden writers are asked to encourage their readers/listeners to plant an extra row of produce each year and donate their surplus to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America’s hungry.

There are over 84 million households with a yard or garden in the U.S. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food agencies and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger.

Support Plant A Row and help make a difference in your community.

PAR Hotline 1-877-492-2727 or go to  http://www.gardenwriters.org/GWA-Foundation-Projects-Plant-a-Row-for-the-Hungry-Start-a-PAR-Campaign

ADVERTISER OF THE WEEK Details:
Every Thursday on the Washington Gardener Magazine Facebook page, Blog, and Yahoo list we feature a current advertiser from our monthly digital magazine. To advertise with us, contact wgardenermag@aol.com today.

Fenton Friday: Harvest Donation for the Hungry

This week at the Fenton Community Garden, three of us gathered donations from various plots and then tallied and weighed our annual harvest donation for a local food pantry. Here is our preliminary total:

cut flowers 3 dozen (not counted in total weight)
zucchini squash 5 lbs
beans 2 lbs
swiss chard 1 lb 11 oz
beets 2 lbs 2 oz
cherry tomatoes 39 oz
tomatoes (full-sized) 6 lbs 11 oz
melons 5 lbs
peppers (hot) 1 lb 12 oz
carrots 3 lbs basil 2 oz
parsley 2 oz
cucumber 12 oz
misc. 9 oz

TOTAL: 31 lbs 2.5 oz

Thank you to all who participated! If you would like to donate excess harvest from your garden, it can be as simple as picking it, weighing it, and dropping it off at your local food pantry or shelter. See the Plant A Row for the Hungry for more details.