ShareNet’s chief supplier of organic local produce is Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op’s Giving Garden.
The relationship began in 2011 when the Giving Garden was established on land donated by Kingston’s Farrago Farm and Vineyard. Co-op volunteers delivered almost 1,400 pounds in 2012, and 2013 is expected to top that.
Since food banks mostly offer non-perishables and do not consistently have produce available, Giving Garden donations are an essential nutritive source for our clients. The garden is a 100-percent volunteer effort, done by a small ardent group that works every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Volunteers count on individual support during the week to water, harvest, and deliver.
While their dedication is sometimes augmented by others in the community wanting to help, recruiting sufficient volunteers remains challenging.
They enjoy a collaborative relationship with students of Kingston High School. This year, 16 students from the Honor Society and Key Club contributed 63 hours of volunteer work. Fifty students from Washington Youth Academy took on a day-long project which resulted in a new composting station and significantly reduced blackberry incursions into cultivable space.
“The garden is experimenting with methods which preserve soil and conserve water,” volunteer Kathy Curry said. “The key design change this year has been mowing the walkways instead of tilling them, which has created a cleaner, more easily maintained garden. We continue to use drip irrigation where practical.”
Volunteer Laura Lyon set up three different support structure designs for tomatoes. Pole beans and cucumbers also have a trellis which can be stored over winter and reused. A rabbit-proof fence was installed to decrease garden predation. The group has almost solved the tangled hose problem by stringing a main hose along the fence line, with Y supports for shorter hoses which are then rotated between soaker hoses in various beds.
The Giving Garden has been awarded a grant from the Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service to construct a high-tunnel hoop house for late fall and early spring season extension, and for over-wintering more greens. If the hoop house is built and planted by August winter produce will be significantly increased.
It’s an exciting time when a delivery volunteer, often Aline Bradley, shows up on Tuesday mornings with the harvest bounty in her arms. One of our volunteers meets her, washes the produce if necessary, and then arranges it in our reach-in cooler for clients who often can’t afford produce in the stores. Our clients are also grateful when this incredibly fresh, beautiful looking produce arrives, and even more so when they taste it.
“All added fertilizers and soil amendments are either certified organic, or the product of onsite composting,” Curry said. “We have a three-bay compost bin, a worm box, and two barrels for compost tea. To protect from pests, we use Sluggo to bait slugs away from plants, BT spray to prevent worms, and Reemay cloth to prevent access by carrot flies, etc.”
The Co-op encourages both experienced and novice local gardeners to take a break from their individual efforts and join this team for the greater good they are doing in the community. While they welcome the time-tested lessons of experienced gardeners, the Giving Garden is also a great low-pressure learning environment for folks who are just beginners, or those who may want to pick up tips for a home plot or their own “grow a row” effort.
Coming to ShareNet soon, look for a display detailing the co-op’s efforts on our behalf and the hard work it takes to produce a quality yield. Visit www.growkingston.org for more details or to volunteer, or contact ShareNet and we will make the connection.
— Mark Ince is the executive director of ShareNet. Contact him at sharenetdirector@centurytel.net
