Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op’s Giving Garden has already given nearly 900 pounds of fresh produce to ShareNet this year, up several hundred pounds from its inaugural year in 2011. One of the differences between this year and last is the Co-op is now using three-fourths of the property donated by Kathy Curry and Paul Hughes. In 2011, the Co-op used about half.

There have been other additions as well, including over-wintering vegetables in two hoop houses, and some extra help in planting from 12-15 members of the Kingston High School Honor Society recruited by volunteer Aline Bradley and her daughter.

Co-op President Kinley Deller says that beyond that the Giving Garden remains the product of a small but dedicated group of “diehard” volunteers of only five or six people.  It’s incredible what this core group accomplishes and how much difference they are able to make in the diets of ShareNet clients.

Every Tuesday and Friday morning, open food bank days, a beaming Bradley or Patti Deller makes a delivery to ShareNet of several bags of freshly picked, right-down-the-road produce. The difference on ShareNet’s side this year is that now that folks are used to it, the produce flies out the door; people can’t wait to get their hands on it. The improved usage is the result of a combination of education efforts and finding out how good this produce is.

Deller is modest about the work involved, saying, “We pull weeds, water the garden, eat cheese and crackers, and chat.” They swap garden stories and everyone there picks up tips and exchanges information about their home gardens as well.

Over the past year, the Co-op has invested a lot of energy in an effort to bring their fresh produce into our local schools. They need a million dollar liability policy to even begin to proceed with the school district, which they cannot afford at this time.  The school effort has been tabled for the time being, and the group will concentrate on the Giving Garden.

During the past year, Bradley secured a small grant for rabbit fencing from the Raising Organic Family Farms program sponsored by Lundberg Family Farms, but other funding has so far been scarce.

The Co-op has also partnered in talks with Kingston’s Food Shed, another local entity hoping to impact nutrition in schools and encouraging the local food cycle through a variety of efforts, including Farm to Fork dinners, baked goods at the Kingston Farmers Market, and the Food Shed Friday Café.  Broken Ground Farm has provided learning opportunities to students of Gordon Elementary’s Options program who harvested potatoes there, and provided produce for Options’ camping trips.

For those interested in contributing to Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op or the Giving Garden, their consistently scheduled work party is on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. By the end of October that will go to every second week.  Contact the farm through its website, www.growkingston.org, for more information.

There are lots of ways to help for those who’d like to do something but aren’t available at that time or not up for the manual labor.