Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Gardens’ bounty feeds the hungry
Area churches donate thousands of pounds of produce to food banks
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Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Patricia Morgan of Lynnwood weeds a plot in the garden at St. Thomas More Catholic Church on Sunday. The produce grown in the church garden is donated to the Lynnwood Food Bank.
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Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Patricia Morgan of Lynnwood digs weeds from her plot in the garden at St. Thomas More Church on Sunday. Patricia and 24 other members of the church grow vegetables and fruit in the garden, which they then give to the Lynnwood food bank. In her plot, Morgan grows corn, beets, lettuce and pole beans.
LYNNWOOD — Three years ago, some parishoners at St. Thomas More Catholic Church decided it would be a good idea to transform a patch of overgrown, unused land next to the parking lot into a vegetable garden.
Today, 25 church members grow vegetables in the garden, 6511 176th St. SW, and donate nearly everything harvested to the nearby Lynnwood Food Bank.
“I would say they’ve helped immensely,” said Peg Amarok, the food bank’s director. “Especially since the economy went sour. A lot of people are doing gardening more than they would before.”
Garden manager Grace Dyer said gardeners want to produce 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of food for the food bank this year.
St. Thomas More isn’t alone in its efforts to grow food for hungry people.
Around Snohomish County, food-producing gardens are sprouting up on church property, in homeowners’ yards and in parks.
Master Gardener Sharon Collman has noticed an increase in vegetable gardening, too.
She teaches horticulture classes for the Washington State University Snohomish County Extension, based at Snohomish County’s McCollum Park south of Everett.
Last year, the extension started the Growing Groceries program, which trains people to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Extension volunteers travel around the county, helping people start vegetable gardens.
“We started getting all kinds of calls from people who’d become unemployed and needed to grow food,” she said.
Since the program started, Growing Groceries and similar programs have cropped up on Whidbey Island and other areas.
Kevin and Mary Ann Reese of Lynnwood volunteered to help with the Growing Groceries program. The couple had already been donating much of the produce they harvested to food banks.
“My husband and I do this because we love doing it,” Mary Ann Reese said.
Betty Larman looked around her Edmonds neighborhood and thought it would be nice if apartment dwellers and condominium owners had a place to grow vegetables — something similar to the P-Patches popular in King County.
With help from Edmonds Christian Church, 23010 84th Ave. W, and Boy Scouts, volunteers built a vegetable garden on church property over two weekends last April.
The garden’s plots are open to neighbors for a fee.
In Marysville, master gardener Rob Taylor grows vegetables at Jennings Park. Produce from the garden, the first demonstration garden for the extension, has gone to food banks for 35 years.
Last year, 3,000 pounds of produce went to the food bank.
“This year, conservatively, we should beat that,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, at Edmonds Church of the Beloved, 8104 220th St. SW, a new garden has become a source of inspiration, said pastor Ryan Marsh.
“We think it’s a move of God’s spirit that is bringing about all of these new community gardens and all this interest in community gardening,” he said. “We just think this is such a great way for us to serve our neighborhood.”
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429; ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
Today, 25 church members grow vegetables in the garden, 6511 176th St. SW, and donate nearly everything harvested to the nearby Lynnwood Food Bank.
“I would say they’ve helped immensely,” said Peg Amarok, the food bank’s director. “Especially since the economy went sour. A lot of people are doing gardening more than they would before.”
Garden manager Grace Dyer said gardeners want to produce 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of food for the food bank this year.
St. Thomas More isn’t alone in its efforts to grow food for hungry people.
Around Snohomish County, food-producing gardens are sprouting up on church property, in homeowners’ yards and in parks.
Master Gardener Sharon Collman has noticed an increase in vegetable gardening, too.
She teaches horticulture classes for the Washington State University Snohomish County Extension, based at Snohomish County’s McCollum Park south of Everett.
Last year, the extension started the Growing Groceries program, which trains people to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Extension volunteers travel around the county, helping people start vegetable gardens.
“We started getting all kinds of calls from people who’d become unemployed and needed to grow food,” she said.
Since the program started, Growing Groceries and similar programs have cropped up on Whidbey Island and other areas.
Kevin and Mary Ann Reese of Lynnwood volunteered to help with the Growing Groceries program. The couple had already been donating much of the produce they harvested to food banks.
“My husband and I do this because we love doing it,” Mary Ann Reese said.
Betty Larman looked around her Edmonds neighborhood and thought it would be nice if apartment dwellers and condominium owners had a place to grow vegetables — something similar to the P-Patches popular in King County.
With help from Edmonds Christian Church, 23010 84th Ave. W, and Boy Scouts, volunteers built a vegetable garden on church property over two weekends last April.
The garden’s plots are open to neighbors for a fee.
In Marysville, master gardener Rob Taylor grows vegetables at Jennings Park. Produce from the garden, the first demonstration garden for the extension, has gone to food banks for 35 years.
Last year, 3,000 pounds of produce went to the food bank.
“This year, conservatively, we should beat that,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, at Edmonds Church of the Beloved, 8104 220th St. SW, a new garden has become a source of inspiration, said pastor Ryan Marsh.
“We think it’s a move of God’s spirit that is bringing about all of these new community gardens and all this interest in community gardening,” he said. “We just think this is such a great way for us to serve our neighborhood.”
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429; ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
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