Grow More, Give More
Our GROW MORE GIVE MORE Project is doing well. The Grow More Give More program needs volunteers to help coordinate for Jefferson County. Laura Kezar is heading up this program and needs help. Her information is in the Master Gardener Directory in the Service Report link.
Among the Master Gardeners who have donated to Grow More, Give More this year are the members of the Bruno Vegetable Garden Group at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, headed by our Master Gardener, Hope Cooper. The current total for the year is 1128 pounds of vegetables.
Grow More Give More project! If you have extra produce to donate, please share with any food assistance organizations in your area. Be sure to log time and # of pounds of produce on the MG service report. (You can enter the pounds in the description field). We are working on getting a list of all food assistance organizations in your area that are able and willing to accept donations of fresh produce. Remember – every donation counts!! Whether it is 2 pounds or 200 pounds, it ALL counts! Take a look at the following link for more details. https://www.aces.edu/blog/category/lawn-garden/products-programs-lawn-garden/grow-more-give-more/ Laura Kezar and company are coordinating this project in Jefferson. She will be reaching out with more details soon. In the interim, if you have any questions, feel free to contact Bethany O’Rear.
Please take a look at the Grow More Give More page on ACES website. We have numerous resources available at the click of your mouse or the tap of your phone – videos, supply lists, digital publications and more.
The online video and texts will be available to support Master Gardeners as well as novice gardeners in growing vegetable crops as successfully as possible. The idea of the program is that every gardener will grow enough to share a little extra with an individual or an institution in need. ACES realizes that for some gardeners it may be easiest to carry a small bag of extras across the street to a neighbor, or take a box to their local school—others won’t be happy unless they’re delivering a harvest to a regional food bank.
We can donate extra fruits and vegetables:
HERE
Drop off extra vegetables to neighbors who are shut in by age or illness, or are affected by job loss and would appreciate fresh produce (and a kind note or a flower perhaps)
THERE
Reach out to schools, community centers and places of worship which you already know and see if there’s a new need you can help fill
EVERYWHERE
Statewide charities like Society of St. Andrews, a crop gleaning charity www.endhunger.org, and regional operations like Community Foodbank of Central Alabama www.feedingal.org, are positioned to coordinate donations, particularly in larger quantities.
The Grace Klein Community is gratefully accepting donated produce and vegetable plant seedlings. Please contact Bethany if you can share seedlings and transplants of edible plants so I can let Grace Klein know when and what to expect. Donated produce, seedlings and transplants can be donated to Grace Klein Community on Tuesday afternoons from 1-4 at 2652 Old Rocky Ridge Road, Birmingham, 35216.
Wherever you choose to donate produce, please log your hours AND the pounds donated at the Jefferson County Master Gardener Association website using the category “Grow More Give More (Comm. Food)”.
If you are on Facebook, please like the Alabama Smart Yards page as well as our own Jefferson County Master Gardener page. Please check these daily and share the Grow More Give More posts on your own pages. Encourage your family and friends to share, as well. Together we can make a difference.
On August 11th, t he General Gardening Group at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, headed by our Master Gardener, Hope Cooper reported this year’s total of 1040.55 pounds harvested in the Bruno Vegetable Garden and donated to the Birmingham Community Kitchens on this Grow More, Give more Thursday.
Please share this site with all of your family, friends, and even your communities! We want to help people learn to Grow More so that they can Give More (additional info about donating is coming soon). Take a look at the following link for more project details. Thanks in advance for helping us spread the word!