The Howard County Conservancy Community Garden donates a portion of its produce to the Howard County Food Bank every Tuesday and Thursday.  Volunteers pick the produce contributions from a plot solely dedicated to the food bank and from individuals’ gardens with portions marked for the food bank.  Often a gardener will mark their plot for the food bank when they are out of town for  an extended period of time.  The goal is to prevent waste in our gardens.

Yesterday, my son and I joined another gardener to pick the produce for donation.    It was fun and I learned how to harvest cabbage.  The cabbage head is cut from the thick stalk because a new cabbage head may grow from the old stalk.   I will look for cabbage regrowth in the food bank plot.

We collected three bags of produce including tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, Malabar spinach, zucchini, and eggplant.   It weighed in at 29 pounds at the food bank!   The fresh organic produce was greatly appreciated.

Over 36 million Americans are hungry and rely on local food pantries to help sustain their families.  For more information about how other gardeners are giving to food banks across Maryland and the United States visit Grow It Give It.