The slight warming and the brief sun breaks draw us out to our gardens. The early crocus, the Iris unguicularis blooms, the drooping, gorgeous, white cascades on our Ribes, the Iris reticulata and then all the bulging buds fattening by the hour make our hopes quicken. This will be the year for perfection.
May I put a small, but important, pinprick in your aesthetic and horticultural dreams? Please plant more Rows for the Hungry.
Long before hunger became a crisis in America, the Garden Writers of America (GWA) funded the program, called Plant a Row for the Hungry. “The purpose of Plant A Row (PAR) is to create and sustain a grassroots program for garden writers to use their local media position to encourage readers/listeners to donate surplus garden produce to local food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations to help feed America’s hungry. PAR provides focus, direction and support to local volunteer committees who execute the programs,” according to the GWA website (www.gardenwriters.org). Visit the website to learn more about getting your garden produce to our community members.
Giving of your garden
I volunteer at a food bank, and when the organic produce comes in from the Interbay and Ballard P-Patch Giving Gardens, the clients’ eyes light up with joy. Real, fresh produce — even for those needing to live in their cars — brings a respite from crummy, over-sugared and salted, processed foods.
Just one small but critical heads-up: Do not throw tired and wilted produce at the food bank or soup kitchens doors. Last year, someone raked up all the fallen plums in their garden and gave them to the food bank. I would say that only one-fourth of the gift was edible. It took precious staff and volunteer time to sort through this “gift.”
As one of the volunteers taught me when I started, “Would you eat this?” So each week, we sort through the produce donations and rescue as much as we can, but we always think of our clients: We want them to savor the food. As I have come to know, more than 90 percent are recipients who have only recently slipped over the edge.
There is a new documentary film called “A Place at the Table.” It clearly outlines the hunger crisis in America. Its website is a great resource: (www.takepart.com/place-at-the-table). I encourage you, along with your friends and children, to watch this film and then work together to decide what you will plant and tend and harvest in your garden this year and next.
Finding the lightness
Along with this year’s project(s) planning, there is the sheer joy of, once again, being connected to the soil and the seasons. The soil is still dank but actually much lighter and friable than a month go. General winter detritus/debris still needs to be scooped up from the corners, and sometimes in the heart of our plants.
The lavender bushes can safely be pruned back. And, of course, your non-shrub roses, such as hybrid teas, need to be pruned severely. This is also a good time to reduce in scale some shrubs that have become thug-ish.
I went after a huge shrub rose the other day. With a sharp saw and much grunting, I reduced this thug by three-quarters. Yes, it felt scary and/or very uncomfortable. Oh, dear, what would my husband say?
Aside from a very sore arm, the results from my mad labor were quite fine. There was a wonderful lightness to the area. I could see details in the garden beyond it.
The husband was nonplussed.
What great fun — where is my next triumph?
Yes, the return of the light infuses one’s spirit.
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