Food bank encourages growers to donate produce
In addition to the competition for the most donated produce, Greater Washington County Food Bank also has a contest for the largest home-grown tomato.
Hillary Salmonsen, administrative manger and marketing director for Greater Washington County Food Bank, and her dog, Bear, the unofficial mascot for the food bank, helped to organize the “Grow a Row and Overflow” contest. The food bank will keep a running tally of the produce they receive in donations and the individual with the highest amount will win a $200 barbecue gift basket. Salmonsen encouraged those without the room to grow a full garden to grow vegetables and fruits in container gardens that can be made out of everything from planters to milk crates with a garbage bag as a liner.
Mention the word “garden” and lovingly tended acreage where birds serenade the occupants of a beautiful home may come to mind.
Hillary Salmonsen, who’s promoting the “Grow a Row and Overflow” campaign on behalf of Greater Washington Area Food Bank, wants people to know that even seeds sprouting in a container on an apartment balcony can be a garden if the sun shines on it and either Mother Nature or the urban farmer supplies water.
Salmonsen, marketing director for the food bank in Eighty Four, has logged in more than 200 pounds of vegetable donations over the past few weeks, but nary an amateur agrarian has entered the “Grow a Row and Overflow” contest she announced on the food bank’s Facebook page, on which 393 people have clicked “like.”
Maybe the overabundance of rain in June and early July put a damper on gardeners’ competitive spirit, but there’s still time to harvest, haul fresh produce over to the food bank at 1020 Route 519, and hope to repeat many times through Aug. 31.
That’s the contest’s closing date, and the contestant who has donated the most pounds of produce will be the proud winner of more than $200 worth of items in a barbecue gift basket, to be announced in mid-September.
”I started talking about ‘Grow a Row’ in June,” said Salmonsen. “Let’s create some buzz or excitement about it for as many vegetables as we can possibly get.”
A total lack of entrants doesn’t mean a dearth of produce. An organic farmer from the Burgettstown area brought in 190 pounds of cabbage, cucumbers and zucchinis, and others have anonymously donated leaf lettuce and more cukes.
Another competition that the Food Bank has going, sort of, is its big tomato contest.
The field, pardon the pun, is wide open. Only one tomato has been entered so far. Growing a monster tomato won’t garner the winner a DVD of “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” but a barbecue-related basket.
”Fresh produce is something we try to get out the door in a day because we want to make sure it stays fresh,” Salmonsen said, so distributions scheduled at one or more of the 42 local food pantries closest to the date the produce is dropped off in Eighty Four are likely to include the fruits or vegetables, along with staples and canned goods.
Perhaps local growers could try to top a drive this past spring by the Washington County Farm Bureau and 4-H Clubs that netted 13,424 pound of food and household products, according to Don Carter, organizer.
Which brings us back to the container garden. Salmonsen is practicing what she preaches, planting vegetables in a storage tub with holes poked in the bottom, and lining a milk crate with punctured plastic bags before filling it with soil. “They’re not the prettiest containers, but they’re working,” Salmonsen said.
Even if a container garden is out of the question, there’s still an option when it comes to feeding the hungry.
”For every dollar donated to the food bank, I can buy $5 worth of food,” Salmonsen said. “We are always so grateful for any donation brought in, no matter the size.”
Those entering the contests, or anyone who wants to donate something can go to the food bank Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.