Food Insecurity In Our Community - Plant A Seed

As we pull up our garden plants for this year, I would like to “plant a seed” as you plan for your garden next year. Most food pantries share shelf-stable and non-perishable items with their clients. This includes canned fruits and vegetables. Gleaning is a biblical concept discussed in the book of Ruth where the farmer allowed the poor to come to the fields at the end of the harvest and gather what was left behind. Kind landowners like Boaz encouraged ‘ the least of these’ folks to come and gather grain after his paid help had harvested. Often when we have home gardens we have a huge harvest at once of an item---zucchini comes to mind. Next year we hope folks will plant a little extra and when you have an abundance we can share that with Feed My Sheep or another local food pantry. A friend and I planted jalapenos this year and had a bumper crop. I can’t eat peppers at all, so all the harvest went to the Culpeper Food Closet, some weeks it was a grocery bag almost full. Our Latino families will thrilled to have fresh peppers for their cooking. It was very gratifying to know my garden spot could help lots of families in the community. So consider planting an extra row and those of us involved with Feed My Sheep will be happy to take it to a Food Pantry when your harvest comes in.

To read more about our work with Feed My Sheep please visit our Serving Neighbors Webpage.