miletwo::network

My wife and I have been slaving away in the backyard of our new rented home for the last few weeks and now that sod and pavers are laid, it’s time for us to quickly get our raised bed garden planted before the springtime planting window escapes us.  With that in mind I’ve been ripe with anticipation to reap the benefits of my home garden and have begun dreaming of the meals and dishes I plan to make with it.

I’ve had gardens before and almost always I end up with way more than my family can eat and invariably that delicious, home grown produce ends up rotting and returning to the compost heap.  I love to share it with friends and family but sometimes even that is not enough to fully consume the output.  What to do, what to do?

Then it hit me.  Why not donate it?

Well apparently I’m not the first to think of this. In a recent article by CNN, Mary Lou Huffling, Director of the Fall Mountain Food Shelf, a food pantry for the underprivileged, began to organize the efforts of local gardeners to actually plant just a single row of veggies more than they would normally and donate the extra produce to the food pantry.  The result, she is now able to provide fresh healthy vegetables for the needy of Langdon, New Hampshire who rely on the food shelf and the donations that they receive from it to offset their meager incomes.

This is Christianity folks; “christ-like-ness”, where we all do just a little bit to help “as we are going” (matt. 28, the great commission) and the impact is great on those who need our help. It’s a lot easier to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with somebody when their mouth is full.

So if you garden, grow a row for those in need.  The local shelters and food pantries will likely be more than happy to accept your donations of fresh food that they can pass on to those who need it.  Better yet, organize to create a larger pool of produce and make a bigger difference than you ever imagined.