Grow And Share

We are officially in 2012, and the growing season — ongoing in NC — will be kicking into high gear by March.

March you will be able to plant your beans, peas, and other seeds so that they will sprout when the ground gets warm enough.  Nature takes care of this!

April you can put out plants like tomatoes, peppers, cukes, etc. and Grow And Share will be holding a large Garden Plant Giveaway — combined with our annual Music Festival — on April 14th.  We hope you will all plan to come by on this special Saturday in April and pick up the plants you need while enjoying a day of chatting with expert gardeners.

A special THANK YOU again to Chad Kibbe and his scout troop for spending their January 1st of 2011 building the benches/shelving in the Tucker Greenhouse here in Zebulon.  All through 2011 we were able to grow plants to give away — both in Spring and in Fall.  The shelving is positioned for easy watering, and holds upwards of 8,000 plants!  This effort on Mr. Kibbe’s part expanded our space in the greenhouse so much that we were easily able to grow more than 14,000 plants *and* allow a girl scout from Cary to have space for an additional 2,000 to 3,000 plants of her own.

Also a big THANK YOU to RTI International for their grant, which allowed us to expand into Fall Plant Giveaways too, plus will be funding new garden installations continuing into 2012.

Thank you very much to all of you who brought food to the tables throughout NC through your volunteer efforts, gardening, and donations of funding and supplies.  We look forward to working with you more in 2012 to fight hunger.  Your time, money, and recycled supplies are helping us all to — as a team — roll up our sleeves and make a difference.  Let’s fill more hungry tummies this year!

Neighborhoods interested in growing together may contact us regarding installation of free or low-cost gardens throughout their neighborhood to get them growing together and feeding each other… let’s hope we can all eat better in 2012 and beat hunger by increasing the amount of local produce avaialable to give away hand-to-hand without folks worrying about breaking their budget to get it!

Welcome, dear friends, to 2012.

Kay and Frank Whatley

Co-founders of Grow And Share, a NC-based (and US-focused) non-profit.  (We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.)

Fighting Hunger from the Ground Up™

RTI International Supports Local Non-Profit Grow And Share

Zebulon, NC, July 7, 2011 - Grow And Share, a non-profit fighting hunger at the local level, recently received a corporate contribution from RTI International of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This RTI 2011 Community Partnerships Program contribution will provide funding for Grow And Share’s gardening programs in Fall 2011.

The contribution will be used to augment gardener education by providing necessary supplies to grow food throughout the Triangle and Eastern NC. It will also provide supplies for a greenhouse upgrade, extending food-growth potential.

During late Summer and Fall, classes will be held by Grow And Share to teach year-round gardening. Plants and seeds will be distributed to local gardeners who attend workshops and Pledge To Share their Fall harvests with their communities and local food banks.

“This contribution from RTI is going to help expand local food growth, allowing us to teach local residents about growing food in year-round gardens and provide them with Fall plants and seeds for their Sharing Gardens,” Kay Whatley of Grow And Share said. “Across the local area, this can increase the amount of healthy food grown locally and available to those in need.”

Grow and Share is one of 86 charitable organizations selected to receive charitable contributions as part of RTI’s 2011 Community Partnerships Program.

The program, created in 2004, is one way in which RTI contributes to the communities served by its regional offices and subsidiaries, as part of its mission to improve the human condition. Other organizations funded include children’s, disabilities and health programs. The program is based on RTI employee nominations of charitable organizations to RTI’s Corporate Contributions Board.

Grow And Share was nominated for the award by Jamie Wescott, an employee of RTI. “I first learned about Grow And Share when I volunteered to help build a greenhouse on the MLK Day of Service,” Jamie said. “I was impressed by their idea, passion, and dedication, and I wanted to help in any way I could. As a co-chair of the RTP Community Supported Agriculture program, I believe in the Grow and Share mission. Its work perfectly aligns within RTI’s values, and I am happy that we were able to support them.”

About RTI International

RTI International is an independent, nonprofit research institute based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Established in 1958 as the Research Triangle Institute, RTI has a distinguished history of scientific achievement in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, and laboratory testing and chemical analysis. RTI’s staff of more than 2,800 supports projects in more than 40 countries.

About Grow And Share

Grow And Share is a NC-based organization fighting hunger at the local level by growing interest in gardening and local foods for sharing. Activities engage residents in gardening as a way of improving their community food supply. Grow And Share holds gardening classes, conducts plant giveaways, provides supplies to Sharing Gardeners, and organizes food giveaways with local organizations to distribute produce to those in need. Their goal is to  help residents provide food for themselves and their communities. Grow And Share: Fighting Hunger from The Ground Up™.

Picking this week - Wednesday & Friday mornings in Zebulon we will be picking and need VOLUNTEERS to help us pick / glean. Call the number below if you can help.

All the produce we collect will be distributed to the needy through Pilot Baptist Church, Zebulon.  Their free produce farm stand will be open Saturdays 9-11am starting June 26th. If you know a family in need, let them know to come by.

PLEASE SHARE: If you have any extra produce from your farm or garden and can share it, contact us and we can pick it up before the Saturday food giveaway.

Kay Whatley

Grow And Share

1.919.269.5414

 

Non-profit GROW AND SHARE is seeking seed. If you have any packets you won't be using, or even parts of leftover packets, we would love to have them. Please visit http://www.growandshare.org for address/phone to donate by mailing them or to arrange pickup for larger amounts of seed.

We focus on shared and community gardening to fight hunger. Donate your un-needed seed, we will grow your seeds into plants, and in April we will give the plants away to gardeners in many neighborhoods. The food grown on those plants will be shared with neighbors, strangers in need, and food banks.

Help us get lots of healthy garden produce into the hands of the needy, and to help US residents eat healthier from local gardens!

We ESPECIALLY need tomato seeds and greens seeds. All vegetable/fruit/legume seeds are welcome. No flowers, please, unless they are edibles. :-)

Thank you in advance for your donation!

Zebulon, NC, September 18, 2009 - Grow And Share, a non-profit fighting hunger at the local level, recently received a grant from Annie's Homegrown of Napa, California. This "Grants for Gardens" award provides some funding for Grow And Share's gardening programs in Spring 2010.

The grant will be used to purchase garden seed and growing supplies. During the Spring, a planting event will be held during which children will learn about growing their own food and assist with seed planting. The resulting plants will later be distributed to local gardeners who pledge to share their harvests in the community.

"This grant from Annie's is going to help fund our children's gardening activities, allowing us to teach young people about growing their own food," Kay Whatley of Grow And Share said. "Across their lifetimes, it can impact how they think about healthy foods."

The grant is one of several awarded to gardens across the United States. "At Annie's, we believe that gardens are important places to connect kids with real food," said Aimee Sands, Marketing Director at Annie's Homegrown. "There's something magical about watching a child sample the lettuce they've grown, or dig up new potatoes for the first time. We're proud our Grants for Gardens encourage and support this type of education at community gardens across the country."

From the Annie's website, www.annies.com: Annie's Homegrown is driven by a team of folks who are passionate about three things: food, people, and the planet we all share. The Napa-based company's philosophy is "Eat Responsibly. Act Responsibly."

Grow And Share is a NC-based organization fighting hunger at the local level by growing interest in gardening and local foods. Activities engage residents in gardening as a way of improviding their community food supply. Grow And Share conducts plant giveaways, gives supplies to new gardeners, and organizes food giveaways with local organizations to distribute produce to those in need. Their goal is to provide help residents provide food for themselves and extra to share with their community.

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Kay Whatley

Creative Director

Grow And Share

70 Harrison Street

Zebulon NC 27597

919.269.5414

info@growandshare.org

 

Photos from the garden food giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, our tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, and beans are in flower and there are small veggies starting to show on the plants.  We're hopeful that within the next 14 days we'll be able to start harvesting.

All of the produce from our 2-acre "Sharing Garden™" will be donated to local distribution centers.  These specially chosen distributors will give the food away to any family/individual who shows up and says that they need food.

Hard times call for all of us to contribute however we can.  This is us doing our part.  I ache, and I'm sometimes tireder than I can believe, but I feel good about the food there will be soon to give away.

Grow And Share is holding a fundraiser: a music festival September 6 2009. There will be music and vendors, and we will offer a limited number of free vendor booths to farmers. Farmers chosen to use the free booths must be willing to talk about farming, demonstrate how they supply food, and even provide samples. You may also sell during the event (some guidelines/limitations). Contact info [at] growandshare [dot] org for more information.

We planted a row of turnips which, at the first rain, all washed to one side of the row. :-) Now we have a thick, thick patch of beautiful turnip leaves. We are thinking we will harvest some of the patch to eat as greens, and then let the rest grow.  Frank loves turnips!

A local news channel -- WRAL-TV -- came out to talk with us about what we are doing with Sharing Gardens -- getting more local food available in the community and getting more people growing larger gardens.

We gave the reporter, Stacy Davis, the Local Harvest website as one of our favorite resources.  So, she included a localharvest.org link on their channel's website!

The story and link are here -- http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5053449/