Corrales Food Pantry Garden
Studies conducted by Feeding America (formerly known as America,s Second Harvest), based on data collected by the USDA, found New Mexico to be one of the "hungriest" states in the nation with almost 1 in 4 children under the age of 5 at risk of going hungry every day. In 2005, 238,000 people received emergency food from New Mexico food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens.
34% (81,000) were children
2% (28,000) were under 5 years old
9% (21,000) were elders
63% had incomes at or below 75% of the official poverty level
20% were receiving social security
28% of households had at least one person in poor health
3.2% were on welfare
Many have hard decisions to make every day.
41% have to choose between paying for food or paying for utilities
30% have to choose between paying for food or paying the rent or mortgage
28% have to choose between paying for food or paying for healthcare
With the downturn in the economy and the increase in unemployment, the number of families needing assistance continues to rise. In 2009, St. Felix Pantry, one of the largest food pantries in the state, provided food to more than 700 families each week.
As master gardeners, we can help.
The Corrales Food Pantry Project involves planting one or more vegetable gardens in the Village of Corrales and donating the produce to local food pantries, primarily to Storehouse West and St. Felix Pantry. We are partnering with several property owners in the Village who have offered us free use of their land, electricity and irrigation water. Our role is to provide the seed/transplants and volunteers to plant, weed and harvest the garden, and to deliver the fresh produce to the food pantries.
So what can you do to help?
If you own a greenhouse or cold frame, you can grow tomatoes and other vegetable starts and donate them to the project. Last year we grew 180 tomato plants and produced over 1600 pounds of tomatoes. That was enough to provide St. Felix Pantry with a 1 day supply of tomatoes every week for two months. Our goal for 2010 is to grow enough tomatoes to supply St. Felix Pantry and Storehouse West with fresh tomatoes every day that they are open. Storehouse West is open three days a week. St. Felix Pantry is open six days a week.
You can help plant, weed and/or harvest the garden. For those of you who are still working, volunteer hours can be scheduled around your work day. However, for safety reasons (sun stroke, dehydration, illness, etc), we would like to have at least two people on site at all times.
You can deliver the produce to the food pantries.
You can water one or more of the gardens. All of the gardens will be irrigated with a t-tape drip irrigation system that is connected to an irrigation well. Someone will have to manually turn the water on and off.
You can volunteer to harvest fruit that is going to waste in backyard orchards.
You can help with communication, e.g. publicity, thank you notes, communication with property owners and volunteers, taking pictures
Protocol:
1. Partner with property owners in the Village of Corrales who have suitable property and are willing to allow volunteers to use it to grow vegetables for the food pantries. Property must have irrigation well or access to flood irrigation.
2. Solicit corporate sponsors to pay for large ticket items like the drip irrigation system. Also seek sponsors who are willing to donate seed, plants, weed barrier, fencing (to make tomato cages), mulch, compost and other gardening materials.
3. Recruit co-chairs who are willing to oversee each garden and at least one co-chair willing to coordinate the fruit harvest.
4. Over the winter months, meet with co-chairs and the food pantries to decide what to plant in the spring. Also draft Code of Conduct for volunteers who will be working on the property and interacting with the home owner.
5. Order seed.
6. Line up volunteers who own greenhouses or cold frames and provide them with seed to start tomatoes and other vegetables.
7. Sign up volunteers who are willing to help with other gardening tasks.
8. Prepare and distribute the work schedule and coordinate with property owners.
9. Maintain sign-up sheets to track volunteer hours and turn these in to the Extension office on a periodic basis.
10. Prepare the garden area for planting – spread manure in the fall or plant a cover crop, do a soil sample on new gardening plots, haul compost and mulch in the spring, till the garden area, build tomato cages, put down weed barrier and spread mulch, hook up and test the drip irrigation system.
11. Plant the garden(s).
12. Install tomato cages and other plant supports and cover the tomatoes with row cover.
13. Water and weed the garden.
14. Deal with insects, tomato worms and other pests. Consult with the extension office before using insecticides or herbicides.
15. Harvest and weigh the produce. Maintain a record of inputs and outputs for the Extension Office.
16. Deliver fresh produce to the food
17. Maintain a web site, prepare thank you notes and communicate with property owners and volunteers.
18. Clean up the gardens in the fall.
19. Coordinate media so the project inspires others to initiate similar endeavors, and so the project reflects positively on the Sandoval County Master Gardeners, the property owners, the Village of Corrales and other sponsors.
20. Do a short project presentation during the first SCMG training class in January. Provide the interns with the project protocol. Sign up volunteers at the last SCMG training session in March.
21. Other ideas:
Offer a garden tour during the Corrales Harvest Festival to demonstrate the t-tape irrigation system, weed control, cover cropping, etc. and to promote the project.
Sponsor a float during the Corrales Harvest Festival parade promoting SCMG, the Corrales Farm Institute and the project. This may also help increase enrollment in the 2011 MG training class.
Include youth groups in planting and harvesting to cultivate their interest in community service.